CIO Just 4 things: Technology Leadership

In this sixth installment I want to address the topic of technology leadership skills specifically versus leadership skills generally. Again, it has been very hard to keep it to just four things, but here are the ones I believe particularly apply to leaders in technology roles.?

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• Eye on the future: Almost all technology work involves having a view of the future, either in terms of what it is likely to look like or in terms of the desirable future you are looking to create. The reason why this is a must-have for technology leaders is because technology enables most things today and it is also the fastest moving/evolving phenomenon in society. Being able to project into the future accurately will significantly increase an organisation's chance of being successful and similarly, a small miss-read and it could lead to its demise. Nothing short of that. This eye on the future needs to: discern the fad from the game changing, anticipate the threat landscape, translate the early "concept” into a disruptor, understand how what is being done now will stand the test of time, and understand how to build change resilience into everything as change is the only constant.?
• Calm in the eye of the storm: faced with a myriad of threats internally and externally, the technology leader needs to be a figure of calm, not to be mistaken with inaction, and able to face any situation with confidence. Cyber threats for example are at their highest level ever as well as their most sophisticated with the increased use of AI. The technology leader needs to not only shore up defenses but be prepared for the eventuality. That preparation will come from both being able to anticipate what can/will happen and rehearsing the post attack choreography. It is that latter that will give you most confidence and calm. But this is not the only reason for this to be a pre-requisite. There are also threats that cannot be anticipated such as global conflict, pandemics, regional conflicts, policy shocks etc.. That is why a technology leader needs to possess an ability to look upon all of this with calm and even derive fulfillment from the knowledge that nothing is certain. ?
• Speaking in tongues: the best technology leaders are able to speak different “languages” depending on their partner/customer/audience. With technologists they need to be technology literate, with boards/investors they need to be able to bridge technology and outcomes, with clients they need to be able to sell the benefits, with finance they need to speak “bottom-line”, with suppliers they need to speak “legal”, and increasingly?in public they need to speak in dreams. The best technology leaders manage to switch between these different “languages” with enormous dexterity such that all audiences feel understood and heard. ?
• Customer centricity: it is both a truism and a cliche that?an organisation needs to put the customer at the center of everything that it does. It however never ceases to amaze me when engineering or internal IT teams get frustrated that their bonuses include business outcome related metrics like sales, or when I hear that they made their release so it is now up to everyone else to figure out how to make the money come in. Those are just two examples, but it is my contention that technical teams all too often view themselves as being unable to influence outcomes and are too far from the customer, when in reality the customer is all around and needs to be put at the centre of all the team does. That is valid both for internal and external customers. If laptops do not arrive, employees cannot do what they are being employed to do which hinders?attainment, if the features are “buggy” that directly impacts confidence in the product and retention, if features introduce more friction in the business, they can seriously impeded progress, etc.. So repeating the links of every role to the customer is critical. So much so, I would argue that if there is not a clear connection of the role to the customer then that role should be re-scoped or potentially removed. The technology leader needs to take the lead in showing how they impact the objectives, and not only be happy to be held accountable but also seek to go and meet the customers so as not lose their true north. ?