Do You Need To Lead A Tech Team? Make Sure To Do These Things
“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing
another.” — John C. Maxwell
A few years ago, I got the opportunity to become a leader of a technical team. I remember envisioning achieving great things as a leader. The new title I got garnered little influence in the organization. As a new leader, I had a lot of ideas about what we should change. I expressed those to a few people and tried to persuade them to make changes. They didn’t care much for my ideas and desire to change. Looking back on the situation I think they kind of thought of me as “Scrappy Doo” with his “Puppy Power”.
Technical Chops
I am sure this happens in every industry but I know it happens in the technical industry. Any leader is tested to ensure they have a basic understanding of what is happening. You could say this is a bit childish, although I have seen leaders quizzed before. Technical people will push you to see what you know.
A few years ago, I was on a team that got moved under new leadership. The leader began by talking about a good game using some buzzwords. Slowly, his lack of understanding became very apparent. Any credibility that leader had quickly eroded. Leading a technical team requires some basic knowledge of the technology and its use. The team should provide the expertise.
Communication Skills
Technical people have been stereotyped as poor communicators and a majority are. To be a leader though requires that a person develop strong communication skills. If an organization takes its best DBA or developer and makes them the leader this can spell disaster. If they love the technology more than they want to lead, they will gravitate toward working on it, and their leadership will suffer.
Leadership Qualities
If you ask five people, “What does a leader do?” you will probably get different answers. Depending on your background and age you will have different opinions of what makes a good leader. I would also go further and say leaders need to understand the situation and team. For instance, a leader of a technical team will see different challenges than a leader of a customer service representative.
The basic leadership qualities will be the same overall. Every leader needs to be a good problem solver, know how to put together a plan, delegate work to the team, and provide internal communication within the team. In addition to these basics, we need to add some qualities that foster the growth of the technical team.
Trend Spotter
One important aspect of leadership is talent development. There is an adage that every leader needs a succession plan. Change comes at us fast and we need to know where potentially we can plug new people in. It is important to always be developing people for the next step in their careers. Have people help with interviewing candidates. Get them involved in
decisions to see how they think and handle situations.
In the technology space finding good employees is very difficult. Good people rarely want to leave where they are. Companies know how tough the market is and take good care of them. We should always keep our eye out for good talent. Develop a relationship with them first then when the time comes you will have a solid foundation.
This is an excerpt from TechnoLeaders: Steps to Enhance Your Technical Leadership