Regurgitating things you can learn from Stack Overflow in 15 minutes does not constitute leadership. You could write all of that stuff in a Wiki and share it wi

Regurgitating things you can learn from Stack Overflow in 15 minutes does not constitute leadership. You could write all of that stuff in a Wiki and share it with your team and suddenly your “leadership” is a commodity. Now, sure, knowing this stuff is valuable, but it’s not leadership. At best it demonstrates tenure in the particular area. Leadership is when your team members come to you to solve difficult technical tradeoffs. It’s when you are giving valuable unsolicited feedback because you see problems and want to help the team. Leadership is driving difficult changes that may not be popular but are necessary, and finding a way to sell those changes to the team. It’s taking on work that matters and postponing your own features because the success of the team matters more than the success of your particular project or area. Leadership is about leading. Not about being able to answer basic questions that anyone with a few years of experience should be able to answer. If your “leadership” is only applicable to one narrow technology, you don’t have leadership. You just have familiarity.