Not All Leadership Is Transferable: A Framework for Domain-Aligned Technical Leadership

Author(s)	Aishwarya Babu
Country	United States
Abstract	Leadership in software engineering is often treated as a universally transferable skill. An experienced tech lead in a platform team can transition into a customer-facing product domain, and vice versa. However, this paper argues that such fungibility may be overstated. Drawing from patterns across engineering, product, and business domains, we introduce a framework to classify two dominant modes of technical leadership: customer-facing leadership and platform/deep tech leadership. We argue that while foundational competencies like execution, scalability, and quality are universal, the deeper skills required to thrive in each mode are often non-overlapping. Furthermore, we examine how leadership challenges become amplified at the Director and VP levels, especially when domain specialization is assumed to scale without adaptation. This opinion piece aims to offer a set of considerations for managers, tech leads, and executives navigating cross-domain leadership transitions.
Field	Engineering
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2025
Published On	2025-06-23
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i03.49087
Short DOI	https://doi.org/g9q3z9

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International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research