I was interviewing a developer recently and we discussed his aspirations to be a better Team Leader (TL) and how he felt he needed to have more technical depth to achieve this. It got me thinking about the different sorts of TLs that operate in IT and how not all of them require you to be a technical guru.
I’ve posted before about my definition of a Development Team Leader and what the role entails but there are styles of leadership that I’ve come across that may reflect your style or potential.
Technical Team Leader – I think a lot of developers think of this role when they think of a Team Leader. They picture the guy who is at the peak of their technical career, the guy who knows about the latest design patterns and best practices. The guy who writes code so elegantly that no-one else can read it – a true sign of greatness (OK, perhaps they don’t do this but I’m sure you all know someone like this). This type of leader’s main focus is to guide their team to make the right technical decisions; to ensure they follow the right standards and maintain the quality of the application(s) they are leading. They often take on more coding than other types of leaders – coding is still their primary passion and they want keep at the top of their game, however, they are also driven to help others improve and share their knowledge and experience. In fact, without this additional motivation they wouldn’t be a TL at all – they’d simply be a Senior Developer (SD). 
Subliminal Team Leader – a Subliminal Team Leader (STL) is one that practises a very passive form of leadership - to the extent that sometimes they don’t even know they are doing it! They are not the sort of person to hide themselves in a corner and their presence and achievements are widely known. People look up to these sorts of people and want to impress them. If a STL is on your team they may not have the title of TL but you respect them and seek their approval. The STL will often be across more than one project – they are too valuable for their influence to be limited. They are rarely the most technical people in an organisation and will often have a more holistic approach to development where they are equally motivated by delivery as they are over the technology used to achieve it. Because of their leadership aura they can afford to spend time “doing” rather than “leading” and as such can be incredibly valuable team members. As an employer, it’s obvious who these people are and it’s incredibly important that they are (financially and visibly) recognised even if they are not given an official leadership title. 
Empowering Team Leader – an Empowering Team Leader (ETL) has the same qualities of the STL but takes a more active approach to how members of their team are utilised and nurtured. They understand that their type of leadership necessarily means they can spend less time on their (development) craft and that they must leverage the skills of others. In fact, they see this as a core part of their role – to empower individuals on their team to take responsibility for their actions and decisions. This ability to see the strengths (and weaknesses) in others allows their teams to operate in the most efficient way possible.
Of course, different teams require different sorts of leaders. If you’re leading a team of graduates then you’re going to have to be able to roll up your sleeves more than leading a team of more senior developers. So if you’re looking to move into a leadership role make sure you know what you’re dealing with and whether your style of leadership will work.