We want to elevate our top-performing software developer to our leadership team as our first internal technical director, but we are worried they are a brilliant technician who will struggle to manage people. How do we evaluate if they have the conative capacity to lead before we make the move?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To determine if your top developer belongs on the leadership team, you must stop looking at their past technical output and start evaluating their conative strengths. A brilliant coder solves logical problems; a director of technology solves people and systems problems. These require entirely different mental energies. Use the Kolbe A™ Index to evaluate how they naturally take action. A developer who succeeds through trial and error might have a high Quick Start score, but managing a team requires building repeatable systems, which demands strong Follow Thru. You must also evaluate them against the EOS® standard of GWC™: do they get the seat, want the seat, and have the capacity to do the job? Wanting the title and the pay raise is not the same as wanting the daily burden of human management, conflict resolution, and accountability. Schedule a candid conversation specifically about the realities of the seat on the Accountability Chart. Explain that success in this new role means their coding days are over, and their new metric of success is the output of their team. If they lack the conative drive to organize, systematize, and coach, do not force them into a leadership role where they will fail. Instead, create a dual career path where they can advance as an elite individual contributor with matching compensation, saving your team from losing a great developer and gaining a bad leader.