How to Attract an authentic CTO and make leaders more effective

CTO (Chief Technology Officer) is a critical role, especially if you are running a SaaS business. Ensuring you set the right expectations as you hire/onboard is critical for the incoming leader and the business. Following is the framework that I have leveraged and heavily benefited from.

If you looking to hire a CTO, assess your business needs, ask your leaders what are the big impediments, how can help them, and then parse the answers to ensure you comprehend the problem so that you can address the concerns by bringing in the most effective leader.

A common success strategy that I have observed, after working with over 20 CEOs is to lean on a technical leader with strong managerial skills ( defined below under “manager” as the role). That uncovers the area that needs the most attention and then one can remediate the root cause. Be wary of the symptoms, as they might be an indicator of the problem and not the actual issue. So, always be mindful and deliberate about solutions, if you are solving or set expectations by establishing the outcomes that you seek.

Role of a CTO

CTO is responsible for five broad things, they play the following roles

• Executive
• People Leader
• Innovator
• Advocate/Evangelist
• Manager