As a teen, Bud Albers was a wild child, an underachiever, and, in his own words, "on the top-10 list of people not to make it to 30." The CTO of Getty Images not only made it to 30, but built a successful IT career that has spanned five states and several industries, including manufacturing, agri-chemicals, telecommunications and software.

Interviewed on "Information Technology Leaders," Albers surmises that genetics won out over rebellion. He inherited the workaholic tendencies of his father, an industrious farmer who worked several farms and refurbished a dozen houses. To Albers, work ethic is key to any successful career. "A lot of it is about learning how to work, whether you're writing code for a living or flipping burgers at McDonalds–it's what your work ethic is, how you get it done," he says.

"Information Technology Leaders," produced by the University of Washington’s School of Business, presents multi-faceted portraits of the people filling the top IT positions at major corporations such as Microsoft, Boeing, and AT&T Wireless Services. The revealing interviews show that personal characteristics often play an important role in the unpredictable career trajectories of this industry.

Albers discovered his passion for computers in–of all places–a night school in downstate Illinois. That provided the impetus to leave his wild days behind and become the first in his family to go to college. In three and a half years, he completed his bachelor's degree in computer science at McKendree College.

Early in his career, Albers distinguished himself by being the guy who gets it done. At the Trane Company, an air conditioning manufacturer in St. Louis, he reduced systems downtime to less than five minutes a year. He changed the whole organization structure of Colorado Springs-based NxTrends, a software company, to a matrix structure, ensuring a more logical and dynamic job distribution. The firm also sent him to Texas to stop the bleeding of a bankrupt business acquisition. He made it profitable again.

Albers is a veteran of mergers and acquisitions, most of them negative experiences. Ameritech's takeover of Cybertel, his first employer, signaled his exit from the company. Later, when he worked for Ameritech leading the e-commerce division, SBC acquired the business, and Albers had to lay off hundreds of high-performing employees. The worst was Monsanto's near-merge with American Home Products. The two companies had radically different cultures and CEOs. Albers, Monsanto's chief technologist, endured the nine-month limbo before the merger was called off, but couldn't stomach the environment of imminent buyout. He gave notice, and by the time he left Monsanto, he had six job offers.

Getty Images, with its visual, benign product attracted Albers–"I'd just come from a company that made Agent Orange!"–and he knew he could make an impact. Getty was transitioning from selling its 70 million images and 30,000 hours of film footage through catalogs to offering digitized images on the Internet. Albers' challenge has been to change Getty's systems, plus those of the companies Getty acquired, while also handling budgets and managing staff.

Albers' work has long emphasized people management–at 26, he oversaw 100 staff at Trane. Since then, he's learned that the IT business "isn't really a technical business; it's a people business." His strength as a leader is communicating his vision and getting workers excited about it. He's a demanding boss, but he believes that's necessary in a fast-moving business culture with ever-shrinking cycle times. "Shareholders don't reward a nice try," he says.

The next few years hold promise for Getty, the leading player in its industry. Albers predicts it will continue to thrive, with technology driving the growth. That's good for Albers' career–and his marriage. "[My wife] prefers me when I'm energized, moving, and challenged," he says.

Produced By: Christopher Redner