Maricopa's Monsour, who launched his IT career over 30 years ago as a computer technician, now lists business and financial expertise among his top IT leadership skills. When the county's taxpayers recently approved a $951 million bond issue, a good chunk of which will go toward enhancing IT, Monsour was thrilled yet doubly challenged. The reason is that the bond is approved for capital spending only. "Now the challenge is growing IT and maintaining the high level of support and customer service with no increases in operating costs," he says.

Philadelphia's Neff says, "I don't have the technical depth that I used to have. I no longer consider myself a technical expert." But she has had to become very much a political expert.

In both government and the corporate sector, "CIOs are required to be more politically savvy. You have to be sensitive to the community and where the history is and to finding key players from whom you need to take your lead, rather than dictating projects from above," she says. Had she not approached her leadership role in this way, Wireless Philadelphia might never have happened.

"If I had just been focused on IT and reducing the cost of service delivery," Neff says, "I may have missed this opportunity altogether."

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