Making An Impact Through Effective Technology Leadership - Forbes

The advertising industry is changing rapidly in unprecedented ways. From the convergence of OTT, TV, mobile and online to harnessing insights from big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, we’re shifting the way we connect with audiences.

This leads to an emergence of disruptive business models that are heavily reliant on technology. To stay competitive, companies are now rapidly dissolving boundaries across technology and product, go-to-market strategies and talent engagement efforts. Now more than ever, technology leaders must actively create the space our teams need to innovate, cross-collaborate, grow and thrive in this environment.

Technologists must challenge the common misconception that engineering is solely responsible for in-the-weeds, back-office technical processes and infrastructure. While it will always be key to ensure our product development meets the highest technical standards, CTOs must also extend their impact by shaping the company’s strategic road map and tweaking its decisions around product innovation, business operations and diversity and inclusion.

When designing a strategy to successfully lead a team through evolution, there are five key steps to consider.

1. Prioritize Diversity

Prioritize hiring diverse and critical thinkers. By building a smart team with varying backgrounds and experiences, you will be able to develop more rich and complex insights that inform short- and long-term strategies. As a result, employees will be better set up to learn about something new and to share information and ideas, whether it’s for products and systems or company culture and team-building.

2. Bring Out the Best in Your Team

As technologists, we innately think our ideas are the “best” ideas, and often, those stepping into leadership roles think, “How can I implement my best ideas?” Technology play is a team sport, and bringing the best ideas together without egos is key for everyone’s success. A leader’s job is not to have the best idea. Rather, they need to bring out the best in others. Drawing out innovation and strategic insights from an entire organization of technologists, data scientists and engineers means we must be open to learning and encouraging a free flow of new ideas and differing opinions.

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