From System Administrator to IT Director: A Career Told Through Four Roles
I didn’t set out to become a technology leader. In fact, my first role was simply about keeping the lights on. Over the past 26 years, my career has taken me from server rooms to board rooms, from chasing down cables to aligning entire organizations. Along the way, four roles shaped how I think about technology and leadership: system administrator, development product owner, technical product owner, and director of IT.
System Administrator: Where It All Began
I can still remember the long nights spent in server rooms, listening to the hum of machines while I tried to figure out why something wasn’t working. As a system administrator, every day was about solving problems as quickly as possible. Servers had to stay up. Networks had to stay secure. Users needed help, often at the worst possible times.
That role taught me one of the most important lessons of my career: reliability is everything. If technology doesn’t work, nothing else matters. Those years gave me discipline, attention to detail, and a respect for the often invisible work that keeps businesses running.
Development Product Owner: Learning to Listen
Eventually, I moved out of the server room and into meeting rooms. As a development product owner, my job was no longer fixing systems but listening to people. I had to understand what the business needed and translate that into stories and features for developers.
This was a shift in perspective. I couldn’t solve every problem by myself anymore. My role was to ensure we were solving the right problems. It meant balancing priorities, budgets, and timelines while earning trust on both sides of the table. More than anything, I learned the value of listening.
Technical Product Owner: Speaking Two Languages
Taking on the technical product owner role felt like standing with one foot in each world. On one side were the business leaders, focused on strategy and outcomes. On the other side were the engineers, focused on architecture, APIs, and code. My job was to translate between the two without losing meaning.
It wasn’t always easy. Every decision carried long-term consequences. Every innovation had to be weighed against stability. I learned that owning a product meant more than writing a roadmap. It meant owning the responsibility for its health and direction long after the initial launch.
Director of IT: Leading with Purpose
When I became a director of IT, the scope widened again. Suddenly, I wasn’t just responsible for systems or products. I was responsible for people. Teams looked to me for guidance, vendors looked to me for decisions, and executives looked to me for strategy.
This role taught me that leadership is not about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about creating an environment where other people can succeed. My success started to be measured not in how many problems I solved personally but in how well the team could operate without me.
Looking Back
Each of these roles gave me something I carry with me today. From the system administrator, I learned the importance of reliability. From the development product owner, the value of listening. From the technical product owner, the need to balance vision with reality. And from the director of IT, the responsibility of leadership.
Together, they shaped more than a career. They shaped a perspective: technology only succeeds when people, process, and purpose are working together.
