Technology Leadership in Post-Pandemic Times

Updated November 2026. This was first published on 29 July 2022. The idea is the same. Any number below is what the original piece said then. It is not a new count.

Key takeaways

" Work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction.
Otherwise, it’s just a job, and life is too short for that."* – Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.
Leadership has been traditionally defined as having the ability to look differently at situations, seek out ways to make them better for everyone, and influence others to adapt to the change in a positive way.

" Work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction. Otherwise, it’s just a job, and life is too short for that."* – Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

The New-age Technology Leaders #

Leadership has been traditionally defined as having the ability to look differently at situations, seek out ways to make them better for everyone, and influence others to adapt to the change in a positive way. Leaders have an almost intuitive feel for innovation – whether it is thinking of new ways to do the same things or doing new things. From the stone age man who started creating tools from stones or the man who invented the wheel, every new idea has come from a deep wish to make a situation better or easier.

In the modern age, technology leadership is all about having the knowledge and the vision of technology to envisage a way to promote better ways of working. It entails determining how best to use the huge data overloads, the super processing speeds, the Cloud-based data, technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to envision new opportunities and risks.

Redefined Roles of the C-Suite #

Leadership roles within companies have thus metamorphosed into specialized and district domains based on technology. New technology leadership is more about balancing technology and cultural challenges. Technology leaders need to have an understanding of digital domains like engineering, security & privacy or data & analytics in the role of a business owner and not just as a user. Every technology leader has an obligation to derive business value, protect the people involved, and influence the company’s overall culture.

The years between 2010 and 2020 have seen an explosion in the way technology can be used in business. Some businesses which have withstood civil wars, famines, and economic depressions couldn’t withstand the technology disruption by new-age companies (Eastman Kodak, Polaroid Corp, Blockbuster Inc.

The most obvious reason for this was that these companies’ leaders failed to have a future vision that involved technology. Lesson learnt – create leadership roles that are driven first and foremost by technology.

What are the New Expectations from Technology Leaders? #

Value-based Technology Leadership #

Values-based leadership is the idea that leaders should draw upon their own and others’ values—including those established for your company— for direction and motivation. At its core, values-based leadership philosophy asserts that people are mostly motivated by values and live according to these beliefs.

Developing a personal leadership philosophy that is based on core principles and values is crucial for young technology leaders. As the scope of technology expands, so does the urge to implement it at all levels of the company. But, having a strong sense of accountability is also important for leaders as it reflects on the next managerial level of leadership. Having a value-based culture will attract like-minded people who will further enhance the culture and drive it towards a unified goal.

Examples of Value-based technology leadership: #

· Customer-centric products and services · Building a culture of gender inclusiveness · Facilitating culture dialogues · Creating a culture of accountability · Developing culture metrics on an · organizational level · Improving systems for easy communication · across the company at all levels · Updating HR practices as per new values.

Strength-based Technology Leadership #

Strength-based technology leaders adopt a “Laissez-faire” approach to organizational performance. By building a system of delegation, they can stimulate a culture of innovation, creativity, and confidence for everyone to express their own ideas. Leaders can use technology to derive ideas from their team members by using collaboration tools effectively. They can create R&D departments that encourage knowledge sharing. Continuous education and learning can be easily adopted across the company, regardless of where the team members are placed, by providing them with online tools.

Strength-based leadership can be built in four areas: execution, influence, strategic thinking, and relationship building.

Executing**: Clearly defining roles and responsibilities, using tools to monitor performance, setting up mechanisms for feedback or updates.

Influencing**: Strong mentoring programs, two-way performance reviews, and competency-based interviewing.

Relationship Building**: Clearly defining project goals, creating tools to update the project status real-time, clear collaboration channels, ad-hoc teaming, transparency.

Strategic Thinking**: Innovation and leadership programs focus on strengths and passions rather than loopholes, intellectual knowledge sharing through programs like Hackathons.

Decision Making Skills for Technology Leaders #

Technology leaders are more scientifically oriented in the sense that their decisions are more data-and facts-driven. Today’s leaders have to constantly upgrade their decision-making what it can do to move with the changing times. Technology has significantly increased the number of variables in the decision-making algorithm, and with the increasing use of knowledge workers, several other human-centric variables have also found their way into the equations. Every decision made by technology leaders is a combination of strategic, tactical, and operational.

Being more inclusive by gathering and optimizing multiple the people involved and giving consideration to different data perspectives. Being more transparent by making decisions more auditable and explainable for others, establishing clear accountability. Being more accurate by using advanced modelling what it can do and automated decisions that are more consistent and repeatable. Being more personalized by taking specific circumstances or conditions of people into account. Being more scalable by expanding the management span of control with automated decision making and appropriate routing. Being more flexible with re-engineered decisions that respond to changing contexts.

Influence and Motivation #

The most important skill for technology leaders that work with Gen Z is motivational skills. They are easily bored, have high energy levels, and constantly look for change. They don’t relate with the “security” culture which motivated their previous generations.

Technology leaders of the modern era must create a “flowing” culture – flexible timings, open workspaces, flat company structures, informal dressing culture, openness to innovation, and divergence in the workforce. Rather than assigning a team to a project, leaving the project open to whoever is most motivated, most interested, and best suits the skillsets required will work better.

Technology leaders should also encourage unconventional ideas and risk-taking. Keeping the teams curious and bold and welcoming feedback of all kinds is the best way to guide new-age teams.

Technology Leadership is a Dynamic Skill #

As the world moves more and more towards digital culture and global connectivity, there will be new challenges that leaders will face. Using technology to solve a problem is an old game – the new game is using technology to create a better now.

Questions and answers #

What is the main point? #

" Work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction.

What else did the original piece say? #

Otherwise, it’s just a job, and life is too short for that."* – Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.