The Role of Leadership in DevOps Success
David Tomlinson – Senior Trainer Consultant, QA and DEVOPS INSTITUTE Ambassador
How much is the concept – and the competencies – of leadership understood in the field of DevOps?
And how can certifications such as DEVOPS INSTITUTE’s DevOps Leader and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) Foundation or Practitioner support aspiring leaders?
One of the challenges professionals have when transitioning to a leadership role is suddenly being “on stage” and needing a persona: for some, it’s natural, while others are comfortable with management, but not leadership.
However, it’s something we can learn. Leaders are not created by a magic wand but by developing certain key skills over time. This also means finding a way to be the person people want to follow. In doing this, it’s important to remember that leadership is not about authority but about serving those you lead.
Authenticity is the watchword here, because leadership needs to work for the individual, and that person must be authentic because others know when they’re being managed or manipulated. Yes, it’s a challenge, but it should be hugely rewarding to enable people through your approach and vision and to know you’ve made a tangible difference. It’s not wrong to show joy in what you’re doing and to share that – equally, you need the humility to admit when you get things wrong.
Remember: it’s not about you, but about the performance of the people around you.
Creating the space for improvement when leading in a DevOps environment
It sometimes requires a significant step for leaders to embrace the idea of empowering people with the time and space to truly explore and understand what needs improvement for developers and users.
This is not about forcing people but giving them a pathway to grow in DevOps and SRE roles, allowing them to identify improvements that might otherwise never be found. There is wisdom in production, and leaders need to be open to allowing the knowledge contained in the organisation to flow freely.
However, when shifting from a technical to a leadership role, people can often retreat to their comfort zone. To avoid this, say to your people: “This is the problem – how would you solve it?”
At the same time, leaders need to reiterate that there is no talent in the tools. Tools alone won’t solve problems – it requires great people doing great things. In one example I saw, a team found a simple, inexpensive solution to a problem rather than relying on an overcomplicated and costly tool.
Becoming a DevOps leader
In becoming a leader in DevOps, you need to understand that people want purpose and therefore need a vision.
The leader’s job is to give them that vision and articulate the “why?”; communicating this in an inspirational way helps ensure people understand the reason they’re doing the work.
For example, a developer working on a healthcare application, such as the National Health Service app in the United Kingdom, is not just writing code; they are also designing and implementing solutions. The app saves thousands of lives per year through early intervention and detection of health issues. This is precisely the type of vision that everyone working on the app needs to be aware of.
Leaders can’t do leadership to people, but with them. Showing belief in your people means they are more likely to go “the extra mile.” And help them by removing impediments, improving the working environment, while enabling them to find a way through the inevitable problems.
Equally, it’s no small thing for a leader to learn to say “thank you” better; to show that what the team does is appreciated. This is fundamentally human and something the leader needs to ensure.
DEVOPS INSTITUTE's DevOps Leader certification: combining technical knowledge and soft skills
Transformational leadership, organizational aspects, measurement and integrating traditional leadership models with modern working environments is at the heart of the DEVOPS INSTITUTE’S DevOps Leader.
It is broad in its approach to transformation while also focusing on elements of SRE; synergizing leadership with SRE principles such as service level objectives, indicators and data which feed into leadership conversations about systems reliability. It also touches on skills that leaders need to understand, such as chaos engineering and AI operations.
Other key learnings include how to use the Lean strategic change canvas, psychological safety to improve mindset, creating a value stream map to foster continuous improvement and knowing how to convey a vision that empowers teams and aligns with strategic objectives. Essentially, it’s a leadership course for people who aspire to lead as well as those doing it already.
DevOps leadership, while focused on technical elements and what it means to lead in a DevOps environment, also requires soft skills to mobilize knowledge and achieve success. For example, adopting a “don’t mess up” mentality with people is very damaging and will not fuel innovation, whereas providing psychological safety will facilitate the innovation necessary to navigate the uncertainties of the future.
Working in DevOps and SRE is about striving to make the world better through IT and digital solutions, and remembering that what we do matters. When leaders demonstrate belief in people, it widens the solutions available and leads to greater success.
For more information, visit the DEVOPS INSTITUTE’S DevOps Leader certification page.