Awards Gala

At this year's Global CIO Executive Summit we celebrated the leadership, dedication and influence of 10 individuals in our own community who have risen above the rest and were recognized as 2011 Breakaway Leaders. 

This year's awards focused on the theme of Recognizing CIO Ambassadors for a New Business Future – Engage. Influence. Transform. For the first time ever, the CIO winners were determined by the combined votes of an elite judging panel and the CIO peer community.

Ramón F. Baez, VP, IT & CIO, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Awards Chair); Markus McDaniel, VP, Global CIO Executive Summit, Evanta; Zack Hicks, VP & CIO of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.; Piyush Singh, SVP & CIO of Great American Insurance Company; Allen Fazio, VP of Strategic Technology Planning, Disney Theme Parks & Resorts at The Walt Disney Company; Filippo Passerini, President, Global Business Services & CIO of Procter & Gamble; Jan Marshall, CIO and VP of Technology at Southwest Airlines Co.; Bill Martin, VP & CIO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.; Tom Murphy, SVP & CIO of AmerisourceBergen; Gale Blank, VP & CIO of Wal-Mart Canada Corp. and Bob Dethlefs, CEO & Founder, Evanta
Not pictured: Lakshman Charanjiva, VP & CIO, NextEra Energy Inc./Florida Power & Light and Chad Fulgham, CIO, Federal Bureau of Investigation

In their own words, here are just a few small snippets of why these are our Top 10 Winners:

Gale Blank, VP & CIO, Wal-Mart Canada Corp.
"It means breaking through the walls, creating a new model and different way of achieving a result that previously seemed unachievable and taking your team with you. We have gone from being the 'victims' of corporate to leading corporate in most of their key initiatives."

Lakshman Charanjiva, VP & CIO, NextEra Energy Inc./Florida Power & Light
"Creating an environment of seamless collaboration between people on the business side and those on the IT side will be critical to success – it almost will not matter whether someone belongs on one side or the other, so the challenge is to create the environment/forum for people to work together to create magic."

Allen Fazio, VP, Strategic Technology Planning, Disney Theme Parks & Resorts, The Walt Disney Company
"It means taking a calculated risk, defining a new vision and persuading others to come with you on your journey, even though they might be extremely risk-averse – and even though you're not entirely sure where you land."

Chad Fulgham, CIO, Federal Bureau of Investigation
"Our customers and in fact our nation relies on our sense of urgency, innovation and ability to meet our mission. IT is a vital component to supporting them. I cannot ask them to push themselves if I do not lead with those same passion and ideals."

 Zack Hicks, VP & CIO, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.
"With the rapid changes in the marketplace driven by technology, IT must have an influential voice amongst the leadership team to set the vision for our key offerings and must be able to effectively deliver against that vision."

Jan Marshall, Chief Information Officer, VP of Technology, Southwest Airlines Co.
"Breakaway Leadership is built on courage, vision and compassion. Here we care deeply for people and the integration efforts will continue to reinforce those values as we offer opportunities to people of different jobs, roles and locations. We provide a supportive environment along with mentoring, training and the tools they need to succeed."

Bill Martin, VP & CIO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
"Set the strategic direction, course correct as necessary and then get the hell out of the way. If you have built the vision, the breaking away will be done by the team you have built. It's not about the leader, it's about the environment the leader creates for his/her team."

Tom Murphy, SVP & CIO, AmerisourceBergen
"This is an amazing time to be in this business – generationally, technically, socially, it's all changing. We are virtualizing desktops and telephony, experimenting with hoteling and social connectedness, as well as bring your own device. There is no text book for this; that's what is really fun!"

Filippo Passerini, President, Global Business Services & CIO, Procter & Gamble
"In order to make an impact, you must go beyond the expectation. You must always deliver more and demand more. You lead by example and drive to make changes that not only better the business but better the organization. If we can improve the lives of our colleagues and positively impact our company, then we can improve the lives of our consumers."

Piyush Singh, SVP & CIO, Great American Insurance Company
"For an organization to break-away from its past and to transform from its tribal culture of traditional practices it is imperative that thinking has to change and it has to start at the leadership level." 

Congratulations to All of Our Winners!