how to develop our knowledge in the greatest professional Leader?
How to improve the knowledge in best and great leader in the software job #software #leader
3 answers
Ollie’s Answer
It takes decades to develop a career to the point of great leadership skills. Not just years, decades.
It doesn't mean you can't do great things before decades go by. It does mean that you'll need the patience to learn from everything you do. Don't worry about arriving, worry about traveling.
In any sort of technical field, leadership takes understanding of the technology and of the people. Mostly the people.
To remain technically relevant over a career takes constant study. You should plan on reading at least one technical book a month for the next thirty years. That's 360 books. Most of them are on topics that have not yet been imagined. (Safari Books Online: you don't have to pack all those books when you move.) Thirty years from now, the tech you work on now (Javascript? Docker? Virtual machines?) will be almost forgotten. (I started on FORTRAN-IV. What's that? Exactly.)
You should become skilled at the art of persuasion. One of the best sources on this topic is one of the oldest. Read Aristotle's treatise on Rhetoric, and try to put it into practice. One of the most important aspects of this understanding is to receive persuasion wisely, as well as give it.
You should practice systems thinking. That is, you should be able to see how individual people fit into the systems -- the culture and operations -- both of their companies and their societies. People do remarkably few things that haven't been set in motion for centuries. So, learn the history of your field and the people around you, and your own history. To get a sense of this "systems thinking" stuff read Peter Senge's book The Fifth Discipline. It's tough sledding, but worth the effort.
I'm an American steeped in the ethos of the Christian reformation of the 1500s. One of the best systems books about this tradition is by Max Weber -- The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. There must be similar work that's relevant to your country and its traditions. Find that work (and read Weber).
Great leaders take credit for almost nothing. Credit is their gift to the people they work with. Robert Greenleaf is an excellent writer on this topic.
There are the aphorisms, of course. Never hire anyone unless they are more competent than you at the thing you want them to do. Always work yourself out of every job. When you're a leader, the only way you can do enough is by doing nothing. Keep the blame, give away the credit. Remember Charles de Gaulle's statement: "Graveyards are full of indispensable people."
Tanner’s Answer
Bob’s Answer
Leadership is influence. To influence you have to be good. So study hard. Not only study technical skills like programming and how applications work, but also personal skills of getting along with others.
Not many people are like Steve Jobs. You have to be smart, work hard, and get along with people. Read books and reflect on your life experience while getting better every day.
Good luck on your journey. Enjoy the ride and remember it's all about the journey. Leadership is is not a destination and it's more of a journey.