Reflection on Leadership Tension - The Expert vs. The Learner

As a Solution Architect at Thought Machine, I often face a leadership challenge: balancing my established expertise with the need to keep learning. This is especially important given the constantly changing landscape of our cloud-native core banking product.

After four years working with this product, I've gained deep knowledge, allowing me to answer most client questions confidently. However, relying solely on past knowledge isn't enough. Our product and digital trends are evolving quickly, with new technologies and regulatory changes regularly emerging. To stay relevant, I need to continue learning through industry conferences, webinars, and training sessions, ensuring I understand both new features and how they can address client needs. Engaging with clients and listening to their feedback is also crucial in tailoring solutions that are both innovative and practical.

I'm particularly interested in building high-performance teams that align with business transformation goals. Leading projects that transition from legacy systems to cloud solutions highlights the need for alignment between business and technology teams. These groups often have different priorities and can miscommunicate, leading to misalignment, especially as deadlines approach. Better alignment can improve performance and ensure projects are completed on time and within budget, boosting morale and delivering high value, particularly in challenging times such as during retrenchment.

A key question is how to keep team motivation high during rapid changes and uncertainty, especially with financial constraints and tech layoffs. It's important to ensure that team members understand and are committed to the project’s vision and their role in its success. Demonstrating empathy, providing support, and fostering open communication and collaboration between teams can help maintain alignment and mutual understanding. Additionally, showing humility by being open to feedback and willing to adapt based on team insights helps create a culture of continuous improvement and respect.

Reflecting on Alan Mulally’s leadership at Ford, we can learn from his combination of enduring and emerging leadership behaviors. He set a clear vision, focused on performance, led by example, and took calculated risks. He was also purpose-driven, empathetic, inclusive, and humble. Mulally balanced the roles of being a tactician and a visionary and managed the tension between holding power and sharing it. These lessons are valuable in understanding how to navigate the balance between being an expert and a learner. By applying these strategies, I aim to enhance my leadership effectiveness, ensuring my team is well-prepared to meet the challenges of an evolving technological landscape and deliver exceptional value to our clients.