Technical Leadership

Developing high-performers as leaders

What makes an IT department or company successful at delivering solutions on time, on budget, and with the features users want?

IT executives have been living with this question for decades. Certainly choosing the 'right' technologies and project management methodology while incorporating industry standards and best practices contributes to the success of any initiative. However, these traditional approaches miss a key factor that can dramatically increase your organization's ability to achieve breakthrough results.

That missing factor is developing your people as technical leaders.

What Is a Technical Leader?

Technical leaders are what you want and need to unlock the full potential of your organization.

A technical leader is accountable for moving a module, project, department or company forward both technically and strategically. They master looking at problems from multiple perspectives. They are as adept at standing in the shoes of company executives as they are in understanding the concerns and recognizing the innovative ideas of developers. Although they are not MBAs or project managers, they understand the economics of software development and the challenges of successfully coordinating development projects and teams.

Technical leaders are skilled technologists who are responsible for:

Working as partners with the business team to ensure they fully understand the nature of the business and how what they are working on contributes to the company's overall success
Never losing sight of the economic implications of their choices and the fact that their efforts are an economic activity undertaken to improve the bottom line (by either making money or saving money)
Making the right technical decisions—decisions not necessarily based purely on analyses of technical issues and requirements-that yield the best results for the team and the company
Appreciating and skillfully coordinating people and time to produce an optimal solution for the amount of money and effort invested
Creating a culture of technical leadership by mentoring developers and architects in terms of solution design, development and maintenance

What Distinguishes a Technical Leader?

Technical leaders understand the business and its goals and are able to create a vision of technical excellence completely aligned with those goals. They work with a more complete and comprehensive picture of reality, which increases their ability to make the right technical choices. They are able to masterfully execute long-term technical objectives on a day-to-day basis, making the critical decisions that factor in the technical, management and economic aspects of a project.

What Does a Technical Leader Need to Succeed?

An understanding of the multiple technical, management and business paradigms operating inside your company
The ability to recognize and work with paradigms (not just within one)
The ability to create a strong vision for what technical excellence looks like and align that vision with the business goals
A powerful language for getting everyone on the same page and managing people's commitments

Invest in Your Technical Leadership

Our leadership training helps develop key people in your organization as effective technical leaders who can guide you and your company to success.

Find out what Programming Mastery can do for your company.

Call (778) 883-9440 or email us today.