Just to be clear, this is a story about a CIO who spotted the warning signs about the housing bubble ahead of the market and helped lower his company's exposure to risky subprime mortgage-backed securities. He's a CIO who has delivered tremendous business value to his company.

But he's not the type of CIO you would normally read about in CIOZone.

I recently read a blog where the author contends that innovation in social media has leveled off and the most significant innovations that could possibly be introduced already have been. In the author's opinion, all noteworthy innovations that have occurred since 2005 have stemmed from microblogging, including Twitter, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.

So, have we reached the final frontier on social media advancements? It's an issue worth exploring.

Some people seem to be born leaders. They're able to command respect and attention from both peers and staff based on how they carry themselves.

People can also be taught to manage. And while MBA and executive programs pride themselves on their ability to churn out next-generation leaders, ultimately, leadership seems to be an intrinsic quality that one either has or they don't. You can be taught to manage but you can't necessarily be instructed to lead.

The more honest and humble an employee is, the better their job performance is likely to be, according to a recent study conducted by Baylor University.

The Baylor researchers and a business consultant they worked with surveyed 269 employees across 25 different companies in 20 states who work in positions that provide healthcare to "challenging" clients. Supervisors of the employees in the study rated the job performance of each employee across 35 different job skills and also described the type of customer the employee worked with. The ratings were included to help senior management how the employees were performing and also to help the Baylor researchers determine which personality variables could be associated with job performance ratings.

For years, CIOs have ranked the importance of aligning IT with the business as their top strategic goal. And while business alignment hasn't necessarily diminished in importance, many forward-thinking IT leaders are pushing the ball forward.

For instance, according to a new study by Yankee Group, 82 percent of 100 CIOs and CTOs from companies with 500 to 10,000 employees ranked improving customer experience as their top strategic priority.

With The 83^rd Annual Academy Awards just behind us, many of the Best Picture nominees are still fresh in our minds.

In contemplating the winner of the Best Picture category - The King's Speech - it led me to consider the key leadership lessons that CXOs and other decision-makers can draw from King George VI, the famed leader portrayed by actor Colin Firth who guided Britain through the dark days of World War II.