Question: What's one overlooked trait of a strong CTO?
Question: What's one overlooked trait of a strong CTO?
Cooperation
"Odds are the technology works, but people are using it wrong. Arming individuals with the technology they need to do their job means coping with change. A CTO needs to work with others on his team or help manage the change directly within his company. "
@tylerarnold
Understanding
"As it relates to digital startups, everything is irrelevant if your CTO doesn't want to understand the customer."
@eddieplou
Balance
"Most CTOs are heavily focused on either internal or external measures and processes. The strong CTO will be well-versed in both realms."
@moneycrashers
Big-Picture Thinking
"CTOs focus their time evaluating how technology can be used by their organization to create new business models and lines. They look at competitors' attempts to use technology and decide how their organization will use technology to disrupt markets. In order to truly disrupt markets, CTOs need to have truly disruptive ideas. That's why an overlooked trait of a CTO is being a "big thinker.""
@BrettFarmiloe
Keeping Up With the Industry
"The ability to see the big picture of what you are moving toward and not getting lost in the small everyday tasks is crucial. It's important to be fluid with technological developments and challenge yourself to be the first to adapt to new industry transformations. "
@PhilLaboon
Collaboration
"The CTO impacts all areas of the business. Sometimes the tech team can become siloed because their heads are down fixing bugs, making continuous changes and essentially making sure the company stays in business. Even through these daily challenges, it's important to have a CTO who recognizes the value of cross-team collaboration and a team that will communicate their ideas back to them."
@SimpleRelevance
Personability
"A CTO is always expected to be curious and a strong developer. However, an often-overlooked trait of a strong CTO is his ability to be personable with employees. Personable CTOs are able to do much more than simply develop -- they are able to foster a work environment for the development team to work happier, smarter and faster. This also helps with employee retention in the long run. "
@fehzan1
Perspective
"Most CTOs are awesome at coding and engineering. That is what they bring to the table. I've noticed that a strong CTO is also more conservative and helps the CEO slow down and see things from a perspective more aligned with reality."
@ryanashank
Empathy
"A strong CTO needs to see how technology enables people. And, despite their own technological prowess, they need to see where others may have challenges with adapting to new technology or ways of doing things."
@icowboy
A Fun Personality
"If you hire a CTO who is a lot of fun, the engineering team and the rest of the company will want to spend time with him and will be more likely to rally around the technology. This fun personality can include a great sense of humor, interest in a lot of activities and more. "
@jspujji
