I think it is absolutely positive to have dissention, and more importantly, to have a culture of trust and transparency that allows dissention to surface. The most powerful thing I can have as a chief information officer is a director or manager in the organization walk into my office or send me an e-mail that is not sanitized by organizational chart ranking telling me what they think about a particular issue. I encourage that throughout the department.

What should candidates wear to an interview?

I look for someone who has an overall presence. It is not particularly tied to any fashion line or type of shoe. For example, for a vice president position, I look for someone who can present to the leadership team or to the Board, someone whom I'd feel comfortable taking on a critical function that is highly visible and giving a talk in my absence.

What advice would you give someone interviewing to be a CIO?

The chief executive officers that I know are looking for chief information officers to be new innovation and new integration leaders. In fact, an article just came out in HBR [] about this very issue, where chief executive officers are increasingly looking to chief information officers to help integrate and to help drive innovation in organizations. The more you can talk about those dimensions of your skill set, personality and experience, the better you will be able to lead a company that is looking for that type of chief information officer. The more you talk pure tech speak or talk about yourself as a cost center, the more traditional you are going to look and the less innovative you are going to look.