"He was viewed by the business as someone who has transferable skills," says CIO Barbra Cooper. And for good reason. Beebe, 51, honed those skills through job rotations in IT -- at one time managing applications for 10 different business executives -- and by pursuing an MBA. He also led an enterprise monitoring project that optimized operations, outsourced day-to-day drudge work such as server provisioning, and "uplifted" the skills of his staffers so they'd be able to act as consultants to the business instead of just being order-takers. But getting operations right had to come first. "If we don't nail operational excellence, we don't get invited back to [deliver] the greater value IT can bring to the business," he says.

Cooper, who had launched the enterprise monitoring initiative, turned to Beebe to push it forward. "I wasn't getting as rich an outcome, even though it was pretty dramatic. He had the ability to take it further," she says, by working with staff to convince them that they could function as business solution providers and develop the skills to do it. "He built a belief system around why this was doable and why it would be better for their careers. His execution was flawless."

Most of the staff made the leap. "I'm proud of that," Beebe says.