Leading with Expertise
The Crucial Role of Technical Proficiency in Effective Engineering Leadership
In the dynamic landscape of today's professional world, the journey from an intern engineer to a senior manager is a testament to the evolution of skills, knowledge, and mindset. The transition from a technical role to a leadership position isn't solely about authority but about the experience gained as an engineer and the trust of the people you work with. Being a leader without technical knowledge only positions you as a business decision-maker looking at cold numbers, rather than a true leader & innovator who can combine the technicalities, understanding, and true leadership qualities that inspire and guide teams toward success.
I started my journey in mid-2010, more than 14 years ago as an Intern Frontend Engineer & Designer in the eHealth IT business. Very challenging industry where understanding of the domain must follow technical expertise and reliable decision making. That time shaped me as a responsible engineer and gave me a deep understanding of what kind of challenges every engineering team faces in their everyday work, especially when one of your decisions and not covered use case might end up with a false diagnosis. Thankfully I’ve got the luck that one of my leaders got a technical background and became my career path mentor. He taught me a lot and gave me the trust to make my own mistakes to become better.
The Foundation: Technical Skills, People Skills & Trust
Starting as an engineer lays the groundwork for understanding the nuts and bolts of an organization's operations. The technical skills gained during this phase are invaluable. Mastery of coding languages, engineering principles, or intricate system designs fosters a deep comprehension of the work. This technical foundation forms the bedrock for informed decision-making and effective problem-solving, crucial elements for leadership.
If you’re an engineer who hears from the lead that you’re not right as he knows the technicalities better than you - that’s the sign we’ve got an issue here. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who match for leadership roles where such situations happen, especially when managers don’t have any technical background and just base their on what he/she read on the web, books, or simply what numbers express.
I strongly disagree with that kind of leadership approach as it ends in a blind & dark alley. If you’re thinking about taking the career path of a leader at some point in time, simply don’t repeat that kind of behavior which is destructive.
Using such words when you’re a leader with your engineers builds only your ego, not the trust, and a true lead persona with people skills developed. As it stated in the research done in the Zenger Folkman Technical Expertise Leadership Study 2022 it’s measurable how both types of skills impact the outcome effectiveness.
As you already know, I’m tech-oriented by origin and I didn’t have strong people skills when I stepped into the management role. That wasn’t easy but if you’re open-minded, nothing can stop you from skilling up. Development of people skills is possible when you’re able to put yourself in the place of someone else and ask yourself how you would be treated in a particular situation, even the most harsh one. A matter of prioritization, you or someone else - keep in mind that without the “else” you’re not leading.
Even if you disagree with the technical directions your team would like to take, you should always discuss that, and ask the questions to let your team reconsider your worries. I prefer not to say strong yes or no, but guide the team to choose the path that matches my vision which goes far beyond the framework of a single project.
If you’ve got a difficult decision to make, there is no way around it. You have to take the responsibility and face it. That’s where trust comes in. The trusted leader has a much better perception within the team & company than just a one-way thinking business guy with his ego walking in front of him.
Through the years in the tech industry, I have worked with that type of ego-driven or pure business leader multiple times. Nothing unusual, but I always took a risk based on my experience and intuition, thinking about the people I work with and staying with them in the most difficult situations, downs and ups.
The Shift: From Task Manager to Visionary Leader
However, the leap from a technical role to a managerial one isn’t solely about technical prowess, interpersonal skills, or trust. It involves a transformative shift in perspective. It's about transitioning from being a task-oriented engineer to a visionary leader. Leadership isn't dictating tasks but inspiring a shared vision, guiding others, and fostering an environment where each member contributes their best.
Such a mindset shift was one of the hardest challenges I ever took. Why? Because I was an engineer who worked logically by implementing instructions to perform based on expected scenarios. Leadership is not driven by epics, stories, and scenarios. But by setting abstract goals you would like to lead the team in a defined timeframe.
The Vision is a topic of multiple studies every year with the same outcome but even more highlighted - The cause of failure is lack of a vision. Years ago vision settling, communication, and so on, were pointed out in nearly half of the substitutes of successful business transformation in the Harvard Business Review publication Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Now in 2024 it’s still actual and I would say more - it’s even more actual in terms of successful leadership. There are no companies, departments, teams & projects made with success but without a true vision and visionary leader behind the steer.
Nonetheless, vision-making is separate from any studies, even MBA where they teach you how to lead based on metrics and measurable properties. You can gain such ability only when you’ve got solid industry experience and properly passed the career ladder. Only then you can reasonably connect the dots and predict with higher accuracy what is achievable and what is not.
Every vision counts the mistake margin as that’s the prediction and the clue is how you can learn from making the mistakes. I did a lot of them during the years of being a leader and it’s nothing bad in it even if your team saw it. I would say it’s even better! You’re showing yourself as a continuous learner and you’re building the trust of the team. On the other side, you learn as well to give the trust back.
Based on my own experience, I contribute more when I have the trust of my management so as a leader I do the same, I trust my people who are experts in the field and they trust my visions as a leader committing to make them real. I do not care about the tasks, the team can organize by themselves to support the goal & vision I manage.
The Value of Experience & Habits
The journey from intern to senior manager is threaded with experiences – successes, failures, and the wisdom gained from both. Each project, each challenge, molds an individual, equipping them with a unique set of insights that cannot be learned from textbooks alone. It's these experiences that shape a leader's decision-making process, enabling them to anticipate obstacles and steer their teams efficiently.
I don’t know any true leader who didn’t make any mistakes in his career, but I know many who made them but they can't admit it. Most of them were because of their too high self-confidence about their technical expertise. In such an evolving market it’s crucial to be ahead of trends and work with people who are better than yourself in technicalities. You can always learn from them. What I do every day.
As an engineer that was one of my obvious responsibilities, to learn, to explore. Leaders, especially in the tech department must follow that pattern. Not by just reading but also putting a hand into the coding, but not commercial. I’m no longer as proficient in coding as the engineers I work with and I believe you are either.
Of course, you’re going to ask the question “When?” as you’ve got enough daily responsibilities. I know it might be controversial and does not match with a common sense of “Work-Life Balance” but for me it is obvious. The day of a leader does not match to just 8 working hours. By transitioning from a pure engineering path to tech leadership you’re agreeing to switch from fixed to flex time. Of course, that’s some kind of a tradeoff if you would like to stay on top of trends and be able to make reasonable, future-proof decisions for the business you’re involved with.
Exploration is fun, especially for me as I’m doing things that are uncommon compared to a daily basis. I play a lot with buzz tech to validate possible impacts for my fields and the vision I build. In that way, I see that my experience & habit of explorer, earned during my engineering years are valuable to the team.
How? For sure not by looking into the numbers and saying definitely “No!”. I won’t argue anything without solid reason, I would dig into the idea given and check the impact on the long-term vision, and find a way to adapt or provide insights to consider. Many would say that “Numbers don't lie” and they are right! But every number can be adapted and negotiated with higher instances when you can prove that in the end, you’ll get a more valuable outcome - this measurable and this not countable.
The Bridge: Connecting Technical Proficiency with Leadership
The crux lies in amalgamating technical expertise with leadership qualities. A senior manager who understands the technical intricacies of their team's work can empathize better, comprehend complexities, and guide with a pragmatic approach. This understanding bridges the gap between the workforce and management, fostering a culture of mutual respect and trust.
A true leader should use his / her technical experience as a value for the team. Be an advisor. The questioner rather than decider about the “commas”. The team is going to deal with what they develop, but not the leader in person.
Working years with the teams I’ve built, I see the trend that year by year I’m less involved by individual people in the analysis, discussions, and proof of concepts. It’s not that I’m not useful anymore, nonetheless, people treat me as an advisor and the final instance to decide the path our department is going to take. Thanks to that I’m able to use my experience in the vision creation, not daily issue solving.
Are you still involved daily in tech work? It’s not that bad, but you should rethink at least two things to see if that does not prevent you from applying efficiency to your job and the team you’ve got.
Is the team mature enough and is proper competence layout applied?
In the teams which are not balanced well the situation where senior leadership is involved takes place more often, compared to the one with solid seniority on board. Ideally, your senior engineers should take the technical lead over the team movements and work with you on a higher level of vision. In every team you should have at least one engineer, otherwise, you won’t be released to focus on future things.
Is that the team that takes your attention or maybe yourself who strives to be involved?
Surely I can tell that it's the second option. Why? Because I caught myself a couple of times on it. It’s not bad, but you can’t focus on two different aspects at the same time without adding more time to your work day or making one of them less cared for. Decouple yourself from a daily basis and unleash the technical experience you’ve got in the future thinking and vision creation to let the business and team evolve.
A leader doesn’t merely delegate tasks; they empower their team, nurture talent, and create an environment conducive to growth. It's about listening, empathizing, and leveraging technical knowledge to guide, mentor, and inspire. A leader encourages innovation, supports risk-taking, and values diversity of thought, creating a team that thrives in a collaborative ecosystem.
Bosses are easily committed to the success of the team, but they disaccept the failures and look for the issues within the team. Mostly it’s not their bad will, but how they were taught and from who they learned. It’s really hard to work with the “boss” kind of persona, but unfortunately, it’s quite common and I worked with such also. At an early stage of my career, I remember one of such, really difficult times for me as a just-starting team lead. Questioning my technical expertise, leading abilities, and being a “data record” in the HR system. But such an experience was beneficial for the future. It shapes who I am now, how I treat people, with whom I work, and how I value my and their technical experience.
Leaders are like umbrellas and support the team from day zero to the last check on production.
Conclusion: The Engineering Leadership Continuum
The transformation from an engineer to a senior manager is not just a climb up the corporate ladder; it's a transition along a leadership continuum. It’s about carrying forward the technical expertise while imbibing qualities of empathy, vision, and adaptability. True leadership isn’t about exerting authority; it's about inspiring greatness, fostering growth, and creating a legacy that extends beyond oneself.
The team that appreciates your technical experience and uses it is an invaluable asset. Use your abilities to inspire others and involve them in your visionary goals.
The journey from engineer to senior manager is a testament to the fusion of technical proficiency and leadership acumen, culminating in a role that shapes not just projects, but the people and the future of an organization. Moreover, this fusion of competencies makes you a much more efficient leader which as a result applies to your team, department, and company. Engineering Leadership is one of the substitutes for forward-thinking organizations, who invest and drive their business with Open Source and make their operations & services efficient.
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