Leadership Essentials: What Do Effective Leaders Focus On?
In technology, the version of leadership we are taught leads us to focus on the wrong areas. We develop capabilities which do not support effective leadership. Here are the 4 main focuses we need.
Most people in technology are not taught formal leadership. We get a training class or book recommendations. If we’re lucky.
We are usually taught leadership by someone who was never taught leadership. Ask them what leadership is, and you’ll get some combination of three answers.
Providing expertise and mentorship around the technology, frameworks, workflow, and implementations.
Delivering high quality work products on time.
Helping team members create goals and assessing their performance.
Technical leaders hold on to this construct for leadership until they get promoted to a role where they are evaluated on their ability to lead. Usually this is at the executive or c suite level. Their first review is a wakeup call. Why?
Construct 1 is what a senior+ or technical lead does. Construct 2 is project management. Construct 3 is management. Leadership touches all 3 but capable leaders are focused on leading people, not technologies, projects, or paperwork.
It’s unfair to go from everyone around you reinforcing this version of leadership to everyone around you wondering how you got this far in the first place. My moment of leadership clarity came during a leadership training seminar.