Create your own career destiny

Three CIOs share tips for advancing in your profession.

Bill Leo began his career putting paper in printers at a Fortune 100 firm. Greg Morrison started out as a commissioned officer doing project management in the Army Signal Corps. And Scott Townsend used a background in economics as a springboard into IT.

Although each started at entry level, all three men are now CIOs - Leo at Mercer Delta Consulting in New York, Morrison at Cox Enterprises in Atlanta, and Townsend at Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union in Clinton Township, Mich. Their key to success: creating their own career destiny.

"I think it's critically important that you manage your career. No one else is going to do it for you.

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Bill Leo began his career putting paper in printers at a Fortune 100 firm. Greg Morrison started out as a commissioned officer doing project management in the Army Signal Corps. And Scott Townsend used a background in economics as a springboard into IT.

Although each started at entry level, all three men are now CIOs - Leo at Mercer Delta Consulting in New York, Morrison at Cox Enterprises in Atlanta, and Townsend at Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union in Clinton Township, Mich. Their key to success: creating their own career destiny.

"I think it's critically important that you manage your career. No one else is going to do it for you.

Leo agrees. "I came up from the ground floor. It's one of those things where if you're hungry, you'll learn," he says.

"You always have to have an interest in figuring out the next step. Some people don't think about it in those terms, but you have to," Townsend says.