Data leader: Am I losing my technical edge?

You’ve likely started your data career as an individual contributor (IC) data analyst, data scientist or data engineer. You’ve done a great job, you mastered the technical skills in your area of expertise and got promoted. Or perhaps you were in a ancillary role, perhaps in product, finance or operations, and came to lead a data team. However you got here, there’s a point in your journey where as a data leader, you may feel self-conscious about having team members that are more technically adept than you are in certain domains and you might be wondering if you should try keeping up. After all, you probably remember times as an IC when your boss was asking you questions that had you rolling your eyes “If only they understood the details”. Having team members that are more technically competent can be both a source of pride and a challenge.

Does it matter? Should you try and keep up? Should you carve out some time for technical projects to keep your skills sharp?

Celebrate the Success of Your Hiring

One of the primary responsibilities of a manager is to build a strong team. When you hire individuals who are technically superior to you, it's a testament to your success as a leader. Recognize that your job is not to be the best technical expert but to create an environment where the best experts can thrive. So before you worry too much about your technical skills, take a moment to reflect on this point. Steve Jobs never wrote code, that didn’t make him any less capable as a leader.

Focus on Team Output, Not Individual Technical Skills

As a manager, your role is to ensure the success of the entire team. This means focusing on the output and achievements of the group rather than competing on technical skills. The strength of your team lies in the collective expertise of its members, and your ability to harness and direct this expertise is what will drive success. Using another analogy here, a football coach rarely has played multiple positions, let alone both defensive and offensive positions. They need to understand the game as a whole and make sure that all the pieces come together for the entire team to win.

Embrace Continuous Learning and Openness

It's important to be transparent about your own limitations while being open to learning from your team. This openness fosters a collaborative environment where everyone can grow. As a manager, you don't need to have all the answers, but you should facilitate access to the resources and support your team needs.

Shift Focus to Execution and Business Impact

Letting go of the need to be the most technical person on the team allows you to focus on broader objectives like execution and business impact. Celebrate the intelligence and capabilities of your team members, and use their strengths to tackle big challenges effectively.

Create a Supportive Environment for Growth

Transitioning from an IC to a managerial role can be challenging, especially when it involves letting go of hands-on technical work. However, your role as a manager is to create a space where ICs can develop and find answers independently. Support their growth by removing blockers, providing resources, and setting a clear vision.

Leverage Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving

Even if you aren't the technical expert, you can still contribute significantly by asking critical questions and helping your team refine their ideas. Encourage them to break down complex projects into manageable pieces and to continually assess the business problems they are solving.

Ask the Right Questions

Effective management often involves asking the right questions rather than providing all the answers. Simple, powerful questions like "What problem are we trying to solve?" or "How can we break this effort into smaller, more manageable pieces?" can help guide your team towards more efficient and impactful solutions.

AI will keep you sharp

Finally, AI is changing the game: now more than ever, with only some foundational knowledge of a certain topic, you can easily get up to speed or brush up in a matter of minutes. The role of your team (and by extension you), is going to be more and more to understand the business rather than being purely technically competent. You might even find yourself starting to hire for less technically advanced team members but who have a better grasp of the business.

Conclusion

Managing a team of technical experts when you aren't the most technically skilled person is a unique and rewarding challenge. You can be almost certain that all your data leader peers have asked themselves this same question. By focusing on team success, fostering a collaborative environment, and leveraging critical thinking, you can lead your team to achieve remarkable outcomes. Remember, your strength as a manager lies in your ability to support, guide, and empower your team, not in competing with their technical expertise. Embrace this role, and you’ll find that leading a team of talented individuals can be one of the most fulfilling aspects of your career.