Larry Bonfante

My organization, like so many companies, is embarking on a total digital transformation. We realize that today more than at any time in the past, we need to find a way to better engage our customers and prospects in a very personalized way that adds value for them. The days of mass marketing and hoping […]

This is a natural time of year for people to literally (and figuratively) turn the page on the calendar to start a new chapter. Renewal is a big theme for many people in the month of January. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions (after all, I’ve been trying to lose the same […]

It’s an annual practice of mine to create a summary report for my key stakeholders, sharing with them some of the more impactful projects and initiatives we’ve worked on over the course of the year and the value they’ve added for our organization. This exercise always causes me to become reflective about the year in […]

Being in the industry for more than 30 years and being a hiring manager for about 25 of those years, I’ve had the opportunity to interview many candidates for a myriad of different positions at several companies. Some of these experiences have been indelibly etched in my mind for all the wrong reasons. Here are […]

Many of you know that this time of year is both exhilarating and exhausting for me, given the nature of my day job. Having just completed a marathon event which determines our financial success for the entire year (for those of you in retail, imagine it as 21 straight days of Black Friday!) the following […]

As a practicing CIO, executive coach and a published author, I get asked a lot of questions from IT executives, thought leaders and the trade press. Here is a sampling of the more interesting questions I get asked, and hopefully some associated answers that may add some value for you. Do you think the CIO […]

For as long as people have been on this Earth there have been generational gaps where the older generation simply “doesn’t get” the younger generation. My parents grew up listening to Lawrence Welk (God help them…and me!). I grew up listening to Led Zeppelin. Once I started playing the guitar in my first band, my […]

Studies have shown that one of the most pressing issues in the U.S. economy is a lack of skilled workers to fill key positions. It’s ironic that during a time of high unemployment, many jobs remain unfilled due to a lack of competent individuals. This is even truer in the world of IT, where many […]

Many CIOs struggle with the issue of succession planning. It’s very difficult to both fill positions that have specific required competencies and experiences while concurrently keeping an eye towards the future. Finding good people is challenging enough without trying to think about succession planning at the same time. Perhaps the best way to accomplish both […]

One of the qualities associated with great leaders is the willingness, courage and ability to fight for what’s right. But as the old adage goes, discretion is the better part of valor. When I was working at Pfizer in the 1990s, I had a reputation as a person who was willing to fight the good […]

Many CIOs are struggling to understand their role in the new digital age. Perhaps this is due to the dramatic shift in mindset that has occurred over the past decade. It used to be that IT dictated what technology was used in an organization. The CIO was more of a controller who set security policy, […]

In the late 1980s, Michael Jackson had a hit song called “Man in the Mirror.” Last year this song took on new meaning for me as I had to do some soul searching regarding some professional challenges that I was dealing with. Just because I’m an executive coach and provide people insight and advice doesn’t […]