To-day, companies are looking for CIOs who deeply understand technology yet are as capable of helping to set business strategy as they are at running the IT department. The problem is, most trained technologists have little or no training in finance, marketing, operations, negotiation, or that most basic of executive-level skills, corporate politics, industry watchers say.

The challenge is even greater for CIOs at midsized companies, which are nimbler and have fewer layers of specialists. That means IT executives often find themselves in the inner sanctum of upper management faster than they would at a larger company. But because they don't have large staffs, they're usually bogged down in day-to-day IT details.

An executive coach can help with these strategic and tactical responsibilities. If a coach can teach a CIO to expand his purview to business and industry without abandoning his IT responsibilities, the CIO can improve all aspects of the business, from product development, sales and quality control to market research or investor relations.