1.0 Introduction

Let me ask you something...

Have you ever left a leadership workshop feeling INSPIRED and MOTIVATED, armed with new insights and strategies... only to find yourself slipping back into old habits within days?

Have you read leadership books that made PERFECT sense, highlighting exactly what you should be doing differently... but somehow can't seem to apply consistently?

Do you sometimes feel like you KNOW what an exceptional technology leader looks like, but can't quite embody it yourself?

If you're nodding your head right now, I have good news: You're not alone, and there's nothing wrong with you.

You've simply hit the most common plateau in leadership development – Stage 2 of the 4 Stages of Leadership Growth.

Today, I'm pulling back the curtain on the Technology Leadership Blueprint framework that's helped dozens of tech executives break through this plateau and transform their leadership impact.

This isn't theory. It's battle-tested material that has helped:

• A brilliant but micromanaging CTO develop trust in his team

• A technically-skilled VP overcome impostor syndrome to secure a C-suite role

• A reactive IT Director shift from constant firefighting to strategic leadership

• Numerous others bridge the gap between leadership knowledge and leadership action

If you're ready to move beyond simply KNOWING what good leadership looks like to consistently DEMONSTRATING it – even under pressure – this framework will be a game-changer.

2.0 Understanding the 4 Stages of Leadership Growth

Before we dive in, let's get clear on what these four stages actually are:

2.1 Unconscious Incompetence – You don't know what you don't know

In this stage, you're unaware of critical leadership gaps. You might think technical expertise alone is sufficient for leadership success. You don't recognize how your behavior impacts others or limits your effectiveness.

EXAMPLE: A technically brilliant developer gets promoted to team lead and can't understand why team morale is dropping. He doesn't realize his communication style, which worked fine when he was an individual contributor, is now demotivating his team.

2.2 Conscious Incompetence – You know what you don't know

You've become aware of your leadership gaps. You understand WHAT needs improvement but struggle with HOW to change consistently. This stage feels frustrating because you can see the gap between where you are and where you need to be.

EXAMPLE: A Director of IT Security recognizes that she becomes defensive when her decisions are questioned. She knows this damages her influence, but still reacts defensively in the moment despite her best intentions.

2.3 Conscious Competence – You know and can do, but it takes effort

You can demonstrate effective leadership behaviors, but it requires deliberate focus and energy. You're making progress, but you have to consciously monitor your actions.

EXAMPLE: A VP of Engineering has learned to pause and listen fully before responding in meetings. He can do this effectively, but it requires concentration and doesn't yet feel natural.

2.4 Unconscious Competence – Leadership excellence becomes automatic

Your leadership skills are internalized. You lead effectively without even thinking about it. Your responses to challenges are automatically aligned with your leadership values and goals.

EXAMPLE: A CIO maintains calm, strategic focus during a major system outage. She doesn't have to remind herself to stay composed – it's simply who she's become as a leader.

Here's the key insight: Most technology executives get stuck at Stage 2.

They understand what effective leadership looks like. They’ve tried to emulate leaders that have that special something.  They've read the books, attended the workshops, and can articulate precisely what they SHOULD be doing differently.

But when pressure hits, they default to old patterns.

Why does this happen? And more importantly, how can you break through?

3.0 The Neuroscience Behind the Stage 2 Plateau

To understand why it's so difficult to move from Stage 2 to Stage 3, we need to understand what's happening in your brain.

Your conscious mind – the part that's reading leadership books and attending workshops – makes up only about 5% of your mental activity. The other 95% is your subconscious mind, which runs your automatic behaviors and responses.

This is why you can KNOW you should delegate more... but still find yourself taking over tasks when deadlines approach.

Your subconscious leadership patterns were formed over years of experience, and they don't change just because you've read a book or attended a workshop.

Think of it like this: Your conscious mind is like a rider on an elephant (your subconscious). The rider might decide on a new direction, but if the elephant has been walking the same path for years, it takes more than a gentle nudge to change course.

The Technology Leadership Blueprint addresses this challenge head-on by providing specific techniques to reprogram your leadership autopilot – aligning your subconscious patterns with your conscious leadership goals.

4.0 The 5 Common "Stuck Points" for Technology Leaders

Based on my work with hundreds of technology executives, I've identified five common patterns that keep leaders trapped in Stage 2:

4.1 The Crisis Response Default

Under pressure, you default to tactical firefighting rather than strategic leadership. You know you should maintain perspective and focus on what matters most, but when crisis hits, you dive into the details and lose sight of the bigger picture.

4.2 The Control Override

You understand the importance of delegation and empowerment, but when important projects are at stake, you can't help but take control. Your intention to develop your team gets overridden by your desire for certainty and perfection.

4.3 The Defensive Trigger

When your ideas or decisions are questioned, you know you should respond with openness and curiosity. But something in you automatically interprets questions as attacks, triggering a defensive response that undermines your executive presence.

4.4 The Impostor Activation

Despite your considerable expertise and accomplishments, certain situations trigger deep feelings of inadequacy. You know rationally that you belong at the leadership table, but your subconscious hasn't gotten the memo.

4.5 The Conflict Avoidance Pattern

You recognize the importance of addressing issues directly, but difficult conversations trigger such discomfort that you postpone them or water down your message. Your desire to maintain harmony overrides your intention to provide clear direction and feedback.

Do any of these sound familiar? Most technology leaders I work with identify strongly with at least two of these patterns.

The good news is that once you identify your specific "stuck points," you can apply targeted strategies to break through them.

5.0 The 3-Step Breakthrough Process

After years of helping technology leaders break through Stage 2, I've distilled the process into three critical steps:

5.1 Identify Your Leadership Trigger Points

These are the specific situations where you default to old patterns. The key is to be extremely specific about:

• The exact circumstances

• The thoughts and feelings that arise

• The automatic behaviors that follow

EXAMPLE: One CIO I worked with realized he had a specific trigger around budget discussions. Whenever his funding requests were questioned, he felt a sense of being undervalued, which triggered an overly detailed technical justification that actually undermined his executive presence.

By identifying this precise pattern, he could begin to address it specifically rather than trying to improve his "communication skills" in general.

5.2 Create Implementation Intentions

Implementation intentions are specific IF-THEN plans for your trigger points. They create a pre-planned response that bridges the gap between your intentions and your actions.

The formula is simple: "IF [specific trigger situation occurs], THEN I will [specific alternative response]."

Example: For the CIO mentioned above, we created this implementation intention: "IF my budget request is questioned, THEN I will pause, acknowledge the question's importance, and respond with three strategic business outcomes this investment will deliver."

This gives your conscious mind a specific plan to activate when the trigger occurs, rather than defaulting to the automatic subconscious pattern.

5.3 Practice in Low-Stakes Environments

Most leaders make the mistake of trying to implement new behaviors in their most challenging situations first. That's setting yourself up for failure.

Instead, start with low-pressure scenarios to build your leadership "muscle memory." Then gradually apply it to higher-stakes situations.

Example: A VP of Infrastructure I worked with wanted to improve his executive presence in board presentations. Rather than waiting for his next board meeting, he:

• Practiced with his direct team first

• Then presented to peers in a low-stakes setting

• Then volunteered for a presentation to senior leadership

• And finally applied his new skills in the boardroom

By the time he reached the high-stakes environment, the new pattern had begun to take hold.

6.0 Real-World Case Study: John's Breakthrough

Let me share a real example that brings this framework to life...

John was a senior technology director who'd been passed over for the CIO position despite his exceptional technical expertise and strategic thinking. He was devastated and began questioning everything about his leadership approach.

Working together, we identified that John was stuck firmly in Stage 2 of leadership growth. He knew what effective executive presence looked like, but under pressure, he defaulted to technical deep-dives and defensive posturing that undermined his executive presence.

Through our work with the Technology Leadership Blueprint, John:

1. Identified his specific trigger points – primarily when his ideas were challenged or when uncertainty arose

2. Created implementation intentions for each trigger scenario

3. Practiced his new responses in progressively more challenging environments

4. Developed daily visualization and mental rehearsal practices to reinforce his new patterns

The results were transformative. Within three months, John had shifted from Stage 2 (Conscious Incompetence) to Stage 3 (Conscious Competence). He was consistently demonstrating strong executive presence, though it still required deliberate effort.

Six months later, he interviewed for and secured a CIO position at a Fortune 500 company with double his previous compensation.

What's remarkable is that John didn't develop any new technical skills during this period. The transformation was entirely about bridging the gap between his leadership knowledge and his leadership behavior.

John thought that he needed to know more…but it is more about BEING than DOING.  

He needed to BE more – and that was about reprogramming his leadership instincts, not adding more knowledge.