Outside Leadership: Expanding Your Influence and Driving Impact
The last set of posts on Inside Leadership showed how an engineering leader can break free from the reactive cycle so many get stuck in. Inside Leadership is table stakes — a great leader must have the right team, environment, and systems so everything runs smoothly without constant oversight. But that’s only half the picture. In this series, we’re diving into Outside Leadership: the art of extending your influence beyond the immediate. Outside Leadership means aligning your team’s work with broader business objectives, staying ahead of industry trends, forging vital cross-functional relationships, and keeping a keen eye on your organization’s strategic direction. Ultimately, mastering Outside Leadership determines just how far your influence can reach.
When Deng Xiaoping rose to power in the late 1970s, China was struggling with economic stagnation and the fallout from the Cultural Revolution. After consolidating power, Deng restructured China’s internal operations, ensuring the right leadership and policies were in place before looking outward. Once stability was achieved, he opened China to global markets, embraced foreign investment, and positioned the nation as an economic powerhouse. In doing so, he expanded China’s influence far beyond its borders — an early masterclass in Outside Leadership.
History is rife with state leaders bogged down in internal politics, severely limiting their impact. When leaders focus solely on managing the day-to-day, they lose the opportunity to shape the future. Look at Hoover’s presidency or Shinzo Abe’s first term: their inability to resolve internal issues held them back from driving meaningful change.
While we may not be leading a nation of a billion people, this same dynamic plays out in organizations of every size. True Outside Leadership demands a forward-thinking mindset — one that not only keeps the internal engine running smoothly but also extends your influence outward. The best leaders anticipate change, actively drive it, and position their teams for long-term success in an ever-evolving landscape.
Why Outside Leadership Matters More Today
If you’ve spent the last decade in software engineering, you’ve witnessed trends like the explosive rise of React.js. What many didn’t see was the devastating effect on traditional front-end development, such as JSP-heavy ecosystems. I’ve personally watched leaders in JSP-dominant environments ignore those warning signs, falsely assuming their expertise would remain relevant forever.
The future walked right past them. Before they knew it, they were pushed toward early retirement — left behind by an industry that evolved while they stood still. In today’s world, where tech turnovers can happen in just a couple of years, resting on past successes isn’t an option. It’s an unforgiving climate for anyone who forgets the importance of a growth mindset.
The paradox is that companies naturally reward those who master day-to-day operations, yet they rarely cultivate a forward-looking perspective — a perspective that’s crucial for your career’s relevance. They prioritize the expertise you already have, not necessarily the one you’ll need in five years.
Your ability to anticipate trends, challenge the status quo, and drive strategic change is what sets you apart. It’s not enough to efficiently run the show internally; you must also keep your finger on external forces that could impact you.
That’s where Outside Leadership becomes your secret weapon. It’s a multi-faceted approach that blends your understanding of the industry with your grasp of your organization’s inner workings. We can break it down into four foundational pillars:
- Track Industry Trends: Staying ahead of technological and market shifts that could impact your team.
- Advocate for Your Team: Ensuring their work is visible, valued, and properly resourced.
- Build Bridges: Developing alliances across the organization to remove friction and expand influence.
- Track Organizational Direction: Understanding company strategy, performance, threats, and weaknesses.
In the posts ahead, we’ll dig into each pillar to share practical insights and strategies for steering your team through today’s fast-evolving environment. By embracing these pillars, you not only protect your team from becoming obsolete — you position yourself as a leader who actively shapes the future.
