10 Reasons Why Your Development as a Leader Isn’t Happening

/ AHI Leadership LLC/

Your ongoing leadership development is important. But I’m not writing about the importance and impact of leadership competencies and development, about which many others have written.

Rather, I thought it might be useful to explore what might be getting in the way of your leadership development, particularly if you’re a high-tech leader. The scope includes all stages of a leader’s career and includes internal (i.e. self-driven) and external influences.

 
 

Why isn’t your leadership development happening?

  1. You’re first and foremost a technologist. You may have risen through the ranks based on technical excellence and have the prevailing belief that your technical prowess alone is sufficient for success. e.g. “I’m an engineer/scientist/network architect”. You may prioritize technical over leadership development.

  2. Your leadership responsibilities are secondary. Your tech leader job descriptions (formal or not) might designate the primary role as technical contributor rather than leader. If leadership responsibilities are seen as secondary, you may not prioritize your own growth in this area.

  3. You’re always chasing deadlines and technical challenges. You may often face tight project deadlines and immediate technical challenges. The pressure to deliver results quickly may lead you to prioritize short-term technical goals over long-term leadership development.

  4. You’re not seeing the value of leadership development. You may be unaware of the importance of continuous leadership development. If you haven't received proper education or exposure to leadership training, mentoring, or coaching, you may not recognize the impact of you leadership capabilities on team dynamics and overall success.

  5. You only have enough resources for the “must have” stuff. Your organization may face resource constraints, which may lead you to conclude that investing time and resources in leadership development is a luxury. The focus may be on the “must have” immediate project needs rather than the “nice to have” longer-term leadership growth.

  6. You’re burned out. If you’re experiencing burnout you may be prioritizing short-term relief over long-term development. The exhaustion from managing technical challenges may make it challenging for you to focus on your own growth as a leader.

  7. You’re convinced that leaders are born, not made. A fixed mindset is a belief that one's abilities, intelligence, and qualities are fixed traits and cannot be significantly developed. [ref 1] If you have a fixed mindset you may be resisting the idea that you can actively develop and improve your leadership competencies, mindset, attitude, or energy levels. This perspective may lead you to a lack of motivation to invest in leadership development.

  8. Emotions, compassion, and soft skills don’t stand a chance. In some cultures, there may be an undervaluation of soft skills, including leadership capabilities. You may not recognize the crucial role these skills play in fostering team collaboration, innovation, and overall success.

  9. No one pays any attention to leadership development. If your organization does not actively support or prioritize leadership development, you may perceive it as a low priority. The absence of a supportive culture and resources for leadership growth can contribute to this perception.

  10. All the “gold stars” are given for technical accomplishments. Organizations that heavily emphasize technological achievements and milestones may inadvertently downplay the importance of leadership development. You may be aligning your priorities with the dominant cultural norms.

What To Do

The first thing I’d recommend, and honesty my main intention in writing this blog, is for you to take a step back and examine how your assumptions, beliefs, perceptions, expectations, biases, etc. may be influencing your choices not to seek your development as a leader. Many of the examples above are about you constraining you. If any of them ring true to you, you might want to consider changing your thinking and priorities.

I’d also suggest that you take some time to explore the many definitions of leadership and compare them to what you think it is and what your organization thinks it is. How well do they match? Get leadership competency and effectiveness assessments (360’s are great) and discover your strengths and weaknesses.

Once you’re convinced that your development is important (or if you already are convinced), but your organization and/or culture has set limits on it, consider that “development” takes many different forms:  structured learning (self-paced, in-person or virtual classroom), experience and practice, mentoring, and coaching. Experience as a leader might come from activities outside of work, such as volunteering for a non-profit. It’s not always an easy option, but if your current company culture or leadership are not supportive of your development, you might want to consider finding one that does.

And remember it takes time, along with making mistakes, to master anything, including leadership.

Finally, always, always, always pay attention to your own mindset. If you’re frustrated or angry or demoralized or impatient of the circumstances that are restricting your leadership development, you’re not going to be very objective about seeing what’s really going on, or open to exploring alternatives, or making an effective case for funding, or making a career decision.

 
 

My approach to leadership coaching is less focused on managerial skills and more focused on leadership attitude, mindset and energy. I coach Positive Intelligence® [ref 2] and practices like awareness, acceptance, mindfulness, presence in the moment, and equanimity, especially for high-tech leaders.

If you are feeling inspired to build, reestablish, or further develop these and other leadership practices, check out my Energy and Mindset Reboot Program, and find out what it can do for you in a free 30-minute Discovery Session.

 

“Change is never painful, only the resistance to change is painful.” – Buddha

 

References:

[1] Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Random House LLC, New York ©2006 2016  https://a.co/d/gSYiSeg  

[2] Shirzad Chamine, Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours, Geenleaf Book Group Press, Austin, TX, ©2012 https://a.co/d/3NCZUXZ