Category: CTO Academy

For the modern CTO, knowledge generally comes wrapped in three forms …

Technical

This is often about building a T-shaped skill set, with a general awareness of different technologies, alongside a deep understanding of at least one.

This helps you to sharpen your BS antenna about what does and doesn’t “feel” right. 

Domain

An understanding of the business and the space, particularly around how it makes money. Things can go wrong without it.

Forgetting the customer, failing to spot a changing business landscape and/or not understanding business processes and relationships have been the end of many senior executives (and their businesses).

Leadership

Core to the success of any CTO is an understanding of and comfort with the soft skills you need to motivate, negotiate and thrive as a senior executive. 

Weakness in any of these three areas of knowledge will make your journey to becoming an effective technology leader just that little bit harder.

I’ve been asked to write a short piece on the impact of confidence in leadership.

1st, how do I keep it short?

2nd, which angle do I start with for this many tentacled topic?

Because whether we talk about true confidence, projection, self-doubt and/or the ever present Imposter syndrome, how we deal with these issues will likely have a greater impact on what we achieve in our career, business, sport, life as most other factors.

And one of the key challenges we all have to face is building our own sense of self-confidence while managing what we perceive as the confidence and swagger of others, much of which we know is BS.

For we live in an era where Confident incompetence is en vogue and the ability to project confidence, however unmerited, often supersedes other basic qualifications for some very serious jobs, often with disastrous consequences.

It stalks the corridors of political power, blocks talent in large-scale organisations and permeates a start-up world where the projection of confidence attracts investment while covering up a multitude of sins.

The “fake it ’till you make it” job description requires you to express supreme confidence (whatever the background truth) in …

… your product
… your numbers
… yourself
… your incompetence

Some make a virtue of a certain kind of narcissism where the “hustle” gets them to the top whilst the rest of us have to wrestle with imposter syndrome and natural self-doubt.

By contrast, true confidence has a look all of its own and has been the subject of detailed research, particularly within business and sport. The impact of gender differences and stereotyping is a whole field on its own. But stripping it all back to basics, I lean on my old friend Socrates. 

He believed that we should find confidence in our own beliefs and not be too swayed by others. 

That thinking logically about your life directly correlates to becoming more assured and independent while less conformist and less hamstrung by what others think.

The essence of self-confidence.

To be a confident leader and one who can bring others with you, you don’t need to know everything or even project that you know everything.

You need to get your happiness from within and lead from that core principle. 

From there the rest flows…

You gain confidence and judgment about when to say yes, and when to say no.

You understand the importance of listening more than you speak.

You’re not afraid to admit you’re wrong or celebrate other people when they are right.

You build the courage to take risks and importantly the respect to bring others with you.

And importantly, you’ll be able to spot and comfortably negotiate the confident incompetents.

My biggest flaw as an entrepreneur was a lack of judgment about when to say yes (a natural inclination) and when to say no (suffering from FOMO).

The uncertainty of start-up life meant that I wanted to keep all options open as long as possible which of course, proved completely counter productive as it diluted the narrow focus I needed for any kind of success.

The importance of judging how and when to say no is equally important in managerial and leadership roles because a key challenge we have as developing leaders is how to manage the people-pleaser element that doesn’t want to upset others or let them down, alongside that fear of missing out.

NO might be the smallest word we use, but it’s often the most important one to master.

As you grow into a strategic role within your organisation, the importance of time management, delegation and learning when to say no increases exponentially.

So what stops us from saying NO?

Often, it’s as simple as not knowing how to do it.

What’s the best way to tell people you don’t have the time, or it’s not a good idea or frankly, you just don’t want to do it?

One key consideration is not just saying no, but to explain why you’re saying no — what is the context behind your decision.

It helps if you’re working in a psychologically safe environment where mutual trust allows the team to feel comfortable about stating their capacity and ring-fencing their priorities.

Another key area is managing the iterative feedback loop with stakeholders where you’re under pressure to say yes but at the risk of trying to be all things to all people, an anxiety compounded by the power dynamic of a paying client?

The key is taking time to digest what you’re being asked and avoid rushing into a yes.

How do you say NO and mean it?

I leave you with six bullet points:

1. Learn how to say no politely. Be direct and stick to facts in your answer.

2. If an opportunity or meeting presents itself, before saying yes, ask yourself how much time it will require and whether the potential outcome is worth it.

3. Manage your energy. Understand the rhythms of your day; block out time when you’re most productive and protect it.

4. Prioritise, Prioritise, Prioritise… damn those “to-do” lists, but they are essential.

5. Protect your team. Say no on their behalf to ensure they’re not working over capacity.

6. Provide a role model that empowers others in the team to learn the art of saying no.

“When you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself”

Paolo Coelho

There’s a reason why the shelves of your local bookstore are heaving under the weight of so many management books.

It’s because managing people is tough and would be a lot easier if it wasn’t for the people.

But clearly it’s a prerequisite for anyone with leadership ambitions so the question is this:

How to most effectively transform a disparate group of individuals into a high-performance team capable of achieving a common goal?

Every management guru has to create their unique perspective but most tend to agree on the following;

It’s about culture and that culture often depends on you. 

Hire for fit as well as expertise.
Do they bring the right energy, commitment, values to the team?
And follow the hiring maxim …”If there’s any doubt, there is no doubt”

Create an environment of psychological safety and creative empowerment.

Be supportive and accessible — your door should always be open. 

And before we close, an article on management would be incomplete without at least one motivational cliche so here goes…. ‘There’s No i In Team‘.

Individual egos shouldn’t be allowed to dominate the conversation, including yours and beware the superstar who has become more disruptive than irreplaceable.

Finally… the simplest but most overlooked management technique of them all. Learn to say “thank you” more often.

I’m talking specifically to you because I know that you can do this more.
We all can.

Gratitude goes a long way to making people feel valued and it costs you nothing.

‘I’m not the smartest fellow in the world, but I sure can pick smart colleagues”
– Franklin D Roosevelt

BTW, here’s a smattering of those management books you might already have or should think about acquiring;

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick M. Lencioni
• Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute
• The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo
• Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson
• Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Want to find out more about CTO Academy and our Technology Leadership Courses, including lectures and discussions focused around Team Building, Dynamics and Culture?

Visit the CTO Academy Website and in particular our executive leadership course, The Digital MBA for Technology Leaders winning rave reviews from technology leaders around the world.