A good leader, said Pettibone, is someone who inspires people, demonstrates success, shows the way and advances the careers of the people who work for them, he said.

Still, Pettibone warns that it's not always a good idea to try to groom someone who might be a skilled manager or technologist but who doesn't necessarily want to become a leader. "To try to get them to do that [lead] is like root canal," he said.

The SIM panel, moderated by Peter Schlay of The Advisory Council in Norwalk, Conn., also debated whether and when it makes sense to tap the IT ranks for a CIO or bring in a business executive for the job. There can be risks with the latter approach, said Ron Rose, CIO at Priceline.com Inc. in Norwalk.

"For a lot of companies, the technology has to deliver and deliver quickly," said Rose. Time-to-market pressures have made the margin for technology-related errors smaller and businessmen-turned-CIOs "will have to become more technology-savvy" to keep pace.

There can be challenges with both approaches. If an IT veteran is tapped to become a CIO, he or she has to be able to talk to business executives in business terms, said Bolton. As for business people who transition into CIOs, he said, organizations run the risk of having someone at the executive level who doesn't fully understand all of the technical issues involved.