Our lead software architect is critical to our technology roadmap, but we are debating whether they actually belong on our leadership team or if we are just trying to appease them with a title. How do we decide if a key technical expert belongs on the leadership team?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a common mistake for growing companies. You have a highly valuable technical expert or specialist, and you want to show them they are valued by giving them a seat on the leadership team. This is a structural error that will ruin your meeting efficiency and confuse your reporting lines.

The leadership team exists to run the business, not to hold your most expensive or technically advanced employees. Every member of your leadership team must have a seat on the Accountability Chart that represents a major function of the business, such as sales, operations, or finance. They must also GWC™ that seat at an executive level.

Ask yourself if your software architect wants to manage people, resolve operational issues, and sit through strategic discussions about cash flow and marketing. If they are a true specialist, they likely want to focus on their technical craft, not on running the business. Putting them on the leadership team forces them into meetings that distract them from their core value.

Instead, keep your leadership team lean and focused. Create a highly compensated, prestigious technical track on your Accountability Chart that allows specialists to grow their careers and influence the technology roadmap without joining the executive team.

You can still bring them into leadership meetings as a guest when you need their specific technical expertise to IDS® a critical technology issue. This keeps your leadership team focused on running the company while respecting and utilizing your expert's valuable knowledge.