You have been recently promoted to your first role as CTO.

Or maybe you've been covering the role for a relatively long time, but you're still struggling to understand what's required to do your job effectively.

I want to reassure you: this is a familiar feeling.

We've all been there.

I've been there, and I know how uncomfortable it can be.

I've seen first-time CTOs struggle with the challenges of the new role and fall into some common pitfalls.

Today's article is the first in a 5-part series in which I'll share the ten most common mistakes I see first-time CTOs make and ways to avoid them.

Today's mistakes involve wrong assumptions about the role's focus and the false tec vs. business dichotomy.

I hope you'll find this helpful and actionable.

Let's get started!

#1 Thinking of yourself mainly as a technical profile.

Your entire career has been about technology.

You've accumulated skills and experience that made you a valuable contributor to all the companies you've worked with. Technical skills are a big part of what made you successful and opened the door for the recent promotion to CTO.

It's natural to assume the new role will be mainly technical, but the reality is much more nuanced.

All C-level roles are business leaders, each one with their specialties. This means you are now a business leader, something new that you might feel unprepared to face.

Though you'll always be accountable for the tech team's work results, your responsibilities extend far beyond that.

Your role is ultimately to help your company succeed, and for that to happen, you need to understand how the business works at the most fundamental level: what are its key drivers, your company's unique strengths, how the product or service is being marketed and sold, and why.

Only once you clearly understand this role can you figure out a way to use technology as a support and enabler for the business. Technology will be your means of execution but never your goal.

You're responsible for business success; you can't hide behind esoteric technical jargon.

#2 Believing the C-suite is your “other” team.

Often related to the first mistake is the belief that Tech or Engineering is your primary team and that the C-suite or executive team is your secondary one.

Do you remember all the conversations you've had with members of your own team where you emphasized the importance of being a team player first and foremost? You have to walk the talk on that front.

Being a role model is a vital requirement for any leadership role, and it's a non-negotiable prerogative at the C-level.

The only way to create a cohesive and aligned organization across the whole company is to start at the top. The executive team is your primary team, where you set the example and the conditions for the rest of the organization to succeed.

This is where you'll have heated debates on company priorities, resource allocation, culture building, etc. Every group decision will cascade into your team and any other team in the org.

Disagreements on any topic with implications across the org should be taken up with the executive team rather than turning them into silent sabotage.

Given your role, you might believe you can do whatever you want with your team without aligning with other divisions.

You're accountable for technology being at the company's service.

Working effectively with the leadership team will give you the context and support to make that happen.

I wrote an article providing tips on how to get the executive team to “understand” you. You can find it here:

How to get the executive team to understand you Sergio Visinoni · Feb 28 Read full story

Today, I described two of the ten most common mistakes I've seen first-time CTOs make.

Your situation might resonate with some of them, and you might struggle with other aspects I didn't cover here.

Each case is different, and generalization can help us start thinking about our case from an outside perspective.

I hope you enjoyed today's article.

See you next week!

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