Answer extracted from the Digital Construction Podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How can technical experts successfully transition into leadership roles without losing effectiveness?
You must completely step away from hands-on technical work to lead effectively. Organizations expect you to excel in one role, not split focus between coding and people management. When you try to do both simultaneously, you perform poorly at each; accepting that your scope is leadership rather than dual technical-managerial work transforms the transition from frustrating to empowering.
The False Promise of Being Both Individual Contributor and Leader
Many technical experts believe they can maintain coding responsibilities while stepping into leadership. Devon Middleditch found this approach creates a dangerous illusion. Attempting to excel at writing code while also managing people leads to mediocrity in both domains, because the cognitive and time demands of each role are incompatible.
The underlying organizational expectation is clear: when you're promoted to a leadership position, your employer wants you to do that role exceptionally well. This isn't about punishment or loss—it's about clarity of scope. Your organization doesn't value you doing two roles poorly more than one role superbly.
As Middleditch explains in the episode, the realization came when he stopped fighting the transition and accepted his new identity as a leader rather than an engineer who also managed people. That mental shift unlocked his ability to actually perform.
When Letting Go Becomes Empowering
The resistance many technical leaders feel isn't irrational—it's the fear of losing identity and competence. Writing code feels concrete and measurable; leading teams feels less tangible, especially early on. The key is reframing "getting off the tools" not as abandonment but as specialization.
Middleditch gave a colleague who struggled with this transition a concrete trial: one month working purely on operations and team leadership without technical work, then a reassessment. The boundary created clarity. For technical experts who've built confidence through code, this podcast explores how that confidence transfers—and how it actually grows—when fully invested in developing people and organizational strategy.
The paradox is that once you commit fully to leadership, your technical background becomes a profound advantage rather than a crutch. You understand the work your team does at a depth that many managers lack. You just can't do it yourself anymore.
"If you're not a critical thinker, you're going to let problems through when given a result from the machine."
Devon Middleditch — Head of Digital Engineering and Technology at Varys. Middleditch has led teams at Tier 1 infrastructure firms including AECOM and government agencies such as Transport for New South Wales, where he deployed digital engineering frameworks on major programs. In 2010, he served as technology architect on the Doha Expressway Program, scaling organizations while shaping culture and pioneering emerging technologies including drones, augmented reality, and common data environments in infrastructure delivery.
Beyond this specific transition challenge, Middleditch emphasizes that the full episode covers how critical thinking and validation skills—the habits built through technical work—become even more essential when leading teams making high-stakes decisions in an AI-driven environment.
Key takeaways
- Technical leaders who try to maintain hands-on work while managing people typically excel at neither role.
- Organizations hire leaders to lead fully, not to split effort between technical work and management.
- Accepting your scope as leadership rather than dual responsibilities is what makes the transition empowering instead of limiting.
- Your technical background becomes a strength in leadership only once you stop treating it as your primary responsibility.
See also
What is the most important skill for the next generation of engineers working with AI-generated solutions?
Critical thinking is essential for the next generation of engineers because they will receive a lot more information generated by different AI systems. Engineers must validate results and challenge outcomes rather than blindly accepting machine-generated answers.
Which human skills are becoming more important versus commoditized in construction tech sales as AI advances?
Judgment, trust-building, curiosity, commercial empathy, and the ability to simplify complexity are the skills becoming more valuable. As AI handles routine tasks, the human capacity to understand client needs and build relationships becomes the competitive edge.
How have customer conversations about AI in construction technology shifted over the past year or two?
A year ago, AI conversations with customers were broad and theoretical. Today, customers are asking more practical questions about implementation, ROI, and specific use cases in their workflows.