CIO to CEO: What it Takes to Make the Leap
Vancouver’s Amyn Somani appointed CEO at Kazawest Services Inc. as of October 1
CIOs are on the rise in corporate ranks. This week, Amyn Somani, previous head of IT and Customer Service (VP of Corporate Services) at Panago Pizza Inc. took the helm as CEO at Kazawest Services Inc. (www.kazawest.com) a leading real estate management and development firm. Somani is the most recent CIO-turned-CEO interviewed in the follow-up to a CIO Association of Canada/Ryerson University leadership study entitled CIO to CEO: What it Takes to Make the Leap, whose findings were released in September by the CIO Association of Canada. (See the executive summary).
Somani knew from his university days in Computer Science that he wanted to lead teams and take on senior corporate roles. A work experience co-operative education program through Simon Fraser University opened his eyes to the possibilities of combining business and IT to create a route to the top echelons of business. On completion of his B.Sc. Somani took a job in sales with his former co-op employer, Xerox – sales being an unusual choice for a graduate in his field of study.
“I knew that I would need to gain experience in all business functions in order to achieve my goals, and to deliver the best value to the organizations for which I worked. To progress in my career, I knew that beyond managing IT, I would need to deliver bottom-line results through innovation in technology and I knew that I would need mentors along the way. I’ve been very fortunate in the opportunities I’ve had, particularly at Telus as well as Panago, to work with great teams and achieve very positive business outcomes.” Did Somani find that being in IT was a barrier to success? “Not at all. I’ve come to consider the CIO to CEO career track a golden pathway to the top. It’s an opportunity to bring game-changing strategies to business through technology.”
Somani completed executive education programs at both the Richard Ivey School of Business as well as the Stanford Graduate School of Business to further enhance his knowledge and value. In tandem he sought to continuously challenge himself in his work by taking on additional responsibilities. “With mentors encouraging me to gain experience in additional areas, it was easy to say yes to new challenges.”
Somani’s progress from CIO to CEO parallels the path taken by other CEOs studied in the CIO Association/Ryerson University paper. Comments from the study questionnaire and interviews reveal that beyond “good at CIO basics” key success factors include “increased business focus”, “executive level communication skills”, “good at people and organizational development” and” having mentors”. Catherine Koop, co-author of the study, sums up the results. “We know that good CIOs have the leadership competencies to become CEOs, and that they must build credibility through a combination of work experience and specific personal attributes. To make the leap to CEO, and to be outstanding business leaders in general, CIOs need to be very proactive in taking responsibility for their careers – as Amyn Somani has”.
Catherine Koop is a director of the CIO Association of Canada, Ontario Chapter, and a member of the National Research and Advocacy Committee. Amyn Somani is on the National Board of Directors of the CIO Association of Canada.
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