Effective leadership in the tech innovation space requires more than just technical expertise. To excel, leaders must also develop a broad range of skills and knowledge, including strategic thinking, communication, and people management - this is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve taken to referring to this superset of competencies as Technology Delivery Leadership. Join me in discovering the core principles of this framework and learn how to cultivate both technical and non-technical competencies, driving success and innovation in your teams.

Expanding Beyond Technical Mastery

Technical skills alone are not enough to ensure success in today’s dynamic tech environment. Leaders must also embrace strategic thinking, enhance their communication abilities, broaden their awareness of business acumen, and hone their people management skills. As George Westerman, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, states, “The ability to envision and drive change is just as important as the ability to work with technology. If you don’t have both, you can’t succeed in this world".

A comprehensive skill set enables leaders to create value, make informed decisions, foster innovation, and effectively manage teams.

Self-Organizing Teams

Teaching team members about the facets of Technology Delivery Leadership broadens their perspectives, enabling them to see the business holistically. With this broadened view, individuals and teams can make better decisions in their day-to-day tasks. This reduces the need for micromanagement and supervisory quality checks, enhances their agility, and frees up valuable managerial time for strategic priorities. This agility is crucial in technology delivery, where project requirements and client expectations can shift rapidly. Michael Riedijk, CEO of PageFreezer, highlights the importance of transparency in achieving this: “Transparency within your organization is the difference between having a business that’s simply running, and having one that’s moving in one direction.” Broadening the team’s perspective helps them understand the overall direction and objectives of the organization. This leads to more effective and autonomous decision-making, with less time spent waiting for decisions they could easily make themselves by applying lessons learned and making minor changes to their daily practices.

Understanding Managerial Direction

A broader perspective helps teams align with their managerial leaders' direction. When team members understand strategic, communicative, and organizational aspects, they better grasp the rationale behind managerial decisions and directives. This enhanced understanding allows staff members to see how focusing on customer outcomes drives decision-making, as just one example. Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon, highlights the importance of being customer-focused: “If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering”.

This alignment fosters a cohesive and motivated team, leading to more predictable business outcomes and higher morale.

Cornerstones of Technology Delivery Leadership

To understand Technology Delivery Leadership, we can look at the model illustrated in the diagram, which encompasses several key areas:

1. Craft 

Craft represents a person’s core area of technical expertise, essential for creating high-quality products and solutions. This expertise could be in software engineering, quality engineering, platform engineering, or any other technical domain. Mastery in one’s craft involves continuous learning and staying updated with the latest technologies and best practices, driving innovation and maintaining high standards. Elon Musk, Founder of SpaceX and Tesla, expresses this sentiment perfectly: “Engineering is the closest thing to magic that exists in the world”. The intention of creating the Technology Delivery Leadership framework is to build upon that magic.

2. Delivery Excellence 

Delivery excellence ensures projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards. Key aspects include: (Please note, this section will contain “light” definitions to many terms you are already well familiar with. In the interest of alignment, these definitions have been provided with the intention of establishing a Technology Delivery Leadership lexicon that will be referenced in subsequent blog posts and discussions.)

• Agile Project Management: Enhancing flexibility and responsiveness, agile project management focuses on iterative progress through small, manageable tasks, promoting continuous improvement and stakeholder collaboration to drive business success.

• Product Ownership: Defining and prioritizing product features and goals, product ownership ensures the product vision aligns with customer needs and business objectives, facilitating effective decision-making and resource allocation to enhance business outcomes.

• Forecasting & Predictability: Utilizing data-driven insights and historical trends, forecasting and predictability aim to create reliable project timelines and resource plans, helping manage expectations and mitigate risks to support business growth.

• Estimation: Providing reliable time and resource estimates, estimation involves detailed analysis and planning to ensure project feasibility and effective resource management, thereby supporting overall business efficiency.

• Risk Management: Integrates risk analysis and decision-making into planning and operations, identifying risks, evaluating their impact, developing mitigation plans, and continuously monitoring and adapting to new risks to safeguard business interests.

• Prioritization: Determining critical tasks to focus on, prioritization involves evaluating tasks based on their impact and urgency to optimize resource allocation and project outcomes, ultimately driving business value.

• Operational Tempo Optimization: Balancing workload and efficiency, operational tempo optimization seeks to maintain a sustainable pace of work, ensuring consistent productivity and minimizing burnout to enhance business performance.

• Program Management: Coordinating multiple related projects, program management focuses on achieving strategic objectives and benefits that are greater than the sum of the individual projects, thereby driving significant business impact.

• Product Management: Overseeing the lifecycle of products, product management involves strategic planning, development, and marketing to ensure products meet customer needs and business goals, thus driving market success.

• Product Development: Leading product creation and refinement, product development emphasizes innovation, customer feedback, and continuous improvement to deliver high-quality products that support business growth.

• DevOps: Integrating development and operations, DevOps fosters a collaborative culture and automates processes to improve software quality, speed of delivery, and operational efficiency, contributing to overall business success.

• InfoSec: Ensuring robust information security practices, InfoSec involves protecting data and systems from cyber threats through proactive risk management and compliance with security standards, safeguarding business integrity.

• Process Optimization: Streamlining processes, process optimization focuses on eliminating inefficiencies and improving workflow to enhance productivity and quality, thereby supporting business efficiency.

• Production Releases & Deployments: Managing software releases, production releases, and deployments ensure smooth transitions from development to production, minimizing downtime and errors to support business continuity.

• Enterprise IT Operations & Day 2 Support: Supporting IT infrastructure post-deployment, enterprise IT operations, and day 2 support maintain system performance, reliability, and security, ensuring ongoing business operations.

• Architecture Strategy: Planning and managing technical architecture, architecture strategy involves designing scalable, robust, and flexible systems that align with business objectives to support long-term growth.

• Quality Strategy: Ensuring high-quality outcomes, quality strategy encompasses continuous testing, monitoring, and improvement practices to meet or exceed customer expectations, driving business excellence.

3. Business Acumen 

Business acumen involves understanding the broader business context and aligning technology initiatives with organizational goals. Key components include:

• Financial Acumen: Managing budgets and financial performance, financial acumen involves strategic planning, cost control, and investment analysis to ensure financial health and sustainability, driving long-term business success.

• Organizational Acumen: Understanding organizational structure and culture, organizational acumen focuses on navigating internal dynamics, fostering collaboration, and driving change initiatives effectively to enhance business performance.

• Industry Acumen: Staying informed about industry trends and regulatory changes, industry acumen helps leaders anticipate market shifts, identify opportunities, and maintain compliance, thereby supporting competitive business positioning.

• Business Operations: Knowledge of business processes and efficiencies, business operations involve optimizing workflows, improving productivity, and ensuring seamless execution of business activities to drive operational excellence.

• Customer Service Acumen: Ensuring high-quality service delivery, customer service acumen emphasizes understanding customer needs, improving service processes, and enhancing customer satisfaction to support business growth.

• Sales/Market Acumen: Insights into market dynamics and sales strategies, sales/market acumen involves analyzing market trends, customer behaviour, and competitive landscape to drive growth and innovation, enhancing business success.

• Legal Acumen: Awareness of legal considerations and compliance, legal acumen ensures adherence to laws and regulations, mitigating legal risks, and protecting organizational interests to support sustainable business operations.

4. People Leadership 

People leadership nurtures and develops the potential within your team. Key elements include:

• Self-Awareness: Understanding strengths, weaknesses, and the impact on others, self-awareness enables leaders to make informed decisions, manage emotions, and foster a positive work environment, enhancing overall business effectiveness.

• Communication: Effective communication and fostering a positive team environment, communication skills are essential for articulating vision, aligning team efforts, and resolving conflicts, driving business success.

• Performance Management: Setting expectations, providing feedback, and recognizing achievements, performance management focuses on developing talent, improving productivity, and achieving organizational goals to support business growth.

• Recognizing and Developing Future Talent: Identifying and nurturing potential in all team members, recognizing and developing various types of talent, and providing growth opportunities to build a strong and capable team for long-term business success.

• Strategic Thinking: Decision-making and balancing short-term and long-term goals, strategic thinking involves anticipating future trends, identifying opportunities, and aligning resources to achieve objectives, driving business innovation.

• Team Building & Collaboration: Creating a cohesive team environment, team building and collaboration emphasize trust, cooperation, and shared goals to enhance team performance and innovation, supporting overall business performance.

People leadership is not just about managing but also about inspiring and empowering the team. As Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, puts it, “You don’t have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream”. This highlights the importance of having a structured approach to leadership. Fostering loyalty and motivation drives the team towards greater achievements.

Implementing the Model

Integrating these cornerstones involves learning, practice, and reflection. Leaders can start by identifying areas for improvement and seeking out resources and training. Practical steps for implementation include:

• Regular Training and Development: Investing in ongoing education.

• Mentorship Programs: Facilitating knowledge sharing and growth.

• Feedback Loops: Regular feedback to improve processes and performance.

Real-world examples, such as a technology company embracing self-organizing teams, demonstrate the benefits of this approach. Empowering team members and fostering continuous improvement can lead to innovation and business success.

Conclusion

The journey to effective Technology Delivery Leadership is one of continuous learning and growth. By expanding beyond technical mastery and embracing a broader set of competencies, leaders can drive innovation, make informed decisions, and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement. This enables them to focus on strategic initiatives that will significantly impact the organization and deliver value to customers.

For teams, this approach encourages self-sufficiency and a wider perspective, allowing them to understand the business as a whole and improve their everyday decision-making. It minimizes the need for close supervision and frequent oversight, boosts flexibility, and allows managers to focus more on strategic priorities.

Don't settle for average tech delivery! This framework is the key to unleashing your team's full potential. Let's talk. I'll show you how to create the leadership capability your organization needs.