Hiring Technical Leaders – Finding the right balance

You’re a mid-sized company.

You’re thinking of hiring an IT executive.

How much technical skill should they have?

IT management is a balance. Some folks cling to their technical backgrounds. They may manage a team of 20 but when push comes to shove, they prefer writing code. Or fixing network problems. Which isn’t their job any longer.

Other folks rose rapidly into management and leadership. They once had detailed skills. But that was in a time long ago, in a galaxy far away.

These folks MIGHT succeed in a larger organization with the right team behind them. In a smaller setting, it’s a recipe for too many great ideas and not enough working software.

You need to strike the balance.

You need someone with enough technical know how so that they understand what their team is doing. With the skill to call BS when the team delivers lots of excuses and little software.

But who also knows that they’re not there to do the work itself.

In another post, we’ll talk about some tips for making the correct choice.