CIOs are naturally the go-to people for technology savvy and expertise in an organization's information strategy. Today, however, I'd like to address a key quality for those who strive to become stand-out CIOs-the ones headhunters call, the ones who have the most clout in the C-level suite. Don't get nervous, but it has nothing to do with functional excellence. It's self-awareness.

"Soft skills" tend to be marginalized by ambitious executives, but the truth is that when you're good enough to vie for the top information-officer role, it's safe to assume the technical skills have been proven.  To be the leader, you need another, different list of skills. Self-awareness is probably close to the top of that list.