How To Succeed As A Tech Exec In Five Easy Steps

My title for this post sort of spins the title of the article I want to point you to, aiming for the positive side of the coin. The article, which is entitled “The Top 5 Reasons Tech Execs Fail,” provides a set of bullet-pointed thoughts that can be read as a list of what tech execs need to do in order to succeed. I happen to agree with the authors’ assessment.

Here’s the short version of Marty Abbott and Michael Fisher’s five points, slightly altered to read as a list of positive attributes of a successful tech leader:

5. Ability to Build World Class Team
4. Ability to Execute
3. Ability to Lead/Motivate/Inspire
2. Ability to Manage Operationally
1. Displays and Uses Financial Acumen

The authors point out in their article, “… when technology executives fail, it is not because they lack an individual skill. It is because they lack an an adequate balance of the many technical, operational and leadership skills necessary to make them a complete manager.”