Most coders or developers start their careers enthusiastically. But after doing the same thing day in and day out, boredom soon steps in. As they age, they become less satisfied with their work, working environment, and company culture. They soon become frustrated with things in the enterprise outside their control. Very few developers talk to their HR and sort out such issues. They soon leave and start their own company, where they become the boss. What can enterprises do to prevent such a rut? Can enterprises harness such talent for in-house leadership roles?

The path from coders to CTO is not straightforward, but it is common.

1. CTOs need distinct skill sets from coders.

The dominant school of thought is that developers do not make good CTOs or leaders. Developers type code. CTOs are facilitators of technology in the enterprise. The two roles are as different as chalk and cheese.

The developer’s role is technical and, to an extent, creative. He focuses his energies on the task on hand and finishes it with single-minded determination.

In contrast, a CTO is a multi-tasker who has to look beyond software development. CTOs have to:

• Supervise other coders and IT staff under them.
• Engage with the C-suite to lay down IT strategy, sync it with overall corporate strategy, and get budgetary approvals.
• Translate strategies into action plans.
• Coordinate with functional and department teams to enforce security policies.
• Share the enterprise culture and promote change. The onus is on CTOs to drive digital transformation initiatives and shepherd new tech adoption at the enterprise level.
• Mentor developers and other staff.
• Coordinate with HR for recruitment and performance appraisals.

Successful CTOs need supervisory, managerial, and leadership skills, besides technical skills. The best coders will not become good CTO without these skills.

The famous “Peter Principle” holds that everyone rises to their level of incompetency. The principle observes that employees rise in the hierarchy until they reach incompetence. The same may hold for coders trying to take up CTO roles.

But does that mean enterprises have to give up on coders and find CTOs outside the industry? In today’s age of skill-crunch, getting competent hands for basic tasks is hard enough. Finding capable leaders who understand the company is next-to-impossible. Also, new age coders come without past baggage. They do not have to unlearn archaic concepts ingrained into the minds of the pre-millennial workforce. Also, most of them have inherent traits that make them resilient and flexible. These are valuable skills for new-generation leaders operating in an uncertain world. Acquiring current leadership skills is easy as long as they imbibe the primary leadership and people traits.

Considering these factors, many enterprises provide opportunities for developers to grow as leaders.

2. Does a Master’s Degree matter?

The knee-jerk approach of management or leadership aspirants is to get a postgraduate degree. The first choice is an MBA or some other comparable degree in management.

A master’s degree is no guarantee for becoming an effective CTO. A degree is no substitute for practical and professional experience. More so in today’s age of rapid shift where technology and management principles change fast. Success often depends on the ability to unlearn and relearn rather than hold on to archaic principles.

But a master’s degree still holds relevance. It offers the wannabe CTO basic conceptual frameworks in management and leadership styles. The developer with a master’s degree in management can take the initiative and apply these principles at work. For instance, they may apply management principles to communicate effectively and collaborate better. They may also organize their projects better and impress the leadership to take notice.

Coders with a degree have experience in domain roles, plus authenticated conceptual abilities. They get a head start compared to other aspirants.

3. Wannabe CTOs choose the people route.

In most enterprises, wannabe CTOs have two broad baths open to them – the technical route or the people route.

Developers on the technical route get better titles and attractive pay hikes as long as they update with the latest tech skills. Coders who aspire for the people route become CTOs or get other leadership positions. Their success depends on effective people management more than anything else.

Coders serious about leadership roles make the most out of their limited “people” opportunities. They:

• Take the initiative to help fellow coders. Engaging with work beyond one’s own goes beyond making oneself popular. The person gets a clearer picture of the issues faced by the company and solutions for the same.
• Communicate and talk to others to get ideas across and inculcate new ideas.
• Become influencers, by writing blog posts and engaging in collaborative forums. The overriding aim, again, being to share knowledge and help people.
• Network and socialize. Coders aspiring for leadership roles are active in conferences and networking circles. For instance, they never miss a hackathon, where a fun project for a day might turn into valuable networking opportunities.

4. Can CTOs continue to code?

Many CTOs continue to code. For many CTOs, coding is their first love. Taking time out for coding offers relaxation and is an enjoyable part of their job responsibilities.

CTOs with relevant coding skills can empathize with developers more and become more effective at work. But real-world pressures mean not all CTOs can continue to code as they did when they were developers.

Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb’s co-founder and former CTO, continued to code for almost a year and a half after he became the CTO. But he had to give up coding as his CTO responsibilities increased. During the next three years, his primary role was to screen candidates and convince outstanding candidates to join Airbnb. As CTO, he had to let go of his primary passion for coding and focus on engineering, data science, online marketing, and payments.

Other CTOs focus on testing and finding bugs in the code of developers under them. They apply their coding skills to review the code generated by other developers in the team. They ensure simplicity of design and ease of use.

CTOs have to see the bigger picture. A developer focuses only on his project. Developer-CTOs have to think two steps ahead. Solving complex problems no longer suffices. Instead, they must find the simplest solution to a business need and avoid missing business opportunities. They may have to conjure solutions outside coding or make compromises such as diluting testing to speed up a product launch.

The talent crunch has become rifer than ever before in the post-pandemic age. Enterprises that support and encourage their developers to grow as leaders will soon develop competent leaders who deliver competitive advantage.