By Lisa Yoon

There are many brilliant minds out there in the senior ranks of IT. They belong to information executives with great careers ahead of them, invaluable A players in their organizations. Not all are cut out for the top IT job, however.

Perhaps more than other C-level roles, the CIO position needs a set of skills and qualities that is an especially tricky balance to find in one person. It's not enough that CIOs know their technology. They also need "business acumen" -- an umbrella phrase for a whole set of qualities, a few of which are leadership, a knack for effective communication with various constituents, financial literacy, a clear understanding of each department's role within the enterprise, a keen awareness of the company's standing among its competitors, and enough discernment of what makes the business profitable to be able to propose ways to make it more profitable. There's also the question of balance: knowing how to participate in the business conversation without distancing yourself too much from the technology expert in you.

The CIO job is far from the natural culmination of an IT leader's career. Here, experts share some signals that becoming CIO just isn't in the cards for an IT executive.

You Can't See the Big Picture

Too much focus on technical details and a lack of focus on business systems is a huge indicator of non-CIO material, says Rhonda Winter, CIO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is not merely about lacking business savvy. It's an inability even to apply IT with a unified approach throughout the organization. "A symptom of an organization with a bad CIO," Winter observes, "is a bunch of pop-up systems throughout the business: independent initiatives that didn't come from IT." Never mind business sense, this is an inability to see IT's connection to the rest of the organization.

Your Successes Mean Nothing to Anyone Outside IT

We all know IT managers have major projects to execute; they're often asked to discuss them at job interviews. Yet no matter how many large-scale projects you've managed successfully, notes Winter, if these achievements are confined within IT -- if their impact can't be justified outside of IT -- it's a sign you're not getting it.

You Can't Relate to Stakeholders

"A lot of senior IT managers spend too much time relating to the IT staff and not to the user community," says Michael Corey, a CIO recruiter at executive-search firm Spencer Stuart. This is a serious shortcoming; after all, IT is a service organization, IT is not its own end. If, as a senior IT leader, you can't make the connection between IT and those IT serves, you're missing the point of the department's mission.

You Fail to Engage Senior Executives

This one is a symptom of other signs; i.e., it's what happens when you're too focused on the tactical details to see beyond IT. Though it's derived from other indicators of not cutting it as a CIO, it's worth noting on its own. After all, Winter and Corey agree: a CIO is a top executive. If you can't engage senior executives in their terms now -- if you bore, even alienate them with tech jargon -- how will you engage them when they're your peers?

You're Uncomfortable Managing Conflict

"CIOs must have superior negotiation and prioritization skills," notes CIO search specialist Eric Sigurdson of Russell Reynolds. There's always more demand for IT services than IT has the time, money, and other resources to meet, he explains. For the CIO, this means practically nonstop prioritization and negotiation -- neither of which is complete without conflict.

You'd Rather Read ComputerWorld Than Fortune

If this is true of you, it shouldn't be news that the CIO post may not be for you. What may be news, however, is that there's nothing wrong with not being cut out for the top IT job. "In assessing whether you're CIO material, be true to yourself," advises Mark Polansky, managing director of Korn/Ferry's information officer practice. So you'd rather read ComputerWorld. You like developing technology more than you like business discussions. You probably will not get a job as a CIO. This is not bad news. It simply means the CIO spot isn't the ideal role for you, says Polansky.

Indeed, determining whether you're CIO material is not an exercise in assessing how "good" you are. Honing an awareness of job compatibility is a far more valuable takeaway.