Truthfully, the joys in leadership are significantly reduced or non-existent. Reduced headcount leaves less room for innovation and it’s harder to motivate teams. There are fewer team promotions to celebrate. In fact, saving programs, turning them around, and preventing layoffs are the largest reliefs.
That’s an interesting question! When I was working on iPhones and iPads at Apple, we already had well-regarded products, so finding new growth opportunities for teams was generally challenging, and innovation was essential. AR was very greenfield, so I had to lead teams through program cancellations, pivots, and ambiguity. Semiconductors are expensive and time-consuming, and you have few chances of getting it right, so quality is most important. AI is very competitive, meaning recruiting talented engineers is challenging, and retention and company benefits are even more critical.
To balance innovation and employee well-being, communicating the challenge and what’s needed within the organization is important. You can motivate your teams and say we need to be innovative and make time for that by optimizing efficiency. You can make them part of the process. You hired talented individuals, you should hear their ideas. Imagine how that sounds compared to making employment cuts or reducing benefits, and then asking a team to do more.
Executive leaders and CEOs shouldn’t panic. They have to take risks and think about what’s best in the long term. They must ask what’s best for the company when the economy improves and what’s best for the company even after they leave. This starts with not making cuts for efficiency but investing in innovation.
That’s a significant departure from the previous decade when new managers only experienced growth. In fact, we are seeing a second wave of leadership departures. The first wave happened from 2020 to 2022. Since then, many individuals have become new managers, or existing managers have inherited more teams. However, the challenges persist, so we are seeing an increase in new managers wanting to return to individual contributor roles. This trend is a major concern because the first few years as a manager are the toughest, and good managers make a difference.
As far as my leadership style, these problems have helped me develop values I embrace whenever I join new organizations.
What strategies can be employed to alleviate the pressures of increased workloads on tech leaders?
- Trust and autonomy: In an execution-focused environment with ambiguity, you need to hire very talented people to help you and tell you what to do, not the other way around.
- Equity in opportunity: There are always going to be a few challenging problems and opportunities that everyone wants to work on. Regardless of previous successful results from individuals, opportunities need to be distributed throughout the team. Everyone deserves a chance to learn and grow, and you’ll move farther as a team in the long term. You don’t just hire a high-performing team, you develop them.
- Be humble: Someone once told me you should be able to argue about a topic at work and then grab dinner together afterward. I beg to differ! Dinner is fine, but you don’t need to argue. Great designs, ideas, and data should speak for themselves. You can debate a topic with respect. Furthermore, no work is insignificant, and no one is too above it. Challenging work isn’t the same as meaningful work. The person who designs the box for the iPhone has just as much of an important job as the person who architects the processor.
- Make decisions fast and be right “most” of the time: I expect this from the leaders in my team. I remember a previous program where someone had difficulty choosing the best of two solutions given each had its own set of problems. By the third week, our VP told them to pick what their instincts told them and spend their newly available time addressing the solution’s issues.
How have post-pandemic shifts in work culture impacted the mental health and job satisfaction of tech executives?
What role does company culture play in retaining talented tech leaders, and how can organizations ensure their culture supports both innovation and employee well-being?
What role does executive leadership support—or lack thereof—play in the decision of tech professionals to step down from managerial roles?
A positive culture is the only advantage a company can guarantee it provides in challenging times. Difficult decisions are needed. However, it’s important to remember that we shouldn’t be scared. Leaders and their teams should be asked to find ways to make improvements and be part of the process. You don’t need to bring in consultants. Finally, we must remember that our values must stand not just in the good times but especially in the difficult times.
You can’t address the skills and expertise lost. We’re seeing a movement to reduce single-point of failures more with every team member, not just leaders. This change is because of departures or concerns about layoffs. To create efficiency, companies have created inefficiencies with redundancy while removing room for innovation.
Senior leaders should be aware that managers are experiencing significant challenges. One of the easiest ways to start is acknowledging it and providing support even if you don’t know the answer. Have your organization create manager circles where they can share problems and ideas. A recent example is one of the managers in my organization joined a discussion on the challenges of a highly motivated team with limited growth opportunities. Ultimately, this provides leaders a sense that they aren’t alone in trying to solve the problems they are facing.
- Finding ways to avoid layoffs because of legal export control issues.
- Supporting members of their team that faced challenges due to COVID.
- Maintaining business growth expectations during a hiring freeze.
- Handling layoffs they have a say in.
- Supporting their team after layoffs in which they didn’t have a say.
- Asking their team members to return to the office whether or not they believed in the value of it.
- Not being able to promote individuals or terminating more employment without coaching. Essentially raising the bar with consequences instead of incentives.
There’s certainly been a noticeable pattern from executive leaders and investors focusing on short-term results. Moreover, you’ll find many companies providing leaders training on how to deliver bad news. This unfortunately leaves many managers in a position of being the punching bag.
It’s even more critical now for leaders to stay technical, define their team’s future, and take risks. Management and coaching skills are no longer enough. They must have a vision and recognize opportunities, and in order to do that, they have to understand the technology.
For managers, find new ways to promote time for innovation and growth. This could be via upleveling everyone on the team. Can your junior engineers take over the responsibilities of your senior engineers? Can the senior engineers focus on new ideas? Take a bigger risk on people than you would’ve in the past. Ensure you’re also focusing on your technical skills. The company and your team are looking to you for ideas and opportunities, not just management strategy and philosophy.
I adopted or developed all the values because I faced challenges that needed them. Trust and autonomy arose because I wanted to empower people to do their best work and not micromanage. Equity in opportunity came about when I saw people on my team working on the same problems and competing against each other. Being humble came out when I saw the most talented engineer on my team volunteer to take on the most straightforward part of a project, the part that was important but nobody else wanted to do.
When I first started managing, there were always new challenges. I learned these practices because I had a supportive general manager at Microsoft. He would share his advice, but more importantly, he gave me space and time to make mistakes and learn from them. This gave me confidence in trying new things, figuring out what worked, and putting management into practice. One example was allowing junior engineers to take on more business-critical work, even if the most senior engineers were free. We had some hiccups on delivery and stakeholder management, but many of the junior engineers were senior by the time they completed their work.
What key challenges have you faced in your career while transforming tech teams, and how did you overcome them?
Welcome to this exclusive Q&A session with Kiranbir Sodhia, a distinguished leader and engineer based in Silicon Valley, California. With over 15 years of experience at the forefront of AI, AR, gaming, mobile app, and semiconductor industries, Kiranbir has made significant contributions to both product innovation and the transformation of tech teams within leading companies.
In this interview, we delve into Kiranbir’s insights on team transformation, leadership cultivation, and his vision for the future of technology.
How does your experience across various industries such as AI, AR, gaming, mobile app, and semiconductor sectors influence your leadership style?
Senior leaders should acknowledge that manager’s roles have become more challenging. Listen to the feedback of managers and directors. They know what’s important, and they are relaying what the team needs to deliver. Let managers know in the same setting so they can discuss ideas and strategies for balancing efficiency, innovation, and morale. Give your managers time to focus on their technical skills.
The job is tough, and the challenges will continue. Managers should realize they aren’t alone, and they can talk to their peers to share concerns and solutions. However, working through these challenges and supporting teams is a true test of leadership. Imagine the experience and knowledge you have on the other side.
What companies have to remember is that people quit bad managers. However, they follow good ones.
I wouldn’t associate CEO departures with manager and director departures. CEO departures are not bad. They are a change agent. They bring in new ideas and cultural changes. Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, Dara Khosrowshahi, and Pat Gelsinger are all good examples of CEOs who forged their companies ahead with a vision while removing toxic cultures or maintaining positive ones.
There’s no question that it’s difficult. However, optimism, comfort, and forging ahead are the true tests of leadership. Facing these challenges doesn’t mean you’re a bad leader; everyone is going through it. Moreover, managing through adversity is the true test of leadership and it’s even more important to lead through challenges than simply through growth.
At Microsoft, he played a pivotal role in revitalizing two key organizations, consistently achieving top workgroup health scores from 2017 to 2022. His success continued at Google, where he not only turned around two struggling teams but also mentored leaders for succession. Kiranbir’s leadership approach is distinguished by his dedication to addressing cultural issues, nurturing talent, and fostering strategic independence. His mission is to empower teams to operate autonomously and thrive in a competitive environment.
As I look back on these challenges, they aren’t unique to each sector, just more present. I’m grateful for being exposed to all these areas because they’ve given me an arsenal of tactics to use when problems arise.
You can’t address what you’ve lost, but you can prevent future departures and hopefully eventually attract new talent. Fund innovation! Provide room to try new ideas and risks, not just maintain the status quo more efficiently. Think long-term. Hire more selectively.
The best way to start is to acknowledge the increased workload. A recent example was a new manager in my organization needing help prioritizing two problems with limited staff on their team. I had to remind them that this was a challenging decision but would be challenging for anyone. Making difficult decisions is why he leads the team, and he does an excellent job even if it doesn’t feel easy.
It’s the most essential part.
As I shared, senior leadership and investors are asking directors and managers to do more. However, managers have fewer incentives to provide for their team. They are unable to grow their team’s careers as quickly, and they cannot genuinely provide psychological safety. Furthermore, they have to communicate their challenges, such as reduced promotion budgets and inability to hire more staff, to team members who aren’t yet aware of the new landscape and unfortunately have to adjust their expectations.
How significant is the increase in CEO departures in the tech industry, and what does this trend suggest about the current state of leadership in tech?
In what ways must tech companies address the digital skills gap exacerbated by the departure of experienced leaders?
What innovative management approaches can help retain talented tech leaders in a rapidly evolving industry?
What specific factors are contributing to the burnout and work-life balance issues among tech leaders that are prompting them to resign?
The departures of leadership in tech, including managers and directors over the last few years are for different reasons. Being a manager is the easiest job in a good economy. You focus on the tech itself, culture, investing in innovation, providing psychological safety, and growing your team members. However, with political changes, the COVID pandemic, and high interest rates in the past few years, managers are experiencing more difficulties than ever. Since 2020, many managers have faced challenges never seen before including:
By Randy Ferguson
Senior leaders should allow periods of innovation after periods of optimization. While it may seem like you can optimize more after success, you need to have periods of pause so that managers can build technical skills and take risks in the spirit of innovation.
