Insights for Tech Leaders to Share

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼𝘄. 𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 We’re at a turning point where technical literacy isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s becoming a leadership mandate. Leaders could once delegate most technical decisions. Technology lived with IT and engineering. That era is over. AI and automation now move at the speed of code. If leaders don’t understand the tech, they risk slowing everything down. Here’s how that plays out: 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 How your data is structured, how your AI agents run, and how quickly your teams test new tools aren’t implementation details; they’re core to your business advantage. If your C-suite doesn’t grasp why fine-tuning LLMs or moving to vector search matters, you’re missing growth levers. 𝟮. 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 = 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 Fast-moving orgs can’t wait for translation between business and engineering. Leaders don’t need to code but they do need to know what’s possible, what’s hard, and the tradeoffs involved to make fast, informed calls. 𝟯. 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗜𝘁 Top builders want to work where leadership gets it. If execs misjudge timelines or can’t connect technical progress to business value, the best talent walks. Being technically conversant signals respect and alignment and helps you retain what matters most: your people. 𝟰. 𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝘀 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 GenAI makes every department partially technical. Marketing’s building prompt chains. HR’s testing LLMs. Legal is running doc-summarizing agents. “Non-technical” leadership isn’t just outdated; I think it’s a liability. You don’t need mastery, but you do need fluency. 𝟱. 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 Resilient orgs start with curious leaders. Ask how things work. Try tools firsthand. Embed learning deep in your team. You don’t need an interpreter to understand what’s next.

Tech Leaders: Stop Asking What AI Can Replace. Start Asking What It Can Amplify Your best developers aren't asking AI to write their code. They want AI to handle the tedious parts so they can focus on architecture, mentoring, and solving complex problems. I've watched this pattern across dozens of tech teams over the past year. The leaders getting the biggest wins from AI aren't using it to replace human intelligence. They're using it to amplify what humans do best. Take Nate, a design director at an 80 person firm whose team was drowning in asset resizing and format conversions. Instead of hiring more designers, he implemented AI tools for routine tasks. His team now spends 60% more time on user research and creative strategy. Customer satisfaction scores increased by 28% in four months. The difference comes down to how you frame the opportunity. *** Most leaders ask: "What can AI do instead of my people?" *** Better question: "How can AI help my people do their best work?" This shift changes everything about implementation. Instead of trying to automate human judgment, you automate the cognitive load that prevents humans from using their judgment effectively. Here's what this looks like in practice: - AI handles pattern recognition, data processing, and routine calculations. - Humans handle creativity, empathy, strategic decisions, and complex problem-solving. The result is teams that are more productive AND more engaged. People get to focus on work that actually requires their unique human capabilities. ⚡ But you need to measure success differently. 🤔 Traditional productivity metrics miss the most important benefits, and that's the hardest part to do without guidance – believe me, I have these conversations every week. Where to start? Track creative output. Monitor job satisfaction. Measure innovation pipeline strength. Look at customer impact improvements. This will help you build your case. The companies that will dominate the next decade are those that master human-AI collaboration rather than human-AI replacement. Your competitive advantage won't come from how much human work you can automate away. It will come from how well your people and AI systems work together to solve problems that neither could tackle alone. Most organizations are still thinking about AI as a cost reduction tool. The leaders who recognize it as a performance amplifier for human potential will build the teams everyone else wants to work for. Which approach are you taking with your team? ___ Bill Ringle, here, working to guide overwhelmed tech managers with potential to become admired leaders. 💪♟️⚡ Follow me for more insights. Click the 🔔 on my profile.

𝗜 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯... Eventually, I learned to lead with clarity, protect my energy, and help my team thrive without running on fumes. 10 lessons that helped me reclaim work-life balance as a tech executive: 𝟭  𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗟𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆, 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁     Your team doesn’t need another exhausted hero.     They need a clear, calm leader. 𝟮  𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀     Being “always on” feels productive,     until your judgment gets clouded.     Build systems, not just speed. 𝟯  𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀     Sleep, walks, and white space in your calendar     are strategic tools, not time off. 𝟰  𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻     If you want your team to unplug,     show them how it’s done.     Model it. 𝟱  𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗮 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿     Start your day grounded,     journaling,     meditation, or     just 10 quiet minutes changes everything. 𝟲  𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝘀 𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀     Block time for your     health,     family, and     thinking time,     before the meetings flood in. 𝟳  𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝘆 ‘𝗡𝗼’     Protecting your bandwidth protects your value.     Every yes has a hidden cost. 𝟴  𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀     Your direct reports take cues from you.     Praise clarity, not chaos.     Celebrate unplugged weekends. 𝟵  𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰     Build calm into your systems:     project rhythms,     automation,     async updates.     Move swiftly,     not stressfully. 𝟭𝟬 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻      We work with people,      not just platforms.      Empathy,      energy, and      presence are your edge.      You don’t have to trade impact for peace.            Design both into how you lead—and others will follow.      Enjoyed this? ♻️ Repost to help other leaders build smarter, saner teams.      Want help building this culture in your org? DM me “Balance” and let’s talk. #TechLeadership #WorkLifeBalance #BurnoutPrevention #HumanCenteredLeadership  

You're hunched over your laptop, obsessively ensuring you have every fact straight for a meeting. Yet the most important thing isn't even on your radar. And it's stunting your impact and advancement. I see it every day, working with smart, driven, accomplished leaders who miss it too. Brow furrowed, third coffee in hand, you're intent on getting every fact straight, being ready to answer every question and trying to head off any objections. You want to look prepared. But you're not. Because you've got your head down in the work, and are forgetting to maximize your opportunity for influence. To consider who'll be there, not from a place of proving yourself by showering them with airtight information, but from a place of connecting how you can help them, how they might help you and what you'll say to advance your personal brand story. You want to be ready for any opportunity to share your latest wins, your vision, how you and your team are supporting what matters most to decision-makers. Information is a commodity. AI is making "deliverables" seem like the DoorDashed gourmet meal. It may look great, but what was your contribution? If you want to stand out and advance faster, start shifting your focus now. Less focus on the presentation deck, more focus on how you took the lead on streamlining the onboarding process to get people contributing faster. Less focus on the data analysis, more focus on how your customer insights will boost product sales. Less focus on getting every fact straight and more focus on making genuine connections and sharing memorable, repeatable nuggets about who you are and how you add value. Technology can't replace your unique perspective, powerful insights and human connections. Being visible and building relationships has never been more important. How are you showcasing your leadership and turning meetings into career opportunities?

Earlier in my career, an executive coach helped me create a "Guide to Working with Carol-Lyn" document that dramatically improved how my teams understood my working style, motivations, and stress responses. (Lynn Rousseau, you changed my life 🙏 .) When I was asked to lead marketing for Dice, I wanted to share an updated guide with my team. I had a strong foundation from the deep assessments my previous experience provided, so to update the guide I turned to generative AI. Not only did I use ChatGPT to refresh my leadership guide, but I took it a step further: 1️⃣ I built a custom GPT that walks each member of my leadership team through creating their own leadership guide 2️⃣ This same GPT helps team members explore effective communication approaches with their colleagues by simply providing basic information about their teammates 3️⃣ I created a "Carol-Lyn Simulator" GPT that my team can interact with to prepare for 1:1s, get presentation feedback, or learn how to pitch ideas to me Building these custom GPTs was a good exercise, but all of this would have been a waste of time if I hadn't taken the next step: I introduced these tools to my team on a team call. I shared my leadership guide with them, and then asked them to leverage the tool to build their own leadership guide as pre-work for a team-building workshop. In the workshop, we shared what we learned about ourselves in the creation of the guides, experiences that illustrated our strengths and preferences. And most importantly as a newly forming leadership team, we talked about how we tend to show up when we're under stress. The AI helped me structure this experience, but the humans made it impactful. The feedback? One team member said it was like "getting a decoder ring along with a new boss." 😄 As marketing leaders, we talk about AI innovation constantly - but are we actually implementing it in our day-to-day leadership? This simple experiment has opened up new communication channels and given my team unique insights into working effectively together. I'd love to hear how you all are connecting humans and AI! #LeadershipInnovation #AIinMarketing #TeamCommunication #FutureOfWork

I've sat in hundreds of board meetings over my career. You know what kills me? Watching brilliant CTOs dive into technical implementation details while the rest of the room's eyes glaze over. They're talking about their amazing microservices architecture. The execs are thinking about revenue growth. They're excited about their new CI/CD pipeline. The execs wants to know about customer acquisition costs. They're deep in the weeds of their Kubernetes migration. The execs are wondering how technology is driving business value. Your technical brilliance only matters if you can connect it to business outcomes. That microservices architecture? Talk about how it lets you ship features faster to meet customer demands. That CI/CD pipeline? Explain how it reduces time-to-market and keeps you ahead of competitors. That Kubernetes migration? Show how it cuts infrastructure costs and improves reliability for customers. Technical leadership isn't about being the smartest person in the room. It's about translating technical decisions into business impact.

CONNECTING >> COMPUTING: If you have time today, definitely watch this talk https://lnkd.in/gZGFhsb3 by Bob Taylor (1932-2017) Key takeaways on a rare and necessary kind of tech leadership: - Credit the team, not just yourself: Taylor consistently emphasized that the internet’s success was due to the work of hundreds, not just a handful of leaders. - Spot and empower talent: Taylor's genius was in identifying, recruiting, and supporting exceptional people, enabling them to make breakthroughs. - Value ideas over titles: Taylor recognized and funded transformative ideas regardless of their source or his own background. - Encourage open collaboration: Taylor fostered a culture of sharing, decentralized design, and open participation (like the RFC process). - Pursue bold, high-impact goals: Taylor pushed for order-of-magnitude advances rather than incremental improvements. - Stay grounded: Despite Taylor's enormous impact, he avoided self-aggrandizement, turned down “father of the internet” labels, and approached technology with humor and modesty. - Recognize when to step aside: Once Taylor's objective was met, he willingly left ARPA, making space for others to continue the work. - Accept complexity and give credit: Taylor openly discussed the complex, collective nature of innovation and gave credit for core technical ideas to others. I especially appreciated how Taylor saw the Internet not just as a technological breakthrough, but as a way to connect people. At the same time, he was deeply aware of the power such a network could create—and he raised important questions about responsibility, even suggesting that future netizens might need a kind of “driver’s license” to participate online. --- An hour well spent: https://lnkd.in/gZGFhsb3

67% of first-time managers feel powerless in virtual environments- I laughed when I read this stat. After coaching 1,000+ leaders at companies Google, Meta, and Amazon, Here's the $1M insight no one talks about: Remote leadership isn't failing because of technology. It's failing because we're using an outdated operating system. I've seen this story play out countless times. Let me share what I learned and taught in my 10,000+ hours of executive coaching: The Virtual Authority Matrix™ (that transformed my $50K clients): 1. Power Presence Architecture - Morning "Virtual Coffee Roulettes" (15 min, random team pairings) - Weekly "Spotlight Sessions" (Each team member leads a segment) - Monthly "Impact Narratives" (Story-driven achievement sharing) Result: 87% increase in team innovation rates 2. Digital Trust Acceleration - "3-2-1 Deep Connection" Framework - Vulnerability First" leadership approach - Achievement Amplification" system Result: 92% improvement in team retention 3. Remote Influence Mastery - "Micro-Moment Management" technique - "Digital Body Language" mastery - "Async Authority" protocols Result: 73% faster project execution The Most EXPENSIVE MISTAKE I see them making: Most managers obsess over tools. But tools don't build trust. Systems do. ⚡ BONUS TIP: Create "Visibility Vaults" - dedicated Slack channels where wins are archived and searchable. Makes performance reviews 5x easier and motivation 3x stronger. The truth? Remote leadership isn't about being seen more. It's about being felt deeper. 👉 Share this with a manager who needs this. Could save them years of trial and error. #ExecutiveLeadership #RemoteWork #Leadership #FutureOfWork #Management #HighPerformanceTeams #LeadershipDevelopment

The hardest truth I've learned about scaling startups? Technical skills build products. Leadership skills build companies. Most first-time founders master the first, fail at the second. I see it every week: - They obsess over product specs - They chase market validation - They optimize for metrics But their companies still break. Why? Because they missed these 3 fundamental rules of leadership... 1/ Mission above ego 🔹Your best talent doesn't leave for better offers ↳ They leave when you prioritize being right over doing right ↳ They leave when you take credit for wins but distribute blame ↳ They leave when ego drives decisions, not data 2/ People before metrics 🔹Your team doesn't care about your TAM or growth rates ↳ They care if you remember their partner's name ↳ They notice when you ask about their challenges ↳ They stay when they feel seen, not just measured 3/ Self-awareness drives everything 🔹Leadership isn't about being the smartest in the room ↳ It's about building a room where smart people want to stay ↳ It's about admitting what you don't know ↳ It's about growing yourself faster than your company Here's the truth about scaling: Your company will never outgrow your leadership. Start working on it before it becomes your bottleneck. Which of these rules challenged you the most? 👇 __ ♻️ Share this with someone who needs to hear it. 📌 Follow me, Mariya, for more actionable insights from the startup trenches.

Experience is a great teacher. Especially someone else's experience. 60% of managers fail in their first 18 months. Avoid these 9 new manager mistakes I see all the time: Hiring for skills over character 🚩 That "rockstar" hire is delivering results but destroying team morale ✅ In interviews, probe for how they handled hard feedback in past roles Managing tasks instead of energy 🚩 Your best people burn out while low performers coast under the radar ✅ Schedule your most important work before noon, protect this time ruthlessly Focusing on motivation over momentum 🚩 Your team's excitement spikes then crashes, leaving you back at square one ✅ Start meetings with "What's blocking progress?" instead of status updates Confusing feedback with coaching 🚩 People nod during reviews but nothing actually changes ✅ Ask "What would success look like?" before giving any advice Thinking you're not in sales 🚩 Your best ideas die because you can't get buy-in from the team ✅ Before any big ask, have three "pre-sale" conversations to test the waters Confusing hiring with recruiting 🚩 You're always settling for whoever's available when positions open ✅ Spend 30 minutes each Friday connecting with one potential future hire Thinking you were clear the first time 🚩 You've given your team direction, but they still seem confused ✅ Ask for signal back: It doesn't matter what you said, only what they heard Not managing up proactively 🚩 You learn about your boss's concerns in public meetings ✅ Send a 2-bullet update every Monday: "Wins from last week / Focus for this week" Solving problems too quickly 🚩 People line up at your door instead of figuring things out themselves ✅ When someone brings you a problem, ask "What do you recommend?" Remember:  Smart leaders learn from their mistakes. Wise leaders learn from the mistakes of others. If you want more leadership insights: 🔔 Follow Dave Kline ♻️ Repost to help other leaders 📌 Subscribe to my free MGMT Playbook (in bio)