That choice doesn't change the business strategy, but it can have a huge impact on how that business strategy unfolds over time. You have to know your technology but also the companies and the market structure. And how that market can affect your business. It means you have to understand who the players are and how the dynamics of the market could create both opportunity and risk for your firm. And you have to find a way to engage the line executives in understanding those issues.
Strategic leadership has a strong contingency base.
Everybody went nuts. Once you've got credibility and people who can make the place run, only then do you have the opportunity to be a strategic leader. At that point, the CIO's role becomes strategic. The notion of keeping a balance between vision and operations is a classic one. The other classic is making sure you're always connecting to the business, that you're not becoming so focused on the dynamics of the technology market that you forget that that's not how you're making money.