Successful mobile technology leaders come with certain traits that may be overlooked. They understand the reality that even the best solutions—designed and implemented perfectly—are going to face challenges at some point.
When you look at mobile solutions, and all of the layers that make up the entire mobile user experience, you may find that technology is bound to break down or be misunderstood by some of its users (like any other technology). Identifying the right leadership with the right background is critical to building mobile solutions on the right foundation that will effectively manage these challenges and contribute to driving growth and profitability.
Here are the three key traits to look for in leaders for mobile technology solutions.
Lead With “Mobile Passion” For Success
When I think of mobile passion, the first thing that comes to my mind is instilling the notion of shared ownership, which encourages every team member to contribute to and be critical of the collective outcome. As I wrote in this post for Forbes, leadership is not limited to one’s role, responsibility, and title.
Mobile technology leaders’ passion for mobile thinking sets an example of how everyone can advocate and drive success with mobile solutions. Mobile passion encourages tenacity to drive forward despite the challenges we may face or the resources available to us in a mobile project or engagement.
Encourage Mobile Curiosity to Drive Innovation
Mobile technology leaders play a crucial role in encouraging mobile curiosity. This means trusting our teams with a never-ending ambition to express human ingenuity with mobile technology. Mobile technology leaders deliver business value first by anticipating new ideas that can lead to mobile solutions that address unmet needs (whether in brand new solutions or improved versions of existing ones).
The first step in encouraging mobile curiosity begins by creating an environment to nurture “thinking outside the mobile device.” It means inspiring our teams to consider mobile value first. By putting a strong emphasis on how our mobile products or solutions can help drive growth and profitability not just for our direct customers, but for our customers’ customers, we plant seeds of mobile innovation.
Insist on Empathy to Deliver with Customer Focus
Last but not least is the quality of insisting on mobile empathy. I often refer to it as the “empathy principle” in design thinking, a practice that seeks to increase empathy for our users, so we can truly experience what the mobile journey looks like from their perspective.
Successful mobile technology leaders understand the basic tenets of design: You can’t design from behind a desk. Getting closer to mobile users is the only way. Working side by side with customers (both internal and external) in the same environment and under the same conditions is how mobile technology leaders enable user-centric products and solutions. They stress that the customer is the focal point of not just design but also execution—it needs to center on the user experience.
Bottom Line
Look for these traits first in mobile technology leaders, because these traits will serve as a guiding light to deliver unique solutions for traditional business models as well as navigate in uncharted waters.
When we think of leadership that is keen to drive success with mobile technology solutions, we want to seek traits that will breed success: mobile passion, curiosity, and empathy.
What skills do you look for in your mobile technology leadership?
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The post 3 Traits to Look for in Successful Mobile Technology Leaders appeared first on The Decision Factor Blog.
