Leaning into Leadership – Podcast Episode #4

The skills that earn someone a promotion are often the very skills that hold them back as a leader. Welcome to Leaning into Leadership, a series exploring the forces reshaping leadership across Australian businesses and government. In this episode, we explore one of the most challenging workforce transitions, moving from technical expert or capable manager to organisational leader.

Expertise builds credibility, but leadership requires a different mindset. One involving enabling others, navigating uncertainty with confidence, and taking responsibility for broader outcomes. Too often, people receive a new title without the support they need to change the way they work, lead, or guidance to help them shift their focus .

In this episode, we explore the signs that a manager may be struggling with the transition, and discuss ways that organisations can help them succeed. Joining me today is Rachel Linton from, from Cognize.

Joining us for this podcast episode are Rory Gregg from SpencerMaurice, and Rachel Linton from Cognize Coaching.

You can watch the video on Youtube, or continue reading below.

Rory Gregg:
What are some of the challenges you believe technical experts face when making that transition from technical expert to leader?

Rachel Linton:
It is a really common issue, and a big challenge for many organisations. People who are typically promoted are high achievers, and are often experts in what they do. They are relied upon for delivering the answers.

When you put someone like into a management role, you are actually asking them to do something fundamentally different. This is also not always made explicit to people when they make that shift.

You are actually asking them to start focusing a lot less on the things that require their technical expertise, and asking them to focus a lot more on leadership and management skills. These could be things that they might not see themselves as being very good at, and they might not have developed skills in those areas.

That is the heart of the challenge for many people when they climb the leadership ladder.

Rory Gregg:
Yes, I would agree with you.

We are asking someone to make that transition from essentially controlling the outcome of a particular task – which is really the domain of the technical expert – to influencing the outcomes indirectly, by managing other people who will actually deliver the work.

It requires a fundamental shift in the way an individual works, operates, and engages with the people around them.

Can you think of some circumstances where, that shift has been a positive experience for the individual, where they have actually been able to make that transition in a positive way?

Rachel Linton:
I think people have a much better experience when they receive proactive support from their organisation.

It is important for the organisation to clearly communicate expectations relating to the new role, and it can help to provide a preview of what the leadership role actually entails.

This often requires making sure that the new leader has a strong understanding of what it means to be a manager, an understanding of the capabilities that they will need to learn, and the support to actually make the transition.

I think there are also some people who are motivated to lead, and actively seek to develop that part of themselves. People who are motived to lead will proactively set themselves learning goals, and seek out mentors and role models, and ask for feedback.

People who have that strong motivation and proactive approach tend to transition well.

Rory Gregg:

Why do you think people find it so difficult to let go of that technical focus, and are reluctant to embrace the leadership side of careers?

Rachel Linton:
I think for a lot of people, being an expert, being the safe pair of hands, being the high achiever, becomes an important part of their identity. It is how they understand who they are at work, and the value they contribute.

When people have built that strong identity as a technical expert, it can conflict with the actual requirements of a leadership position. Once they are promoted, they will need to really spend less time using their technical expertise, and more time empowering their team, and getting work done through others.

In a general sense, when a person is promoted, they also want to prove themselves to others, and deliver results.

So paradoxically, many new leaders double down on delivering work within their area of technical expertise, instead of leaning into the leadership and managerial elements of their work.

They essential stay in their comfort zone, and reinforce their pre-existing identity as a technical expert.

Rory Gregg:

What are some of the risks that an organisation faces when promoting a technical expert, but failing to support that person in developing leadership and managerial attributes?

Rachel Linton:

I think when people are promoted, the risk is that they will continue to manage their team like an individual contributor.

This will typically mean that they will continue to stay deep in the work, and be quite reactive. This shows up as getting things done as required.

Instead, they should be stepping back, and becoming the coach on the sideline.

In this type of scenario, where the newly promoted manager stays firmly in their technical expertise comfort zone, they do not learn to lead, and their team doesn’t learn to take more responsibility and step up.

This situation can often also become a bottleneck for the team, as the new manager will often require all of the work to come through them, or be redone by them.

This type of situation can become disfunctional, and can really prevent the overall team from working effectively. It can also impact collaboration with other parts of the organisation as well.

Rory Gregg:
Building on that Rachel, the organisation should reframe what success looks like for that individual.

What success looks like from a technical perspective is fundamentally different to what success looks like from a leadership perspective.

I think it is critically important to help leaders to understand that difference, to enable them to transition from being solely a technical expert, to understanding what success looks like as a leader.

Rachel Linton:

I agree 100%. I think part of the role of the organisation is to be very clear about those expectations, and that success after the promotion does look very different.

Supporting that newly promoted person by actually teaching them the management skills, through training, mentoring, role modelling, assessment, and feedback.

I think it is also important to encourage the development of that mindset that will set them up for success in the long term.

Rory Gregg:
What are some of the signs that leaders are not making the shift from the technical expert to that leadership role?

Rachel Linton:

Some key signs:

• Failure to delegate work
• They want to do all of the work, or see all of the outputs
• Poor collaboration
• Poor basic team communication
• Lack of one-on-one and team meetings with their own team
• Struggling to have difficult conversations with their team

Rory Gregg:

I believe that transitioning from technical expert to leader should not be about losing your technical expertise. It is about applying that expertise in a very different environment.

Successful leaders make that transition. They are still able to hold onto their technical expertise, while being able to nurture the development of that expertise within their team.

Successful leaders are also typically comfortable with the notion that they don’t have all the answers. They will often say things along the lines of “Look, I don’t have all the answers, but what I do know is we have the skills within this team to be able to achieve this together.”

It is also important for leaders to be able to acknowledge their shortcomings, and being able to identify other people within their organisation who can help them to overcome their weak areas.

The point was raised earlier, that leaders should be aware that what made them successful earlier in their career is not necessarily what is required now.

Being able to recognise this, and make those shifts, is positive for their own development, and will help them achieve their goals .

Rachel Linton:

I think it is important for people to develop that leadership mindset, or what I would call a leader identity.

When you see leadership as an intrinsic part of who you are, it becomes something that you value. You invest time, energy, and resources into the things that you value.

So if organisations can help people to start to see themselves as leaders, then that will be the foundation that will give them that lasting motivation. The motivation will then enable them to develop, learn and practice the skills, ask for feedback, and continuously improve over the long term.

Rory Gregg:
Absolutely, 100%.

On a number of occasions, I have worked with client organisations that had directors with strong technical domain expertise, where those technical experts have been looking to transition to be more effective leaders.

Those that have been most effective in that transition, have essentially made that conscious decision to transition, and have let go of the need to know the answers to everything.

That is not easy for many people. As it requires them to essentially let go of something that has been an innate part of themselves, and a key element of their work for many years.

To summarise:

• You will need to make the effort to build new skills, and transition from being a technical expert to leadership
• You are in charge of your own development and career choices
• Learning new mindsets may be needed
• Organisations can support newly promoted leaders – through development and training, mentoring, and skills development.