From Servant Leader to True Leader: A Shift in Nomenclature

🛑 Enough with the #ServantLeader talk! It's a term I genuinely dislike and, especially in tech, I see it leading managers like #CTOs, #VPs of Engineering, and Tech Leads down the wrong path. The problem isn't serving or leading—it's the combination. I've been in the trenches with the teams: all-nighters, 2 a.m. incident calls, hot fixes. Servers that would not restart. As a manager, you absolutely help your teams, put effort into their development, and remove obstacles. I used to draw upside-down org charts to emphasize the support structure for decades. I asked "what is the worst desk" in open offices and sat there. There is nothing bad about enabling your teams. But many of my clients who self-identify as "Servant Leaders" are actually just servants. They're not leading at all! ❌ They do their employees' jobs. ❌ They get overloaded with operational work. ❌ They are stuck up to their neck in doing, not leading. #Leadership is simple: A leader has a compelling, self-explanatory vision that people want to reach. She weaves a story around it. She leads people toward that vision. When you default to just being a "servant" to avoid the perceived "badness" of telling people where to go, your department will zigzag. People feel disoriented, initiatives stall, and the "leader" gets pulled even deeper into endless alignment meetings. Be a leader, not a servant. Help them along, remove obstacles—or teach them to remove their own!—but the primary thing is to #LEAD. Servant leader is like Scrum. You can use Scrum to be agile, but the risk is high that Scrum sets the wrong incentives. Servant Leadership can work, but there is a high risk that you get it wrong. What are your thoughts on "Servant Leadership" in a modern tech context? 🤔 #Leadership #TechLeadership #CTO #EngineeringManagement #ServantLeadership

The Leadership Trap of Being the "Chief Problem Solver" Unpopular Opinion: If you're an IT manager who is constantly "in the trenches" solving technical problems, you're not leading—you're limiting. The Myth: "A great leader must be the most skilled technical expert on the team." The Reality: The moment you become the "Chief Problem Solver," you place a ceiling on your team's growth. You create a culture of dependency, not empowerment. Your team's success isn't defined by your ability to fix things. It's defined by their ability to function and innovate when you're not even there. Stop being the hero. Start being the hero-maker. Instead of solving the problem, do this: → Ask questions that guide them to the solution. → Connect them with others who can help. → Create a safe space where it's okay to fail and learn. → Remove the roadblocks they can't move themselves. Your goal isn't to be the team's safety net. It's to make the team so strong they don't need one. #ITLeadership #Management #TeamCulture #DevOps #Empowerment #TechSkills

⚡Leadership isn’t about choosing sides. It’s about holding opposites — and turning TENSION into ENERGY. For too long we’ve treated paradoxes as problems to fix. But what if they’re the very engine of adaptability and innovation? 💡This is the heart of Paradoxical Leadership: the ability to regulate tension instead of reacting to it. In Part 2 of “The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You”, I explore how leaders can use Polarity Mapping and Paradox Theory to move from: > Binary → Inclusive > Pressure → Rhythm > Fix → Flow Because HIGH PERFORMANCE doesn’t come from eliminating tension — it comes from mastering it. 👇 Read the full post: https://lnkd.in/dcsmZKnB #ParadoxicalLeadership #FlowState #LeadershipDevelopment #AgileLeadership #HighPerformance #ConsciousLeadership

Great leadership lives in the overlap. For me it’s where four lenses meet: 1/ Leading people - building trust, safety, and pride in the craft. 2/ Leading operations - making reliability feel boring on purpose. 3/ Leading strategic thinking — holding the “why” when the “what” gets loud. 4/ Looking outward — live signals over opinions In that tiny, dark center is <purpose>. Mine: building the future of security that feels simple, human, and dependable. Purpose is the north star that keeps my cross-functional Scrum teams aligned across multi-product roadmaps—steadying prioritization, architecture choices, and delivery cadence. In practice, that means: * Clarity over noise: laser focus → meaningful outcomes * Calm operations: SRE habits → predictable releases, clean rollbacks. * Early, honest feedback: ship small → learn fast, protect quality. * Outside-in thinking: live signals (usage, logs, latency) → sharper design, right capacity. * Growth with responsibility: autonomy + accountability → ownership, calm delivery. It isn’t glamorous. It’s consistent. It’s how we turn strategy into momentum, momentum into trust, and trust into products that protect people every day. Quietly, persistently - that’s how I try to lead.

It’s not enough to know what works; leaders must also understand why it works, where it works, and when it works. This mindset shift transforms knowledge from a static asset into a dynamic tool for innovation and growth. Waldemar Konury, VP of Enterprise Shared Services at Baker Hughes, breaks down the art of contextual application for problem solving in his latest mentoring insights article. Click below to read on 👇. #Leadership #MentoringInsights #Mentorship #BakerHughes #WeAreBakerHughes

Think a technical leader *always* needs to be hands-on to be respected? You might be doing more harm than good. Let's discuss the subtle art of strategic technical contribution that actually empowers your team. It's a common dilemma: how do you maintain your technical edge while effectively leading and scaling your team? The answer isn't a blanket "always code" or "never code." It's about knowing *when*. Here's a practical framework: 1. **When to Code (Strategically):** Jump in for critical spikes, unblocking a major technical hurdle, creating a foundational prototype, or setting a high bar for code quality through contribution. This isn't about doing the team's work; it's about targeted, high-leverage intervention. 2. **When to Coach:** This is your primary mode. Guide architectural decisions, review code for learning opportunities, mentor engineers, facilitate problem-solving, and help your team connect their work to the broader business strategy. Your experience is their accelerant. 3. **When to Get Out of the Way:** The hardest part. Once the path is clear, the team is empowered, and the standards are set, step back. Allow your engineers to own solutions, make decisions, and learn from their challenges. This fosters autonomy and truly scales your impact. Your most valuable contribution evolves from individual output to enabling exponential team output. It's not about being the best coder, but the best enabler. #TechLeadership #SoftwareEngineering #EngineeringManagement #LeadershipDevelopment #StrategicLeadership #HandsOnLeader What's been your biggest challenge in balancing hands-on work with leadership responsibilities? #TechLeadership #SoftwareEngineering

Everyone champions delegation and a "hands-off" approach for leaders, but what if truly impactful technical leadership *demands* a different kind of "hands-on" engagement? Let's challenge the notion that stepping away from the code entirely makes you a better leader, and explore how strategic technical involvement can prevent strategic drift and disempowerment. The paradox isn't about writing features; it's about maintaining a pulse on the technical landscape without micromanaging. How do effective technical leaders achieve this? 1. **Strategic Code Reviews:** Go beyond surface-level comments. Dive into architectural implications, performance, and maintainability. Use reviews as mentorship opportunities. 2. **Championing PoCs & Spikes:** Lead the charge on new tech evaluations or complex problem-solving. This keeps your skills sharp and sets a tangible example. 3. **Deep-Diving Incidents:** Understanding the technical root cause of critical issues earns respect and informs better prevention strategies. 4. **Mentoring Through Code:** Pair program on complex problems to guide, share best practices, and elevate your team's skills, rather than taking over. 5. **Contributing to DevX:** Building internal tools, improving CI/CD, or streamlining workflows directly impacts productivity and demonstrates commitment to the craft. This isn't about being the primary coder; it's about being the *technical compass*. It fosters better decision-making, fuels innovation, and builds profound trust within your team. How do *you* stay genuinely connected to the technical details without falling into the micromanagement trap? Share your strategies below! #TechLeadership #SoftwareEngineering #EngineeringLeadership #HandsOnLeader #TechnicalStrategy #DevOpsLeadership #TechLeadership #SoftwareEngineering

Servant leadership has always been at the heart of Agile, but in 2025, I find myself asking: what does it really mean today? We’re in an era where organizations are under pressure to move faster, adopt AI at scale, and cut costs yet teams still need trust, safety, and empathy to truly thrive. To me, servant leadership in this environment isn’t just about removing blockers or running ceremonies. It’s about: Listening deeply, even when deadlines are tight. Protecting space for learning and reflection, especially when change feels constant. Advocating for the team’s voice while balancing leadership’s demand for speed. I believe that in 2025, a servant leader is someone who creates clarity and calm in the middle of change someone who helps people feel valued while still moving toward business outcomes. #ScrumMaster #AgileLeadership #ServantLeadership #AgileCoach #Leadership #JobSearch #OpenToWork #AgileCommunity #Scrum

In business, knowing the rules and formulas is table stakes. The real game-changer? Knowing where and when to use them.  Waldemar Konury, VP of Enterprise Shared Services at Baker Hughes, breaks down the art of contextual application for problem solving in his latest mentoring insights article. Click below to read on 👇. #Leadership #MentoringInsights #Mentorship #BakerHughes #WeAreBakerHughes

In business, knowing the rules and formulas is table stakes. The real game-changer? Knowing where and when to use them.  Waldemar Konury, VP of Enterprise Shared Services at Baker Hughes, breaks down the art of contextual application for problem solving in his latest mentoring insights article. Click below to read on 👇. #Leadership #MentoringInsights #Mentorship #BakerHughes #WeAreBakerHughes