Edition 19: Why We Need More Technical Leaders

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In today's work environment, who is the better leader? Is it the leader who is fully steeped in technology and understands every aspect of the business? Or is it the people person who relates well to others and conveys empathy and compassion? 

To test the differences between the two capabilities of leaders, I started with a dataset of 118,000 leaders who had been assessed using 360-degree assessments. On average, each leader was evaluated by 13 raters consisting of a manager, peers, direct reports, and others.

Based on these evaluations, I identified those we have labeled technical wizards. They received high scores on behaviors such as:

•  The extent to which people sought their opinions
• Their knowledge made an important contribution to achieving results.
• Others trusted their opinions because of their in-depth knowledge and experience.

The people-oriented leaders received high scores on behaviors such as:

• Ability to communicate well.
• The extent to which others trusted them.
• Skills at getting others to cooperate and work well together.
• The extent to which they were able to inspire others.
• Their ability to coach and stay in touch with others’ concerns.

All leaders were divided into quartiles in both dimensions, and we contrasted the low groups (bottom quartile) to the high groups (top quartile). In the low/low group, we had 19,690 leaders, but in the low/high groups, the number of leaders was much smaller, 253 (low technical, high people) and 728 (high technical, low people.) In the high/high group, we had 18,897 leaders. The outcome variable we evaluated was the overall Leadership effectiveness which measures the overall leadership capability.

The graph below shows the results of the study. Clearly, leaders with bottom quartile scores on both capabilities were failing as leaders. They scored at only the 12th percentile in overall leadership effectiveness. This low score highlights the importance of both capabilities. Note that leaders who are high on technical skills but low on people skills improve slightly to the 30th percentile. Technical leaders who resist developing good people skills will always struggle to succeed in organizations. 

A fascinating study by Kelley and Caplin (HBR, 1993) on the most productive scientists at Bell Labs found that those with interpersonal skills tended to be much more successful. We have researched leaders in the STEMM functions and found that they rate significantly above average on their technical skills but significantly lower on their people or soft skills.

Interestingly, leaders with high people and low technical skills were rated twice as effective in their overall leadership effectiveness compared to those with high technical and low people skills.

If you were only choosing one skill set to be more capable in, people skills are the clear winner.

Fifty years ago, many people believed that leaders could effectively lead any group if they just possessed basic management skills. The assumption then was that leaders did not need in-depth technical knowledge to be successful. 

Most organizations today are much more complex, and technical knowledge has become essential. This study confirms that leaders can be somewhat successful without technical expertise, but achieving the highest level of leadership effectiveness requires being in the top quartile in both skill sets. The difference is substantial.

As we’ve worked with leaders in organizations, we’ve frequently encountered managers who were promoted to lead a different function where they lacked knowledge and expertise because of their effectiveness in one function. Some leaders in that situation dug in and worked hard to improve their expertise. Others elected to rely on others' technical know-how and operate without fully grasping the technology. Our data confirm that they can get by but fall short of the peak they could have attained. Those who do not work hard to improve their technical/functional capabilities frequently encounter significant problems.

Technical expertise and excellent people skills are important in today's organizations.

An excellent example of this comes from Google. In the beginning, Google only hired people with the best technical capabilities. They believed that great technical capability would win the day. Eventually, they discovered that the individuals who possessed both "hard" and "soft" skills were the most successful. Soft skills such as coaching, communication, listening, and valuing differences made technical experts much more successful.

Surprisingly, 76% of leaders in our database score higher on technical skills than people skills. It is easier to be an expert in an important technology than an effective people leader. But those who scored higher on people skills were rated slightly more effective in their overall leadership effectiveness. In our data, we found scoring higher on technical skills increases with age and position in the organization. One might conclude from that data that as leaders age and are promoted to higher levels, technical skills are easier to develop. However, the fundamental point of this research is to reinforce that doing both skills well is the goal that leaders ought to strive for. 

Your Friendly Neighborhood Psychometrician,

Joe Folkman

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TRANSFORM TECHNICAL and PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE into EXTRAORDINARY LEADERSHIP

As individuals move up the chain of leadership, they cannot leave behind the technical skills that got them there. Indeed, a leader’s ability to retain expertise fosters greater trust, speed, and good judgment. But how can leaders leverage their technical expertise to help them become Extraordinary Leaders?

Join Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman for a webinar where you will:

1. Understand how to leverage and utilize expertise in leadership roles.

2. Identify strength-building behaviors that can boost your expertise to higher levels.

3. Understand the impact of technical expertise throughout your career. 

Register HERE.