Enabling Awesome: A Study of Technical Leadership

Skilled technical leaders are the key to enabling awesome teams. At its core, technical leadership is about sharing your vision and persuading others to join you on the adventure. Unlike traditional leadership or management skills, technical leadership requires the ability to lead through influence rather than authority.Success as a technical leader depends deeply on the relationship with the people you lead. Technical leaders walk a tightrope between innovation and stability, holding the technical vision and working within the constraints of budgets, requirements, and stability. It’s a careful balance between the technical vision and the raison d'etre of the team. Technical leaders are learning evangelists - both of their own skills and the skills of their team. Learning and curiosity builds connections between teammates and improves skills across the team. Communication skills are paramount. Technical leaders are required to bridge the gap between the business focused leadership and the technical team and ensure both sides feel understood. Diversity is key to unlocking creativity and problem solving from multiple perspectives. Empowerment is a hallmark of exceptional technical leadership. Teams respond with awesome performance when they feel their leader believes in their potential.Becoming a technical leader requires a shift from deep technical expertise to a more relational, human-based skill set. Using assessments to understand the landscape, a leader can explore which areas make the most sense to develop. A coach or mentor can give much needed perspective and support as a leader practices these new skills. The biggest shift comes when leaders make the decision to learn from their failures and decide to try again.This paper showcases two examples of technical leadership in action. First, the story of Toto Wolff, the Team Principal for the Mercedes Petronas Formula 1 racing team. His focus on psychological safety, diversity, and self-care are key to his ability to turn a flagging team into an 8-time champion. Padmasree Warrior is a technical leader for many companies, including Cisco, Motorola, and Nio USA. She demonstrates the importance of integrating work and life, the value of learning, and creating a culture of authenticity and accountability.Technical leadership is a unique skill set that is essential for enabling awesome teams. It requires relationship building, technical excellence, learning evangelism, and human skills. Technical leaders must be deeply self-aware, compassionate, and able to build psychological safety that enables the team to achieve the technical vision. With daily practice and a commitment to continuous learning, being a technical leader who enables their team to be awesome is in reach.