If you have technical expertise and love solving technical problems, I am sure that you have dreams in your heart. Of course, you must have this dream. But, do you know what are the levels through we – the technical experts – go through in our career? Awareness creates the change in you.
Here are the five levels we go through as Technical experts:
Level 1 – Solving technical problems
In our career we start as developer and then we graduate to the rol of a Tech Lead. Which means we have started gaining credibility in our technical capabilities. We are good in technology, we learn things fast, sometimes we read things overnight and then keep learning on the job.
Over a period of time, we build solutions for customers, we have made few significant visible contributions in some engagements. Our managers are protective about us. Our customers are all praise for us. The star at the horizon is on the ascend. And we start garnering self-confidence.
Level 2 – Work in customer facing role
If the momentum is right, very soon we find ourselves facing the customer – from offshore or from onsite. And we become the focal point of the engagement. For technical queries, team members reach out to us. Customers depends on us, trust us. We are the lifeblood of the engagement for Project managers, Program managers.
We gain a lot of contextual information about customer business and if we are structured and passionate about customer outcome, we start internalizing the customer’s business process and systems.
Some of us are more ambitious than others and we move forward to learn more about Architecture, Design of similar systems, reference architecture, business capability maps. And gradually, an Architect is born in us. We start looking for compliance of reference architectures, best practices every place we look at. And we become disenchanted most of the times.
Level 3 – Help customer in Design work
Then one day, we would like to add more value in the work we do. With our knowledge of business process, reference architecture, best practices, design patterns, we start looking at the current landscape of customers and try to envision more complete, near-perfect target state.
If we still have the flair for technology and curiosity to learn customer’s business and passion to contribute for customer’s outcome, customer notices us and consider us as close aides. What we see and say becomes what customer sees and hears.
As we help customer more, we become more proficient in managing customer stakeholders and managing the dynamics of the customer organization. More importantly, our communication and presentation acquires the dimension of credibility with customer. What we say and believe lands with the customer well.
Level 4 – Create Architecture, is part of customer’s core Team, trusted advisor
We build better relationship with customer and bring in Architecture and design thinking thought leadership for customer. Customers consider us one of their own. I also feel loyal to the customers I have been working for years.
I meet more customers, more importantly people at multiple levels of the organization. And I try to build relationship with them all. Some of the relationships are cemented into more strong, long-term value-adding partnerships. I build the trust and partnership in every encounter with customers. Customers reciprocate the same to me.
Level 5 – Partner, advises customers, create PoVs, generate sales, builds partnerships
This is a level where my credibility, trustworthiness and relationship is not enough. I look forward to take these to the next level by becoming a partner to the customer in making them interact with subject matter experts from multiple areas (not Architecture alone).
In the process, I take up the role of facilitator, problem-solver and orchestrator of different solution components. And this leads to tremendous partnership value.
I still find solutioning as my passion and put up my sleeves to write thought leadership papers, concept note, solution narratives for customer. Customer looks up to me for innovative ideas and my perspective more than anything. I feel blessed.
So…
If you have read this far, may I ask you two questions?
- At which stage are you in today?
- And also importantly, what are you doing to excel and move to the next stage of your journey. Do you have a mentor and a framework
1. As a leader in any field, we should give best in class services to others, which will create long term impact. Deliver same quality like you expect from other providers. Your team should provide good service and unique experience (quality development) or product to management or stake holders.
2. As a leader, we should trust and give opportunity to team to grow, provide mentoring to team
3. Success of team depends on its members and leader
4. Will always follow principles of APJ kalam sir, In success of team leader should be appreciated at the end and in case of failure leader should be at the front
Sir, please consider these points as well else other contents are awesome
Sir, Very well depicted !!
More or less this is true for any profession. 5 Stages of any professional career can be analogous to this while interpretation of customer may keep changing.
The important take away from this write up is learning, continuity and trust are important aspect to reach at pinnacle.
Trust is paramount in any relationship but that can’t come just by putting our presentation/thoughts in front of customer. I think delivering value at every stage will make customer start believing on our capabilities and it will certainly help strengthen our bond.
Devendra, trust shows up before everything else. If trust is not built, nothing else matters!