The proliferation of science and technology has led to the need for technical leadership in organizations. A technical leader is often responsible for leading a scientific or technical team in a given organization. Research indicates that technical experts are not necessarily technical leaders (Subbarao, 2013). A technical leader must possess particular skills and competencies that are essential for managing and organising teams or groups to achieve set objectives. The technical leader is responsible for innovation, technical excellence, support, and organization. Research indicates that a technical leader can encourage or motivate team members and has the creativity and ability to facilitate team initiatives (Caudle, n.d.). Furthermore, they also play a role in organizing teamwork into activities that members can complete based on their individual competencies. Technical leaders are also innovators because they are responsible for encouraging team members to experiment and try new approaches as well as unconventional solutions. Furthermore, they are responsible for monitoring and enforcing technical excellence as well as high quality (Subbarao, 2013). Specifically, a technical leader ensures that all team members maintain the desired quality and work towards achieving the objectives of the team. The technical leader is also responsible for the overall organization of a department or team. For example, the technical leader can store some of the information that team members have accumulated over a period and making it available whenever needed by individuals other stakeholders. Finally, a technical leader is responsible for day to day communication involving team members that are working on a project. They oversee regular communications among project stakeholders and keep records of such communications where possible (Subbarao, 2013).
A technical leader must possess particular skills, abilities, and knowledge as the SME in a given discipline to lead an organization or group. Primarily, cooperation and communication are essential skills that are necessary to overcome some of the challenges that confront a technical leader (Caudle, n.d.). Communication is an integral attribute for any technical leader. The ability to communicate precisely and clearly to both non-technical and technical audiences is central to technical leadership. In most instances, communication is an interactive exercise; therefore, a technical leader needs to practice to develop some of the skills that are essential for this attribute (Weinberg, 1986). Research indicates that cooperation is also integral to effective technical leadership. The ability to cooperate with individuals as well as the different groups that a technical leader interacts with is essential to the realization of their goals and objectives. Effective leadership requires the engagement of varied resources from different groups, individuals, and companies. Therefore, a technical leader must be able to foster or encourage cooperation among different stakeholders (Weinberg, 1986).
Optimism and attitude are the other crucial attributes that technical leader should possess. In regards to attitude, a technical leader should be approachable and provide practical and realistic feedback whenever necessary. For example, a positive attitude may generate numerous opportunities for engagement as well as the inclusion of other aspects that might have been ignored. According to Caudle (n.d.), beginning technical leaders should strive to develop the right attitudes because negative attitudes can prevent them from motivating their teams, thereby preventing them from achieving tire goals and objectives (Pahal, 1999). Without an appropriate attitude, they may fail to develop other attributes as they will always miss crucial opportunities and spend most of their time managing or resolving conflicts. On the other hand, optimism is essential because it perpetuates the ability to motivate followers as well as other stakeholders. In most instances, encouragement is only possible with an optimistic mindset (Pahal, 1999).
References
Caudle, R. (n.d.). Leadership in a technical role. Retrieved January 3, 2017, from <http://www.sans.edu/cyber-research/management-laboratory/article/caudle- mgt421-leader>
Pahal, D. (1999). Effective leadership: An IT perspective. Retrieved January 3, 2017, from <http://www.westga.edu/~distance/pahal22.html>
Subbarao, K. (2013). Enlightening technical leadership. New York: Saligrama Publishing
Weinberg, G. (1986). Becoming a technical leader: An organic problem-solving approach. Washington: Dorset House
