How to level up from IT management to IT leadership
Executive Take
Technical skill alone no longer gets someone into the C-suite. Boards want tech leaders who can explain business value in plain terms and build trust across departments.
Executive Summary
CIO.com profiles IT executives, including new Medstar Health deputy CIO Oliver Galicki, on moving from IT management to leadership. Common themes: business acumen, communication skills, mentorship, and taking on big projects like Galicki's $400M Epic EHR rollout at Memorial Hermann. Harvey Nash's Peter Birch notes candidates typically spend 5-10 years at director level first.
Why It Matters
HR and technology leaders should care because this reshapes how IT succession pipelines get built. CIOs need successors who understand budgets and stakeholders, not just systems, so leadership development programs must add business and communication training.
Bizquad Perspective
Most companies still promote IT managers based on technical wins, but the executives here credit mentorship and cross-functional relationships far more than any project delivery record.