Navigating Technical Leadership in Corporate Landscapes

The world continues accelerating its pace of embracing digital transformation, with related spending anticipated to reach $3.9 trillion by 2027, a marked increase from $2.15 trillion in 2023 [1]. That spending underscores the growing importance of technology in all facets of life, and for businesses, it could be a significant differentiator in remaining responsive in an evolving corporate landscape.

To remain competitive, your business must adapt and stay ahead of emerging technology. That also means you need managers and leaders with strong leadership skills and a solid understanding of the latest technology and how it works. That's where technical leadership comes into play. 

Technical leaders not only possess strong human and leadership skills that are essential for being a manager but also have a robust comprehension of technology. This enables them to work with engineers and software developers and completely understand the products they use. Technical leadership has become such an essential part of the corporate landscape in recent years that schools like Indiana University, Bloomsburg University, Arizona State University, and the University of South Dakota even offer degrees and courses in the field. 

Empower teams with access to world-class content from 350+ top companies and universities

Learn more

What is technical leadership? 

Technical leadership is when you have both the human skills to be a good leader in the workplace plus the technical know-how and understanding to manage groups of high-tech employees, like engineers and software developers. In this role, a technical leader will take an assignment or project and work with their team to ensure they complete it. They will typically see it through from start to finish, assisting with issues like troubleshooting, coordination between team members and departments, making important decisions about the process, and meeting specific objectives and goals along the way.  

Read more: What Leadership Qualities Make Managers Better?

What does a technical lead do?  

An employee in this position assumes point or takes leadership of technical teams, projects, or departments. Their primary duty is usually to oversee a group of technical employees, typically software engineers or developers, but depending on the industry and company for which they work, their unique duties can vary. If you hire a technical lead, they can perform duties like:  

• Hiring technical personnel   

• Training technical personnel 

• Guiding the technical team through various projects from start to finish

• Creating a technical vision and making sure everyone is on the same page 

• Assigning certain aspects of a project to specific teams and members 

• Helping the team identify and troubleshoot technical issues 

• Boosting team confidence

• Staying on top of day-to-day actions like coding 

• Ensuring technology is up-to-date 

• Overseeing modifications and other changes to workplace technology

Build Generative AI skills across your organization

Learn more about Coursera's new Generative AI (GenAI) for everyone.

Learn more

Skills to look for in a technical lead 

People who work in technical leadership typically have a technical background. They might have worked as developers or engineers themselves. However, they also have human skills that make them good leaders. When hiring or promoting someone to a technical leadership position, you'll want to look for some of the following.   

Human and leadership skills 

Effective leadership requires particular human skills. These are the skills you gain and hone throughout your life experiences. For example, a leader must be good at conflict resolution. It's inevitable that two team members will face a conflict at some point in time, and rather than avoid it or take sides, your tech leader should approach it head-on to get both sides of the story before helping the team members come to a resolution. 

Other critical human and leadership skills include: 

• Communication and interpersonal skills 

• Teamwork

• Active listening 

• Coaching, mentoring, and motivation

• Decision-making

• Delegation

• Adaptability

• Willingness to take responsibility 

• Empathy 

• Time management 

• Emotional intelligence 

• Flexibility  

• Strategic planning

• Willingness to learn and continue developing technical skills  

Technical skills 

What makes a tech leader different from a traditional leader is that they have practical knowledge of the latest technology that your organization uses. They typically gain these skills through education and hands-on experience. The exact skills will vary from company to company, but some common technical skills that tech leaders often need include the following:   

• Coding and reviewing code 

• Project management 

• Programming

• Software development

• Prototyping 

• Computer engineering

• Troubleshooting

• Performance optimization

• Tooling

• System maintenance

• Resource management 

Read more: 8 Tips for Developing Your Leadership Skills

Benchmark your talent with global skill insights

See how millions of learners in 100 countries are strengthening critical skills.

Global Skills Report

Pros and cons of technical leadership vs. general team leaders 

Some organizations may need help with hiring a tech lead or a general team leader for particular roles. Each can have its pros and cons. It often comes down to your unique needs, and in some cases, you may even decide to hire both.    

Tech leads have more technical backgrounds and expertise. They may have a degree in computer science, information technology, or a similar field, as well as relevant work experience in areas like coding and software development. 

As a result, technical leaders often provide benefits such as:

• Efficient evaluation and management of workloads

• Effective troubleshooting and technical problem-solving

• Assurance that teams use the best available tools and applications

• Mentorship for junior team members and technical training as needed 

Team leaders fulfill a more generalized role, typically with more vital people management skills and previous management experience. They may also have a degree in computer science or a related field, though many have a business management degree. General team leaders excel at tasks like communicating, creating reports, and managing conflict. They can onboard and evaluate new team members, oversee workflows, and provide instruction, but they may lack the extensive technical expertise needed to make critical decisions on projects or initiatives.  

How to nurture your current talent to become technical leaders

Rather than hiring someone for a technical leadership position, you may consider cultivating technical leaders from your current talent pool. Internal recruitment offers numerous advantages, like quicker onboarding, familiarity with your company, less money spent on recruiting costs, and general employee happiness, which can lead to retention. Consider some of the following tips for helping your current staff develop the skills need to become technical leaders:  

• When hiring, look for candidates with well-developed human and technical skills. 

• Offer mentorship programs. 

• Encourage a culture of lifelong learning.

• Provide opportunities for technical and leadership training and education advancement. 

• Allow employees to cross-train between departments.

• Clearly communicate with your employees about the types of leadership you are looking for and what they can do to earn promotions to these positions.  

Develop your team’s leadership skills with Coursera 

One problem many organizations face is that their strongest technical employees need leadership skills or experience. Taking online courses is an excellent way for your staff to hone those critical human skills to excel in both technical leadership areas. With the Leadership Academy from Coursera, employees can learn the skills needed to lead your business into the future. Through Coursera for Business, you’ll build effective managers at every level with beginner and advanced-level leadership content, including 40+ SkillSets to drive soft skill proficiency across the entire organization.