But recognizing those people and shepherding them to the top are two different tasks. That's why Regehr, senior vice president of IT and CIO at Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Atlanta, believes in succession planning.

"We get so caught up in the pace of business and the pace of life that too often we don't stop to think about the next generation," he says. "We have to become more intentional about passing on those things [we've learned]. People passed it on to us; a lot of people invested in me. I owe it to the next generation to pass that on."

Regehr isn't the only CIO who thinks that way.

IT executives may be great innovators, but this year's Premier 100 IT Leaders are sticking with the old belief that great leaders are made, not born. They're following conscious strategies to train and educate those rising through the ranks. Their goal is to groom the next generation of IT leaders to ensure the success of their IT departments -- and their companies' competitive edge -- into the future.

"Companies that are successful are looking at [their] leadership pipeline constantly, because that pipeline is key to implementing their future," says Bonni Carson DiMatteo, president of Atlantic Consultants Inc., a Wellesley, Mass.-based consulting and coaching firm that focuses on leadership development and succession planning.