Shifting your mindset as a technical leader is one of the most important changes for you to consider as your role changes. Contrast how different the role of technical leader is from an individual contributor. How can you make this shift and avoid a big mistake?

As a technical resource, the focus almost always is on how much work you can get done. Certainly as you become more senior, the more complex problems you solve. The measure of success is often still productivity. An individual contributor is fully in control of producing the results for which they are measured.

As a technical leader, the focus shifts from individual productivity to team productivity. You are responsible for the output of others. The activities where you spend your time include coaching and directing. Does the work you do any given day or week help optimize the output of your team (rather than you individually). Are you looking at process and developing the capability of the individuals on your team?

Your focus as a technical leader will be on managing the work and people, rather than doing as much of the work yourself. As you break down your work, the question you must ask is “am I the only person who can do this work?" As a manager, only you can manage your staff and provide them coaching and feedback. As a leader, you may be responsible for setting technical direction and establishing architecture. These responsibilities cannot be delegated and must be at the top of your priority list.

I see a parallel to the example of a physician practice I worked in almost twenty years ago. We would talk about individuals operating at the “top of their license”. We wanted to ensure that a physician is doing that work that requires a physician, and leaving other work to physician assistants and nurses. The organization of the practice is designed to focus each individual effectively on the activities only they can perform.

I recall one of my “aha!” moments was in realizing that as a manager and director, I was being paid for my judgment and not for my ability to deliver individual technical work. I needed to consider spending time thinking, deciding and communicating direction to my team in order to get the most out of them. The output of my team was much more than I could delivery myself, and this output was the value I contributed to the organization.

Consider if your priorities maximize the output of your team and the people you lead. Ask yourself if you are spending your time delivering team productivity as a result. Very often we mistake diving in to the details as productivity, only to find we’ve left our team without answers or blocked because they need our help and attention.