Tech leaders often focus on their technical “capabilities” as the essence of their work. However, sometimes focusing on non-technical skills can make you even more effective.
As a technology leader, it's easy to focus on developing your technical skills to the detriment of everything else. After all, it’s in our job description that we are technology leaders! However, the other half of our job description speaks to a multidimensional role that involves disciplines ranging from psychology and management science to empathy and storytelling.
Most of us find the technology part of our role exciting and engaging, and we know who to talk to and where to go to quickly get up to speed on technology trends and execution. The other, more volatile basket of skills is where many of us struggle. Here are three skills that will make you a better, more effective leader and improve your ability to learn and explain technology.
Become a better student
One of the most critical skills in almost every field, especially technology, is learning and quickly applying new information. If you consider the technologies that were prevalent when you started your career, there are probably few that are still in active use and you have probably gained working knowledge of half a dozen new ones.
Although we don't always think deeply about it, learning is a skill that can be developed and improved, and as you progress toward mastery, it becomes a powerful tool in your leadership arsenal. In addition to the ability to quickly acquire working knowledge about new technologies, you will likely need to quickly develop knowledge on topics ranging from marketing and corporate finance to a new industry if you change jobs or your company launches a new set of products.
One of the best ways to become a better student is mindful practice. Try learning a new skill or content area outside of those you traditionally study for work and your current hobbies. Perhaps you have a home renovation project underway and can learn some aspects of construction so you can speak knowledgeably with your contractors. If you're not musically inclined, try learning to use a basic songwriting tool like Garage Band or similar, or if you're more ambitious, learn an instrument.
There are dozens of possibilities, from new languages to delving deeper into technological applications and building a small application or similar project. The goal is not mastery of an unfamiliar skill, but “learning to learn,” a more challenging task with unfamiliar content.
Applied storytelling
We often hear about storytelling techniques, but few take pragmatic steps to learn and apply storytelling. The benefits of storytelling are obvious. As human beings, we have shared knowledge through storytelling since the advent of language and are naturally inclined to gather information through stories.
Applied storytelling is not only an engaging content area to enhance your learning skills, but it is also a skill you can practice frequently and apply with minimal cost. The next time you give a talk or present content, try framing it as a story, with a defined beginning and end, a set of heroes and villains, and a “lesson” you want to convey to your audience.
This concept may seem a little strange and complicated at first, but you've heard stories all your life, so take your favorite simple story or fairy tale and apply a similar structure. With a little practice, you'll soon find that your audience is more engaged, your content is better received, and with a little luck, whatever action or lesson you hope to convey will be accepted and implemented.
Practice Empathy
There has been a lot of talk about empathy, to the point where it is misunderstood and mixed with things like compassion and sympathy. Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings and motivations of another human being without judgment or agreement. It’s the proverbial ability to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” without being on their side or against them.
Empathy is crucial for leaders on several fronts: if you can understand the feelings and motivations of your team members, colleagues and leaders, you can respond more effectively. For example, two high performers who are similar in every way may be experiencing an unexpected drop in performance. Your natural reaction may be to give them a “pep talk” and look for improvements, and then perhaps continue with other techniques if the pep talk fails.
If you start by trying to understand their feelings and motivations, you'll likely start by asking questions rather than providing a recipe for improvement. You may find that despite similar backgrounds and past performance, these two individuals have very different reasons for their downfall and require different interventions.
Tactically, empathy can make you more effective in everything from supplier negotiations to performance reviews. Just like storytelling, this is a difficult skill to master but easy to practice. Before important interactions with everyone from team members to bosses, take a minute or two to imagine yourself in their shoes. What are they worried about? What do they want to get out of interacting with you? What are your hopes and concerns?
As you develop your empathy, you will find that your teams are performing better and you may even hear comments like “our leader just 'gets' us and is deeply concerned about our team and our work.”
Go to work
If you've managed to advance into a leadership role, there's probably no doubt about your technical talent and ability to understand and lead complex technology implementations. However, if you want to take your leadership game to the next level, it's essential to focus on the non-technical side of your leadership role and develop skills like those mentioned above.
With some practice, becoming a more effective learner, applying storytelling techniques, and improving your sense of empathy can make you an exceptional leader who happens to be in a technical field, rather than a great technician who is just a leader. median.
