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| I have emerged from August and the holiday season … rebooted, recalibrated and refreshed.This week’s newsletter focuses a little on the CEO role – what makes the relationship with the CTO work and if/how you want to transition across to the hot seat yourself.We’ve also got an article from our Head of Careers Richard Weaver as he launches a month of FREE discovery coaching calls through September – more of that later.In the meantime, have a great weekend and please look after your CEO because sometimes … they just need a little love. ………………………………………….. Andrew Weaver Much loved CEO at CTO Academy [email protected] |
| MAIN ARTICLEWhat do you need from your CEO? The relationship between CEO and CTO is often the most critical one in the organisation and between two people with very difference personalities and perspectives. It’s no wonder sparks can fly …This weeks lead article is an aggregation of contributions made by our community of tech leaders when asked …”What do you need from your CEO?” and “What do you need from the CEO and how should you be supporting them?” Find out the response here |
| Forbes Article How to make CEO:CTO relationship work An article originally posted in Forbes where the author mentions that … “I have observed (and suffered from) misaligned expectations between the CTO/VP of engineering and CEO that lead to frustration and a lack of effectiveness on both sides.” He goes on to write a letter he describes as ” … the letter that I, as a CTO, wish I had written to my CEOs”Read more via How to make the CEO:CTO relationship work |
| From codemotion website Being a good CTO is just not good enough We have a number of CTO clients working on a plan to eventually migrate across to the CEO role.So we grabbed this article from our friends at CodeMotion which looks into just that leap …“Being the top dog is cool. Because, why not you, right?! Here you are, reading this, knowing you’ve got all your CTO challenges covered. You’re the IT explainer-in-chief to other management and the board of directors. Your direct reports seem to tolerate your leadership and the CEO usually sells your ideas as his own …”Rest of the article is available here: Being a good CTO is just not good enough |
| Time To Move On Founders, You don’t have to be CEO Here is an article that might be of particular interest to those of you working within a fast growth start up and/or dealing with a CEO who appears to have lost their mojo … Written by James Routledge, Founder of Mental Health Consultancy at Sanctus, it’s a candid admission abut when he realised the CEO role just wasn’t for him …“It was embarrassing to admit that I wasn’t enjoying being a CEO. On paper I had everything I’d always wanted. Product market fit, supportive investors, a great brand, a great team, an impactful product and a noble mission — all in a fast-growing market. Yet something didn’t feel right. I was feeling anxious before leadership team meetings. I was stuck on decisions; I felt really low”More from James here: Founders, you don’t have to be CEO |
| Product Code First vs. Product First Zach’s Engineering Handbook is a blog written by New York based Zach Lloyd about Product and Engineering.This 2019 article crossed my radar and i found it an interesting read … “There are two kinds of programmers, generally speaking. There are programmers who care more about code, and there are programmers who care more about product. The former – I’ll call them “code-first” programmers – are obsessed with how code is architected, what tools, libraries and languages are used, how much test coverage there is – stuff like that. Code-first programmers are psyched when they check in the perfect abstraction, when they get to use the latest language-feature, when they delete dead code. That is, they love the code they write – the code is the thing”Full article here: Code First vs. Product First |
| Career Roadmap and Interview Preparation Book Free Career Coaching Call .. but first As mentioned above, our Head of Careers Richard Weaver – he of 20+ years experience with high level IT recruiting – is running one month of free career coaching calls through the whole of September.If you have your eye on a particular roll, already have an interview booked or you’re just keen to discuss career roadmaps then book yourself a session here today.In the meantime, Richard wrote a fun article with some tips about the interview process …. 4 Reasons Why You Won’t Get That CTO Job which includes;“So this particular candidate had delivered strong performances throughout the process and at final interview the rapport with his interview panel was excellent.I sensed an imminent offer but also a sneaking worry that the candidate was beginning to over relax.We arrived at the end of the interview, softball personal questions.That’s all he had to negotiate to secure the role and let’s be frank – for me to secure my fee. And he was asked a final throwaway question about what he enjoyed doing socially ….”Find out what happened: 4 Reasons You Won’t Get That CTO Job |
| September Events What’s going on this month? As the world slowly starts to open up again … events are beginning to emerge from the shadows, like slightly frightened children unsure if the coast is yet clear.Tell us of any events you’re involved with or like to mention … some on our list;AI & Big Data Expo Physical Show, London 6th-7th September Virtual Show, 13th-15th SeptemberLondon Tech Week Virtual, 20th – 24th September 2021World Gratitude Day – as if you need a special day to show gratitude .. 21st September 2021 |
| BOOK OF THE WEEK How To Talk To Anyone … 92 Little Tricks For Big Success in RelationshipsIn How To Talk To Anyone the author reveals the secrets of successful communication.”Combining research wit and warm-hearted observations of human foibles, How to Talk to Anyone shows you how to make an unforgettable entrance and meet the people you want to meet; sound like an insider in any crowd, no matter how little you have in common; use body language to captivate audiences of all sizes; work a party the way a politician works a room; and always come across confident, credible, and charismatic wherever you are” |
| VIDEO OF THE WEEK Can’t believe it’s taken us 2 years to include an Al Pacino clip in the newsletter … “Any Given Sunday” |
MAIN ARTICLE What do you need from your CEO? The relationship between CEO and CTO is often the most critical one in the organisation and between two people with very difference personalities and perspectives. It’s no wonder sparks can fly … This weeks lead article is an aggregation of contributions made by our community of tech leaders when asked … “What do you need from your CEO?” and “What do you need from the CEO and how should you be supporting them?” Find out the response here |
Forbes Article How to make CEO:CTO relationship work An article originally posted in Forbes where the author mentions that … “I have observed (and suffered from) misaligned expectations between the CTO/VP of engineering and CEO that lead to frustration and a lack of effectiveness on both sides.” He goes on to write a letter he describes as ” … the letter that I, as a CTO, wish I had written to my CEOs”Read more via How to make the CEO:CTO relationship work |
From codemotion website Being a good CTO is just not good enough We have a number of CTO clients working on a plan to eventually migrate across to the CEO role. So we grabbed this article from our friends at CodeMotion which looks into just that leap … “Being the top dog is cool. Because, why not you, right?! Here you are, reading this, knowing you’ve got all your CTO challenges covered. You’re the IT explainer-in-chief to other management and the board of directors. Your direct reports seem to tolerate your leadership and the CEO usually sells your ideas as his own …” Rest of the article is available here: Being a good CTO is just not good enough |
Time To Move On Founders, You don’t have to be CEO Here is an article that might be of particular interest to those of you working within a fast growth start up and/or dealing with a CEO who appears to have lost their mojo … Written by James Routledge, Founder of Mental Health Consultancy at Sanctus, it’s a candid admission abut when he realised the CEO role just wasn’t for him … “It was embarrassing to admit that I wasn’t enjoying being a CEO. On paper I had everything I’d always wanted. Product market fit, supportive investors, a great brand, a great team, an impactful product and a noble mission — all in a fast-growing market. Yet something didn’t feel right. I was feeling anxious before leadership team meetings. I was stuck on decisions; I felt really low” More from James here: Founders, you don’t have to be CEO |
Product Code First vs. Product First Zach’s Engineering Handbook is a blog written by New York based Zach Lloyd about Product and Engineering. This 2019 article crossed my radar and i found it an interesting read … “There are two kinds of programmers, generally speaking. There are programmers who care more about code, and there are programmers who care more about product. The former – I’ll call them “code-first” programmers – are obsessed with how code is architected, what tools, libraries and languages are used, how much test coverage there is – stuff like that. Code-first programmers are psyched when they check in the perfect abstraction, when they get to use the latest language-feature, when they delete dead code. That is, they love the code they write – the code is the thing” Full article here: Code First vs. Product First |
Career Roadmap and Interview Preparation Book Free Career Coaching Call .. but first As mentioned above, our Head of Careers Richard Weaver – he of 20+ years experience with high level IT recruiting – is running one month of free career coaching calls through the whole of September. If you have your eye on a particular roll, already have an interview booked or you’re just keen to discuss career roadmaps then book yourself a session here today. In the meantime, Richard wrote a fun article with some tips about the interview process …. 4 Reasons Why You Won’t Get That CTO Job which includes;“So this particular candidate had delivered strong performances throughout the process and at final interview the rapport with his interview panel was excellent. I sensed an imminent offer but also a sneaking worry that the candidate was beginning to over relax. We arrived at the end of the interview, softball personal questions.That’s all he had to negotiate to secure the role and let’s be frank – for me to secure my fee. And he was asked a final throwaway question about what he enjoyed doing socially ….” Find out what happened: 4 Reasons You Won’t Get That CTO Job |
September Events What’s going on this month?As the world slowly starts to open up again … events are beginning to emerge from the shadows, like slightly frightened children unsure if the coast is yet clear. Tell us of any events you’re involved with or like to mention … some on our list; AI & Big Data Expo Physical Show, London 6th-7th September Virtual Show, 13th-15th September London Tech Week Virtual, 20th – 24th September 2021 World Gratitude Day – as if you need a special day to show gratitude .. 21st September 2021 |
| BOOK OF THE WEEK How To Talk To Anyone …92 Little Tricks For Big Success in Relationships In How To Talk To Anyone the author reveals the secrets of successful communication. “Combining research wit and warm-hearted observations of human foibles, How to Talk to Anyone shows you how to make an unforgettable entrance and meet the people you want to meet; sound like an insider in any crowd, no matter how little you have in common; use body language to captivate audiences of all sizes; work a party the way a politician works a room; and always come across confident, credible, and charismatic wherever you are” |
| CTO ACADEMY EBOOK 90 Things You Need To Know … About How To Become a CTOIf you haven’t already grabbed a copy of our updated eBook then what are you waiting for? A useful read for incumbent and aspiring CTO alike. Available here: 90 Things You Need To Know, If You Want To Become The CTO |
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