#150 - How to Think Like a CTO - Alan Williamson

<p><em>“A CTO gives the business the technology it needs to drive success by delivering a roadmap to grow and scale at a level and speed where technology never holds up their growth.&quot;</em></p> <p>Alan Williamson is the author of “Think Like a CTO”. In this episode, we discussed in-depth how to become a great CTO. Alan first described what a CTO role is, how the role differs at different company stages, and the attributes of a good CTO. Alan then explained the importance of a CTO coming up with a vision and how we can improve ourselves in visionary thinking. He then touched on how a CTO should work together and understand the expectations of the CEO. Alan also gave his tips on how to build engineering teams that can produce high-quality results. Towards the end, Alan gave his personal advice on how a CTO can deal with imposter syndrome and the importance of a CTO doing a personal review.  </p> <p>Listen out for:</p> <ul> <li>Career Journey - [00:03:28]</li> <li>The CTO Role - [00:07:47]</li> <li>Different Flavors of CTO Role - [00:12:47]</li> <li>CTO at Different Company Stage - [00:13:42]</li> <li>What Makes a Good CTO - [00:17:04]</li> <li>Visionary Planning - [00:19:40]</li> <li>Learning How to Create a Vision - [00:23:40]</li> <li>Working with the CEO - [00:30:54]</li> <li>Building Engineering Teams - [00:36:47]</li> <li>Building Quality In - [00:39:58]</li> <li>Dealing with Imposter Syndrome - [00:45:36]</li> <li>Reviewing Yourself - [00:52:11]</li> <li>3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:59:09]</li> </ul> <p>_____</p> <p><em>Alan Williamson’s Bio</em><br>Alan was the first U.K. Java Champion and has contributed much to open source, including OpenBD, a Java based CFML runtime engine, that once powered MySpace.com, as well as many other blue-chip CFML sites.</p> <p>Alan has published a number of books in the Java space covering Enterprise Java, Servlets, JavaMail and database access. He also served in the role of Editor-in-Chief for Java Developers Journal. His recent book, ‘<a href="https://