The benefits that IT brings to the business have gained increased recognition in the last several years.  From the advent of e-commerce to the efficiencies gained from ERP to the capability to better understand and manage customers through CRM software, IT has been front and center in many critical business initiatives.  The profile of the most sought after IT resources is no longer someone with deep technical skills, who understands operating systems, networks and programming languages, even though these skills are still very valuable in any IT shop.  Instead, the IT resources that provide the most impact have an in-depth knowledge of the business, know the company strategy, understand how to apply technology when it makes sense, and are able to lead cross-functional teams to implement key business initiatives.

Many departments have a limited view of other areas of the business.  This occurs naturally because of efficiencies in specialization of labor and the limited opportunities that exist to interact with other business areas.  However, IT is privileged in that it must deal with all areas of the business.  A process-oriented IT resource may have to work on a sales and marketing project, and then tackle supply chain issues, and then move on to a financial software implementation.  IT Project Managers in particular get exposed to many different functional areas.

Many IT resources have transferable skills that could be applied in many other functional areas.  In fact, one could argue that some of these IT resources do not belong in IT at all.  They are internal business consultants that can be placed wherever the business needs them the most.

This transferability of skills is also applicable to executive roles.  Many CIOs not only have transferable skills, they actually have an advantage over other executives because of their broad exposure to many business issues and their understanding of technology.  One CIO who successfully transitioned from IT to other C-level positions is Kevin Turner.  Kevin’s career is a great example of how leadership skills can be transferred from job to job.

Kevin reached the CIO position at Wal-Mart, one of the largest companies in the world at the young age of 34.  At 37 he was promoted to president and CEO of Sam’s Clubs, a $37 billion company.  In 2005, at the age of 40, Kevin took the position of COO of Microsoft where he is responsible for the global organization of more than $40 billion in revenues.  Kevin is part of the leadership team that sets the strategy and direction for Microsoft and overseas corporate operations supporting 71,000 employees.

In an interview with CIO magazine, Kevin describes how as a CIO he prepared for taking on additional responsibilities.  Like any other successful executive, he emphasizes how critical it is to be able to work with people and teams, and how building self-managed high-performing teams with a focused agenda and a clear definition of success helped him transition to the business side.

Kevin also talks about the importance of building relationships with peers in the business and working closely with the people that deliver results so that you can get a good understanding of how the business operates.  He also mentions how being able to understand what is possible with technology and mapping it to business problems and solutions to drive results was instrumental for him.

According to Kevin, the key difference between the CIO job and the CEO job is that the CEO role has a lot of external complexities that are less under your control.  But he thinks CIOs have moments that would be very comparable to the most difficult day of the CEO.

The advice that Kevin gives to prospect CEOs is to take inventory of what you have been exposed to and learned.  Executives aiming for the top corporate job need to manage their careers so that they get broad exposure to many areas of the business and develop a deep understanding of how the business operates, the external marketplace, and how customers respond.

Whether you are an individual contributor, a manager, or an executive in IT, if you apply technical skills to improve business processes, you have a powerful set of skills that can be transferable to many other business areas.  If your career goal is to transition to the business side, you can be a valuable asset to any company that recognizes the power of combining business acumen with technical savvy.