You don't hire a Vice President or Senior Director to ship lines of code. You hire them to steer the ship. (*insert Helm and Kubernetes joke here*)

Early in my IT career from Database to systems Administration to DevOps and Security, I thought my value was measured by recalling exact command syntax on the spot or being an expert in applying the toolsets I had to solve engineering problems. I took pride in being a go-to fixer (and in some cases, the wrecking crew to show design fragility). At this point, over 25 years in, and leading global (often fully remote) teams across three continents, I've learned that the most valuable thing a leader can do is to set the principles and strategies in order to get out of the way.

My role is not supposed to be the smartest engineer in the room or a deep dive technical expert.

My role as an Executive Leader is to:

  1. Develop a team of engineers who are smarter than me who have solution autonomy.
  2. Clear the roadblocks that slow them down (in many cases personally & professionally).
  3. Create a culture of accountability; not blame. No cloak and daggers; build trust through communication.
  4. Translate "tech speak" into business value for the C-suite; reminding them we add value to the bottom line.
  5. Ensure we're solving the right problems, not just the ones that are driven by hype or a false sense of urgency.

I'm proud of my technical roots, but I'm more proud of the teams I've built that operate with autonomy, trust, and zero micromanagement.

  • Engineers write code
  • Managers build people
  • Directors build Managers
  • VPs build systems
  • CTOs build strategy and culture

Role Definition Matters.