Why do some organizations dominate and some lose? What are the ingredients of “real” success? Join Rocky Bleier for an inspirational presentation on winning through perseverance, hope, commitment and trust. Framed through parallels to football and Bleier’s personal journey as both a war veteran and four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bleier will explore both structural and emotional aspects for individuals and organizations to reach their greatest potential. Learn how successful teams and organizations share four characteristics: leadership, people, vision and a shared
belief system.

Session discovery topics:

• Defining the team – common purpose with individual responsibility
• Reflections lead to hope – reminders from what we have learned
• Culture changes – part of the solution instead of participants
• Overcoming challenges – on the football field, in the economy and in the workplace

Of the many downsides to our current economy – layoffs and budget cuts are paramount. But there is a silver lining; the opportunity to become a better leader. After losing a large portion of his staff due to layoffs, George Nelson looked inward and refocused his style to be more flexible and personal. The payoff – an IT group that, albeit smaller, is ready to rebound. Join Nelson for a compelling session on how to lead, and not follow, your organization out of the downturn.

Session discovery topics:

• A new perspective – the opportunity to focus on the organization
• Introspection – looking at your own skill set and making changes
• Keeping up morale in spite of the downturn – communicating, morale boosters and flexibility
• The changed world – leading the way to a gradual rebound and knowing the new rules

The transformational CIO is indicative of what the CIO’s role should be and can become. At McCormick & Company,  Incorporated, transformational CIO Jerry Wolfe drives a wide range of initiatives and is focused on growth, not cutting costs. Join Wolfe for an illuminating session about what he has learned by stepping outside his comfort zone to develop new capabilities, become a trusted partner and a leader, and help shape the business. The bottom line: helping his business partners understand technology in application, leading change and always using IT to enable business strategy.

Session discovery topics:

• Leading transformational projects – examples: business process transformation, restructuring and acquisition integration
• Speed and innovation – balance against risk
• Shorter cycles from concept to implementation – not getting mired in planning while balancing speed with risk
• The evolving business model – rethinking traditional boundaries
• Motivating people – focus on value creation rather than simply “doing more with less”
• Global perspective – going beyond the “known”

Session discovery topics:

• Understanding costs and operating factors
• Security – identifying risks and challenges
• Internal versus client facing applications – differences in implementation
• The organization as a whole – other infrastructures will benefit

The “Innovation Agenda” dominates today’s corporate conversations surrounding strategic business imperatives. In this session, Lem Lasher, Chief Innovation Officer at CSC, will share how CSC addresses this challenge and strategically
turns ideas into products and business solutions. Through the Office of Innovation, Lasher and his team provide useful and practical insights into how the Innovation Agenda can be addressed by any enterprise executive.

Session discovery topics:

• Defining innovation and the innovation paradox
• Creating an open innovation eco-system – ideation campaigns and the end-user
• Discovering ‘next practices’
• Countering digitally disruptive technologies
• The role of intellectual capital management in an innovation strategy

Having undergone a massive economic upset on a global level, our world will never be the same. Many of us are asking: what next? Colonel Curtis Carver, Vice Dean for Education at the United States Military Academy holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and recently completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, brings to the stage a meaningful and informative discussion on how leaders can prepare for and successfully lead into the future. Carver will explain that as leaders, we need to build judgment, innovate and mentor next generations to successfully embrace the risks and opportunities that are a part of our collective future.

Session discovery topics:

• Depression, recession or coming out of the downturn – impact of variables for CIO
• Mentoring – building future bench strength with low interest and outsourcing issues
• Innovation – you’re not innovating if you’re not failing
• Economy, global and IT – role of a leader in each environment
• Looking forward – economic and global implications in the short term and 25 years out

Mark DiMaurizio realized that too much IT time was spent on maintenance and infrastructure, and not enough time and energy spent on delivering business solutions. To combat this problem he created and heads a unique department at Comcast-Spectator called Technology Solutions. Technology Solutions runs in parallel with the company’s traditional
IT group – but is aligned with marketing and sales and is focused on generating revenue and leveraging customer facing technologies. The Technology Solutions group ensures that the business maximizes technology to solve their business problems. Join DiMaurizio for an exciting discussion on new opportunities for IT to add value to the organization.

Session discovery topics:

• Wearing two hats – the “geeky business analysts”
• The bottom line – driving revenue and ROI, not infrastructure
• Bridging the gap – ensuring technology utilization by the business
• The end product – projects that start out as IT should be business driven

A convergence of environmental, political, and ethical reasons, is compelling corporations to go green. However, investments for green transformations are often viewed unfavorably due to the associated costs, especially in the current economic climate. How can economic incentives and business growth opportunities be viewed as prerogatives for the success of a sustainable green transformation strategy? How can CIOs be empowered with tools to evaluate the costs and benefits of capital investments as well as operational transformations for going green? To tackle these and other pressing questions, the research team at Tata's Innovation Labs, together with their partner ecosystem, has developed processes and solutions to continually assess, manage and reduce the carbon footprints of today’s large scale enterprises. These solutions range from those for greening the IT infrastructure to where IT is the enabling backbone for greening the physical (building) infrastructure. In this presentation, Dr. Guatam Sardar will demonstrate that going green can lead to a myriad of long-lasting benefits.

Join Jody Davids as she shares her professional and highly personal leadership experiences that define what real leaders must do. From her years at Apple Computer when the company was exploding into the marketplace, to executive roles at both Nike and Cardinal Health, Davids now embraces a few time-tested beliefs about authentic leadership. “It’s about understanding what is important to the people you lead and creating an environment where they are inspired to win.” Davids defines an authentic leader as one who fosters hope, brings clarity and creates trust. “Once trust exists, people will do extraordinary things to ensure the team wins. Leading becomes meaningful.”

Davids received her own inspiration from a series of personal changes that rocked her world and challenged her to cultivate strengths in leadership and life change. Her persistent belief that leaders must finish strong continues to serve her well today, as she shares the next chapter of her leadership story with the CIO Executive Summit audience.