The past three decades marked the age of information and technology. During this period we saw companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, list can go on, rise to success. Coincidentally, these successful companies had even more successful CEOs who shared the deep understanding of technology and upon which they built their enterprises. Leaders like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs can be considered visionaries responsible why information systems have come to where they are today. Their success was based on strong leadership and exceptional visions paired with tech savvy skills, which now lead both, tech and non-tech driven companies. I believe that this skillset is necessary for any leader; however, tech Savvy CEOs are rare among fortune 500 companies, since most leadership positions are taken by older gentlemen in expensive suits flashing their MBA’s.
In my opinion, tech-savvy founders are able to better picture of what lies ahead for the company. Their understanding of information technology empowers them to better identify possibilities and opportunities as opposed to someone without that experience, because they wouldn’t be able to properly guide and execute company goals. Tech-savvy leaders/CEOs have the upper hand and can quickly analyze and adapt emerging technologies to shape their company’s strategic visions. I believe that this type of leadership helps organization to be more effective and competitive.
It comes as no surprise to me when I hear that young CEOs are outperforming older ones as we are heading into the digital age, where everything can be accessed from your mobile device in your pocket and get connected to anyone, anytime, anywhere in a split second. Modern industry requires heavy IT skillset and leaders/CEOs that lack the background or cannot keep up with the advancements may set themselves up for a failure when it comes to critical decision making that could affect the future of the company. Without the necessary background, for example, it can become difficult to keep up with the constant changes of technology; leaders must learn to keep up with ever evolving platforms, software applications, and programming languages to excel their competitive environment.
Do you think that strong tech background is needed to be a successful leader/CEO? Are there ways for leaders to compensate for the lack of knowledge in information technology?
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I think this is an interesting question with no cut and dry answer. It would probably be helpful for a CEO to be tech savvy but as long as they’re not tech illiterate I don’t think it’s completely necessary. I don’t think CEO and ideas person is completely synonymous. If the CEO has a good and knowledgeable team around them and is an innovative leader they can inspire the team to be innovate as well. And in turn the team can advise the CEO in important decisions. It’s not an ideal situation but it’s also not impossible.
Great post! It brought up some really interesting points that I had not considered before. I don’t believe a successful leader needs to have a strong tech background. If one is passionate, reliable, and openminded, they could be just as successful as a leader as someone with a strong tech background. However, it is completely true that in our society today we have seen a big increase in these leaders who are tech savvy and they have been extremely successful. Those who do contain these strong technological capabilities seem to be very motivated in the project they are working on and that can be a great way to influence others. They are passionate about their projects and want them to succeed on their own merits. This is a different than the stereotypical CEO who is mainly concerned with making money. I would be interested to read more about how these two CEOs relate. It is really intriguing to learn more about how leadership roles are changing today.
I really liked your post. But I don’t think I can fully agree with you. A CEO in my eyes needs be a smart, driven leader that knows how to delegate and motivate the people around them I don’t think it is necessary to have a tech background to be a successful CEO. I do agree that Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are all great CEO because of their brilliance in the tech space but they are in an industry that requires them to understand fully how their products are made from the coding to the end product. But other industry CEOs wouldn’t need to have the same knowledge as them to be a successful CEO, different type of industries wouldn’t need their CEO to be that tech savvy.