Going from an engineer into a leadership role is anything but straightforward. The biggest challenge for technical minds, according to High Tech Institute trainer Jaco Friedrich, is to align and influence diverse and multidisciplined stakeholders – all from a position without power. To Friedrich, generating this buy-in doesn’t only come from your technical expertise, but from proper positioning, strong leadership skills and good communication.
You’ve finally done it. After years of working your way up from junior to senior engineer and architect, now you’re ready to take on a leadership role. This is your chance to show the company that you’ve got what it takes to assume the wheel and drive a team to success. With all the technical knowledge you’ve gained through your experience, you’ve pretty much seen it all and are quite advanced to less-experienced team members. This transition should be a breeze, right? According to Jaco Friedrich, a former architect and team lead turned trainer, establishing your technical credibility can be a big help, but it’s your leadership skills that will bring you to the next step in your career development.
“Spending years working my way up through the different levels of engineering and then to group leader, I’ve experienced first-hand the difficulties and the pitfalls of making the jump to a leadership role,” recalls Friedrich, a training expert at High Tech Institute. While the high-tech domain is filled with some of the brightest technical minds, for many, it’s the non-technical soft skills of interaction and communication that are lacking. “It took me years of training and education to really understand those difficulties, which is why I use my time to share what I’ve learned with the engineers of today. Sometimes, you can best teach that which you most needed to learn in your own personal development. I think that’s definitely the case for me.”
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