Do you know what it takes to be a good leader in tech? Whether you’re currently leading a tech team, looking to advance your career, or you’re just starting out with ambitions of leadership, it helps to know which skills you need to develop to make an impact in your field.
Here are our top 5 tips to becoming a better leader in the tech industries:
1. Stay Focused on the Bigger Picture
STEM industries are fast-paced, innovative, and constantly evolving, which makes for an exciting environment, but if you’re not careful, you can get sucked into the daily details of operations, forgetting the bigger picture. Instead of leading the way, you’ll find yourself playing catch-up!
A great tech leader is someone who can think strategically, beyond the urgent and the day-to-day necessities and stay focused on the bigger picture - whether for their own career path or for their company or team.
2. Allow Your Vision to Evolve
Being a leader in tech is all about having a vision and constantly working towards improving processes and workflows in order to make that vision a reality. That said, with STEM being the ever-evolving beast that it is, you have to allow your vision to evolve with it. As technology advances, so must your goalposts!
Staying up to date with tech trends and advancements will help support your vision, allow you to adjust that vision to stay ahead of the game, keep you moving forward AND lead the way in your tech field.
3. Innovate and Inspire
It’s no surprise that the tech industries celebrate innovation, so to be an effective leader in tech, you need to get creative! Being innovative is not just about having big ideas, but it’s about having the ability to motivate and inspire those around you to bring those ideas to fruition.
If you lead from a place of positivity and enthusiasm, then your team and those around you will feel it and display it too. Attitude is contagious after all!
If you’re in a managerial or supervisory role just now, encourage your team to get creative when it comes to problem-solving. The more engaged and listened to your team feels, the more innovative the solutions they will come up with, and the greater the impact you’ll have as a leader.
4. Empower Other Women
While the majority of leadership traits stay true for all and across a variety of industries, when it comes to tech, female leaders will have a few extra challenges to face in order to be recognized as such. It’s a sad fact that in the tech industries, women are still in the minority at all levels, including senior management.
The best way of changing that is by empowering other women. A strong leader in tech is one who pulls others up and along with them on their road to success. The STEM industries are competitive and if you have made it up the ladder to be a leader in your field, then hold it steady for others to follow.
You can, for example, mentor other women. One quick way to do that is to join the WomenTech Network and create a mentor profile.
5. Be Bold, Take Risks and Speak Up!
Often, women hang back from speaking up in workplace discussions until they are completely confident in their answers. Don’t be afraid to speak up and take risks. Be bold! Becoming a better leader means believing in yourself and having confidence in your own abilities. If you want others to see you as a leader in your tech field, then you have to get your voice heard.
6. Monitor Your Industry
Another sign of a great leader in tech is someone who monitors their industry, is up to date with the trends, and is aware of developments and coming changes. The ever-evolving nature of tech means the learning is never truly done. So keep your finger on the pulse, do your research, keep an eye on your competitors, be a sponge for industry info, and keep adding to your knowledge.
This can also include networking and meeting other tech leaders and influencers in your field and learning from them. Everything you discover, you can share with your team and build upon it.
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