FAQ - Leader Roles and Responsibilities

What exactly is a techie?

To paraphrase Paul Glen, author of Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead People Who Deliver Technology»,

"[Techies] are the highly intelligent, usually introverted, extremely valuable, independent-minded, hard-to-find, difficult-to-keep technology workers essential to the future of any company."

Although Mr. Glen's comment refers specifically to the knowledge workers who specialize in the creation, maintenance, and/or support of high technology in the computer industry, I find that his definition holds true for most technical professionals, including (but not limited to) scientists, engineers, and technicians in any field. Techies may be found in every industry — in one department or spread across many functional areas/groups within an organization.

What makes a techie unique, i.e., different from other employees?

The short answer is: Techies operate by a different set of standards than the rest of the workforce; they have different priorities and are motivated by different factors. Most of these differences relate to the way techies think about the world, and the demands of their work. For more specific information, consult my article, Communication with Techies (When You Aren't One)».

What are my primary roles and responsibilities as a techie leader?

Every successful techie leader plays five essential roles. Think of these roles as hats you wear depending on the circumstances in which you find yourself. Sometimes you will find that one particular hat will satisfy your needs; at other times, you may be called upon to wear multiple hats at the same time - cumbersome, but clearly doable. The more hats you need to wear at any given moment, the greater the skill and balance required to wear them. The five essential roles are:

• Coach-Mentor — The techie leader must help group members grow and develop to their full potential — exploring options, defining personal career goals, devising action plans, and supporting individual and group efforts to achieve those goals.
  
  
• Creator — Techies perform best when their environment promotes creativity and nurtures motivation. The type of environment created or fostered by a techie leader sets the stage for success or failure within the organization.
  
  
• Facilitator — Techies work better and achieve better results in a collaborative environment. The wise techie leader facilitates techies and their work rather than attempting to direct them using command-and-control techniques.
  
  
• Liaison — Techies are not often noted for their great communication skills. Techie leaders must open and maintain lines of communication both internally within their group, and between their group and those outside their group, e.g., upper management, other departments/functions, clients, and vendors.
  
  
• Guide — Techies perform in an environment full of ambiguity and uncertainty — this has a lot to do with the nature of their work. The techie leader must clarify the path to success and resolve any ambiguity along the way.

These five roles establish a foundation for your leadership style. Are you wearing all of these 'hats' (roles) within your own organization? If not, then you have some work to do. Think of it as an opportunity for real improvement — both for yourself and for your people.

What is my most important role as a techie leader?

Perhaps the most important role of a techie leader is that of Guide. In today's complex and often rocky business environment, you as a techie leader are continually called upon to make sense of the ambiguities and uncertainties that surround your people. These ambiguities and uncertainties stem from environmental, structural, and task-related challenges that you must manage and interpret for your people. Managing ambiguity is not an easy task, but it is an essential one.

Managing ambiguity and uncertainty effectively:

• Promotes understanding
• Minimizes costly mistakes and controversy
• Increases the confidence of your people in themselves and their products/services
• Yields better outcomes and increase customer satisfaction

What types of uncertainties or ambiguities could affect my performance and/or that of my team(s)?

In his book, Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead People Who Deliver Technology», author Paul Glen defines ambiguity as follows:

"Something is ambiguous if you are unaware of it altogether, have incomplete information about it, or don't understand its implications or meanings."

Mr. Glen further suggests that ambiguity has a structure, and I like the three-tiered model that he uses to describe the hierarchy of ambiguity.

Below is a brief summary of Paul Glen's model (which I cover in more depth in Module 1 of Techies on the Rise™»), along with a few tips I've found useful in managing the three types of ambiguity described by Mr. Glen's model. I recommend you consult his book (referenced above) for a more comprehensive and thorough understanding of this model.

Environmental Ambiguity encompasses the "big picture" issues of meaning, purpose, and identity as they pertain to questions about the relationships among the world, marketplace, organization, clients, techies and their work.

Structural Ambiguity addresses issues related to projects and processes, i.e., using information derived from managing the environmental ambiguities, leaders address questions related to the selection and organization of work done by their techies.

Task Ambiguity relates to project roles, assignments, and judgments. Using information derived from the other two levels, the leader addresses questions and issues about the details of individual roles and tasks.