I wrote this article because I've watched too many brilliant technical leaders fail not because they lacked expertise, but because they couldn't bridge the gap between technology and business needs.

Coming from business and project management rather than traditional IT, I was always the "outsider" who had to learn to translate constantly. My mother showed me this skill in aerospace—she could stand between engineers and military leaders, creating understanding without condescension. She taught me that the most valuable person isn't always the most technical, but the one who builds bridges.

The technology industry has a trust problem. Technical leaders get promoted for solving complex problems, then find themselves isolated in the C-suite because they never learned to communicate beyond their technical peers. I've seen this across sports, entertainment, and venture capital.

The leaders who succeed understand people, not just systems. They know that resistance to technology usually isn't about the technology—it's about fear and feeling excluded from the conversation.

This article represents core Hurricane Framework principles: empathetic communication and relationship-building as risk reduction. The biggest risk to any technical initiative isn't the technology failing—it's people failing to trust, adopt, and champion it. When you seek to understand first, translate complexity into clarity, and build relationships before you need them, technology truly enhances human potential rather than creating barriers.

Retry

‍