4 Proven Ways to Know You’re a Technology Leader
A leader is someone who not only leads a group of people
but also someone who understands them. They not only set goals for their team
but they provide the emotional intelligence to support their accomplishment.
Whilst leadership is needed in every business, however
large or small, effective leadership is clearly missing from most organisations
with research suggesting that 77% of corporations experienced
leadership gaps during 2019. This is a significant problem.
But what of the leadership role that in recent years has
gained ever greater significance within organisations who need to be tech led?
What of the effectiveness of tech leaders?
One of the challenges for tech leaders of today and
tomorrow, is that the duties are not always natural to those involved. Some
don’t aspire to managerial positions, those ICs or Individual Contributors, but
how do you know and what do you need
to know to make an impact in a
senior role?
1) Know thy plan of action
As a technology leader, you have to maintain oversight
over the entire project, take decisions, and also empower all the technologists
in your team. The plan of action covers everything, including the choice of
design, the choice of software, product development, and the final expected
outcome.
Moreover, sometimes, your entire team might not be aware
of all types of tech work required, but they will look up to you for help. So,
ensure that you know the steps inside-out and also be able to communicate it to
your team.
2) Know when to correct
With a role like a Lead Architect or a Tech Lead, you have
to keep an eye on the glitches, system errors, or coding issues in the products
under development.
As a leader, you should be able to politely handle the
problem, ask the stakeholders to fix it, or at least consult your authority
before making the final decision.ṣ
Sometimes, you might even have to combine multiple
technologies across the business and a few other times, you might not be in
favor of it. As a tech leader, you must take a stand and voice your concerns,
but also be open to discussion.
To learn, to grow, and to sustain, that should be the
ultimate aim!
3) Know how to work with your community
As a technology leader, you will probably have to work
with multiple other teams and departments, across the entire company, sometimes
even across multiple locations.
Hence, it is important for you to understand hierarchy,
where you work with both vertically and horizontally integrated teams.
In each segment of the community, aim to be a positive
influence, appreciate co-workers, and be open-minded. A technology leader has
to encourage community talent while also grooming oneself in the journey. So,
keep building your skill set and using your knowledge to achieve greater
heights with the team.
4) Know the value of conversations
When it comes to domain knowledge or gaining specific
information, technology leaders have to be on their toes.
Transfer of knowledge via conversations, workshops, and
networking events are the best solution to achieve not just a social connection
but also professional insight. It can be just a 10-min coffee break when you
can discuss your product, find a new idea to incorporate new features, learn
about a new trend in the industry, or help someone make a breakthrough.
Infact, sometimes you might be following a traditional
approach, thinking it is the only option but you meet a co-lead and realize
that they have a software which is a new-age design and can reduce your
workload.
So, voila! Exchange of ideas, increased productivity, and
a good chat, win-win situation for everyone.
Over to you…
Opportunities are limitless, you just need to be able to
seize them at the right moment and right place.
Your team looks up to you for training, for hope, for
mentoring, and for action. If you think you can’t do it alone, you can also
consider professional technology teams training courses to help
upskill your team. However, always stay grounded and be willing to build up a
model from scratch because that is the only way perfection can be achieved.
A technology leader is known to be the backbone of the
entire management team, so start the trip and succeed in it!
