Often I hear software engineers looking to move up in their organization and setting their sites on a technical architect role. Make no mistake, an architect is a leadership position that can be harder to achieve results than a project manager or development director. Here are some useful tactics to employ.

Overhead is almost a dirty word. Nobody wants to be overhead. People want to be spending time on the “real work” rather than the overhead. Overhead is necessary in organizations. The overhead required in a small organization is much different than in a large one. 

Do not wait around for someone else to develop your career. Take control, help yourself and others. Here are some simple tactics to be your own career coach.

Hate meetings? Love them? Don't decry all meetings as a waste of time. How do you use meetings as an element of your communication strategy?

I sometimes lose sight of whether or not I’m delivering the results I expect. I find value when I take time to reflect on the results I deliver and take stock of my performance. Here is how I hold myself accountable to make progress against my goals.

When you choose to do everything, you do none of it well enough. You are guaranteed to do the important things badly. There is no more important skill than to apply good judgement on what is important, and strip away distractions.

Hold on to your successes, let go of your failures. It seems like a simple formula for happiness. It isn’t complicated although in practice it is difficult.

Your staff can’t force you to give them feedback. They will reward you by making you look like a hero as they deliver better results. You are only as good as the team you lead. Relying on performance reviews for feedback is not a way to build a good team.

It is common to ask someone “how are you?” to begin a conversation. Whenever someone asks me, I reply “I’m fantastic” as enthusiastically as I can. Sometimes it gets a chuckle or a surprised reaction, but those people who I talk to often know that’s what they’ll hear. I’m fantastic because I choose to be.

Often, the right path forward isn’t clear. As your role gets bigger you become more responsible for setting your own direction. You won't know the right answer unless you take action and get going.

I was in a conversation with my coach a few weeks ago and he made a comment that I was a “time honorer.” It was a new term to me, but it struck a chord. It’s true, I have a huge respect for time - both my own and other people’s. My relationship with time affects my relationship with other people every day.

Do you ever feel like your day has a mind of its own? That your day chooses you, rather than you choosing your day. Take control of the work you accomplish in your day. Here's how I changed to choosing my day rather than letting it choose me.

There is a big difference between asking your staff for help and telling people what to do. The result is your staff doing something out of fear versus your staff doing work because they want to. Your staff who wants to see work get done will go the extra mile...

It can be appealing to think there is a silver bullet for some of the dysfunction you see in your organization. As you are trying to bring balance to a culture that may have strayed too far in one direction, remember to be wary of a "one size fits all" approach.

Leading with confidence will help your team follow effectively and deliver the best results.

The best technical leaders stay technical. How do you stay close to the technology as your role changes to be more focused on people and project management?

Do you struggle with other people's perception of you? Do you have an reputation, and unwritten "hall file", that you find limits you in what you can accomplish? Face the feedback from others and overcome unconscious tendencies that sabotage you from achieving your goals.

A long time ago I had to renegotiate my relationship with my e-mail. I felt like I was always behind. I felt compelled to check and see if something new had arrived. I was tied to my e-mail as a lifeline of communication. What I discovered was it was holding me back from effectively leading.

Do you find yourself wanting to ask your boss to back off your work? Let you run your part of the business? Do you feel you and your boss are overlapping in either actions, decisions and responsibility? How can you get your boss to back off from micromanaging your responsibilities?

Very often we talk about leading by example. If you want your team to behave a certain way, there is immense power in them seeing you do it. Live your word. However, this isn’t always the best practice. There are times when your role is so different, you must act differently.