Continue to improve your leadership capabilities. Work to understand and apply various leadership models, improving your ability to handle all manner of workforce challenges.
“Be a Leader” is one of the essential 12 behaviors and actions to adopt and practice from Success in the Technology Field that will help you to advance or prepare for a career in technology. The twelve recommendations involve adopting crucial behaviors that apply throughout your career, as well as specific actions you should take at different stages of your career.
There are undoubtedly many people in the technology field who are excellent leaders. But many of us with technology backgrounds struggle with aspects of leading people. Given that some of the resources you manage typically include people, good leadership is an essential part of good management, particularly as it relates to directing people. You should take steps to prepare yourself before you step into any first-line management role, even if you consider yourself someone who is a natural leader with an innate capability to motivate others.
Be a Leader
Leadership and management are two different but related disciplines. According to the Management Study Guide, leadership is “the potential to influence and drive the group efforts towards the accomplishment of goals.” Management focuses on “the activities of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling resources to achieve an objective.” But given that some of the resources to manage typically include people, good leadership is an essential part of good management, particularly as it relates to directing people. To get effective results from people, you need to ensure that they understand their roles, and you should inspire and motivate them, thus creating a team focused on attaining an objective. These are all aspects of leadership.
Good management starts with the ability to manage yourself and your activities. How do you plan, organize, and control yourself? If this is an area that needs attention, there are many courses in managing yourself, including courses on prioritization and time management. There are also books specific to this topic.
As you progress and move into a front-line full-time management role, augment your project management training with formal coursework on people management. You should attempt to line up mentors who can support you. And if your organization is willing to invest in your development, a management or executive coach can be of value to you.
Think of leadership as an art. There are different leadership models. If you wish to rise to an organization’s executive level, you will need to choose a model that fits best with your personality and value system.
Learn to adapt your leadership model to address particular situations or deal with certain types of people. Your ability to recognize what model works in a given situation and effectively use that model is the mark of an excellent leader.
If you want to transition from being an individual contributor to being a manager and leader of people, work at it before stepping into such management roles. You owe it to yourself and to those you will lead. Document your aspirations for management in your career plan. In your IDP, document what you will do to get ready—formal training, reading, and self-exploration. As part of your plan, make it a priority to gain skills and experience in project management. And rely on your mentors, and if possible, a coach. They can be incredibly valuable in aiding you in determining the steps you should take to prepare yourself when taking on a new management role. As you have management success, continue to improve your leadership capabilities. Work to understand and apply various leadership models, improving your agility in handling all manner of workforce challenges. Such leadership agility, together with appropriate subject-matter knowledge, prepares you to hold the senior-most positions in an organization.
Success in the Technology Field: A Guide for Advancing Your Career
Success in the Technology Field is a practical “how-to” guide for a career in technology. It presents a holistic model, incorporating skills and behaviors that help you define and attain your career goals, whether you aspire to be an executive, a leading technologist, or a successful product salesperson.