"From Geek to Star" #1 – Our Journey Begins!

Hello and welcome to the very first edition of "From Geek to Star!"

⭐️Today is May the 4th - a special day for Star Wars fans worldwide. I could not imagine a better moment to launch this journey together. As a teenager at the end of the 1980's, I watched "A New Hope" for the first time and have been a big fan of Star Wars since then — and I am so happy that my daughters have also become fans when discovering Episodes IV, V, and VI with me a few years ago. It sparked a sense of adventure and possibility — the same feeling I hope this newsletter will inspire in you!

With over 25 years working in Tech and leading teams globally while living in France and then in Singapore, I have seen career patterns repeat again and again for us tech engineers. By the way, for those who don't know me, you can know more about me through my Linkedin profile, as I make it quite exhaustive to share transparently about my professional background and values.

Especially now, with AI reshaping our world faster than ever, some questions have become even more pressing as C-level executives may turn to AI more and more:

• 🏅"Am I well recognized and compensated for the value I bring as a tech manager or as a tech expert?"

• 🔀"Should I become a manager to grow in my career, or can I succeed as a technical expert since I really enjoy deep diving?"

• 🧐"Why do my ideas to improve things go unheard while I clearly see what’s wrong in our stack or in our tech organization?"

If these questions resonate with you, know this: you are not alone. I have gone through them too as I progressed in my career across a variety of companies, from consulting to traditional end-customer companies, as well as digital native companies.

A personal story:

In 2006, after eight years as an individual contributor, I faced a career dilemma: move to management or deepen my expertise? Fortunately, I had a great manager who helped me focus on my intrinsic motivations rather than just salary or status. I ultimately chose the management path - not for the title, but because leading teams, building products, and helping others grow made me wake up energized every day.

Looking back, I realize how crucial it was to have such a manager who guided me and supported my decisions - not simply to satisfy my financial expectations in exchange of high performance but to guide me toward what made me thrive. And if I had chosen the expert path, I know this great manager would have helped me succeed there too, ensuring also recognition and satisfying compensation.

Later, as a leader myself, I met engineers facing similar crossroads.

Since 2006, as a manager moving up progressively to C-level positions, I’ve always kept this as a compass in my management posture: supporting, coaching, mentoring my team members to go either way, ensuring both paths would be as rewarding for them to become high performers so they could truly choose the path most suited for them.

Let me share the story of a cybersecurity expert who joined my department after six years in another team (and with already 8 years of experience in a previous company). Technically brilliant, passionate, and constantly improving himself on tech, he shared his frustration with me during one of our first conversations: "I've been here six years, and I'm not happy with my salary. Maybe I should move into management."

I told him honestly: "You are made for the expert path. Moving into management for financial reasons alone would risk losing not only your technical edge but also your passion. And I think this would be a short-term move that actually would be detrimental to your long-term career."

Instead, we mapped a different journey:

• Strengthen technical mastery even further, and mentor colleagues to grow their skills.

• Build communication and public speaking skills.

• Grow influence beyond his immediate circle by creating meaningful connections with non-tech leaders.

It wasn't easy for him. Like many tech professionals, he initially felt uncomfortable "marketing" himself, worrying about coming across as bragging. Together, we reframed it and came up with an approach he was comfortable with: it wasn't about bragging — it was about making genuine and honest positive impact visible and understandable to others.

Over time, he succeeded. He became recognized not just by peers but by leadership, and his influence expanded. He brought visible positive change to the company, just like a manager might have done with a different angle, and without giving up his authentic expert identity. He grew into a posture of Principal Architect. And yes, he was compensated accordingly because I made the company aware of the greater value he was bringing in his role.

This is what "From Geek to Star" is about.

Each week, I will share topics such as:

• 💡Insights on what top management and leadership truly value in tech managers and tech experts.

• 🔤Elements on a concrete, actionable framework to help you grow and master "the Force" of the engineer.

• 📚Curated content to broaden your perspective as an engineer — covering technology, leadership, and even topics such as geopolitics impacting our world and our jobs. Including a strong emphasis on "Tech for Good," reflecting on the impact we can have for the greater good.

• 💬Conversations and interviews with inspiring tech professionals at different stages of their journey.

My motivation? To help you progress in your career, with clarity and confidence, whether you choose the tech expert or the tech management path — and to show that both paths can lead to fulfillment, recognition, financial satisfaction and positive impact.

Because yes, whether you are a Padawan, a Jedi Knight, or already guiding others as a Master, there is a path for your talents to be fully recognized and rewarded. Let’s be inspired by Grand Masters like Yoda… or by examples of people like Linus Torvalds or Satya Nadella as ultimate examples of tech experts and tech management in our real world.

As technology becomes an even greater force shaping humanity, progressing as a tech professional means not just advancing personally - but also making a difference for our companies, our societies, and maybe even our world. If this initiative turns out to grow well and becomes a large fellowship of recognized tech experts and tech managers / CIOs-CTOs, each with his / her own voice to be recognized and bringing positive impact, I will myself feel a strong sense of accomplishment! 

Thank you for being part of this adventure.

I'd love to hear from you:

• Where are you on your journey today?

• Would you be leaning toward management, or deepening your technical mastery if you really had the choice?

• What challenges or dreams are you facing in your tech career?

• Any suggestion, ideas you think could be valuable to others around this initiative of “from Geek to Star"?

Just reply to this email — I'd love to hear your story.

Also, feel free to follow me on LinkedIn where you can find more about who I am, my professional background, causes I support through my work, and where I share additional insights, short takeaways, and updates more frequently between newsletters!

May the Force be with you!

“From Geek to Star”, brought to you by Khang - “The Way Forward”