People, Process, Technology, Business...

There isn’t only one way to be a great technical leader.
To be a great technical leader you need to play to your strengths.
This talk explains why, shows you how to use the People, Process, Technology framework to identify your strengths, covers how using your strengths is best way to do your most important job, which is delivering business outcomes.

1. Anna Shipman
annashipman.co.uk
People, process,
technology, business

2. Anna Shipman annashipman.co.uk
There isn’t only one way to
be a great technical leader

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Chief Technology Officer
Kooth Digital Health
Anna Shipman

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My favourite team…

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Show of hands…

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1.It’s better to play to your strengths
2.How to identify your strengths
3.Our job is to deliver business outcomes
4.What you can do next
What I’m going to cover

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1.It’s better to play to your strengths
2.How to identify your strengths
3.Our job is to deliver business outcomes
4.What you can do next

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Constructive feedback
is really useful

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Don’t over-index on
improving weaknesses at
the cost of developing
your strengths

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You don’t want to be a
highly interchangeable
modular part

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Playing to your strengths
is what makes you brilliant

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Playing to your strengths
is more fulfilling

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One characteristic of
“flow” is balance between
challenge and strengths

18. “Building the High-Performance Workforce”, Corporate Leadership Council
Anna Shipman annashipman.co.uk
•https://marble-arch-online-courses.s3.amazonaws.com/

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Your strengths are what
makes you brilliant

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Ask yourself “why
am I on the payroll?”

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Peter Drucker
“Only when you operate
from strengths can you
achieve true excellence.”

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I was looking to hire a
VP of Engineering…

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It is liberating to play
to your strengths

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You might feel you have
to crowbar yourself into
a certain shape

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There isn’t only one way to
be a great technical leader

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Playing to your strengths
is what will make you great

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1.It’s better to play to your strengths
2.How to identify your strengths
3.Our job is to deliver business outcomes
4.What you can do next

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Using People Process Technology
framework to identify strengths

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This is about where you
get energy and joy

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The people
focused CTO

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You focus on
talent development

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You prioritise a
collaborative culture

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You highly value
employee well-being

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You may not invest
enough in technology

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You might have
inconsistent processes

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You might have
resistance to change

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Your superpower is
building skilled,
motivated teams that
bring huge value to
the business

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●Give the results
●Then my strength/preference is process [Do I define why
strength = preference?]
*Slide introducing process focused CTO*
The process
focused CTO

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You like standard
workflows

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You ensure
systems lead to
desired outcomes

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You are interested
in governance
and compliance

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People might
feel like cogs

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You might neglect
innovation and
technical advances

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You might miss
the bigger picture

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Your superpower is
systems thinking

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●Give the results
●Then my strength/preference is process [Do I define why
strength = preference?]
*Slide introducing technology focused CTO*
The technology
focused CTO

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You use technology to
drive the business forward

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You promote
innovation

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You have a healthy
tech estate

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People can become
dependent on you

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You may move too fast
for processes to keep up

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You may introduce extra
complexity and cost

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Your superpower is
being ahead of the curve

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Other tools also exist

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1.It’s better to play to your strengths
2.How to identify your strengths
3.Our job is to deliver business outcomes
4.What you can do next

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People, process,
technology, business

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Business should be first

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Our most important job as
technology leaders is to
deliver business outcomes,
through technology

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Our main job is not
leading technology

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It was a long time
before I realised this

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My job is not to make
engineers happy, it’s not to get
a perfect CI/CD pipeline, it’s
not to have the most cutting
edge technology; it is to
deliver business outcomes

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Your peers are
your first team

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The engineers who
report to you are your
second team

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You lead technology but
your main job is working
as a team with your peers
across the business to
deliver outcomes

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Playing to your strengths
is how you do your
best work

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Ask yourself “why
am I on the payroll?”

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1.It’s better to play to your strengths
2.How to identify your strengths
3.Our job is to deliver business outcomes
4.What you can do next

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●Strengthen and amplify them
●Clarify how the business will not miss out on the rest
●Use them to position yourself for future roles
1. Identify your strengths

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●Lean into your exec peers, you are a team
●Delegate parts to others to help them grow
●Hire a second-in-command with complementary strengths
2. Balance your strengths with others

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●Identify gaps in your leadership team
●Plan your objectives grouped into those areas
●Use it to understand areas for focus in your organisation
3. Plan with People Process Technology

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There isn’t only one way to
be a great technical leader

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Your strengths are what
makes you brilliant

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Playing to your strengths
is how you do your
best work

74. annashipman.co.uk
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Thank you
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