From Geek to Star #14 - Speaking CEO / CxO languages

If you missed the previous episodes, you can access them online here.

🗓️ This Week – Episode 14: re-visiting the importance of having industry knowledge as a tech leader / engineer

🔄 Quick Recap: Actions from NL #9 (Industry Knowledge)

In Newsletter #9, I introduced the importance of Industry Knowledge and suggested you could:

1. Pass the Elevator Test: Explain your company’s business and tech context in a few simple sentences for non-experts.
   

2. Create Casual Touchpoints: Schedule regular, informal chats (coffee or lunch) with business colleagues.
   

3. Broaden Your Circle: Have lunches with people outside your immediate team to uncover cross-company dynamics.
   

4. Attend & Question Town Halls: Listen for unclear points and seek clarification to build context.
   

These habits build your understanding of why the business works the way it does and prepare you to speak the language of your C-suite.

🧠 Why “Speaking Business” Matters 

A few years ago, I flew to Paris to meet our Group CFO for the first time since COVID-19. It was July 2021, and he asked me: “Khang, why is our IT bill still so high when hotels are closed, and what can we do about it?”

That conversation reshaped my approach from “Here’s how we’ll build it” to “Here’s how this impacts our bottom line.” By digging into why cost reduction mattered most then, I structured a two-year cloud migration that would really cut fixed cost (calculated at the end of the program), secured Board approval, and contributed to help the company weather the storm while planting the seeds of tech modernization - without making the latter one the first reason. 

By learning the why behind business priorities, you can thus:

• Anticipate concerns before they arise.
  

• Align your technical recommendations with financial impact.
  

• Earn trust and fast-track approval for your initiatives.

🛠 Pro-Tip: The “Why-What Business” conversation

Inspired by the “5 whys” approach for root cause analysis, you can use a lightweight similar approach to uncover true business drivers:

1. Ask “Why”: Start with a high-level business topic you think your interlocutor can bring good insights about. Example: why is our competitor apparently stronger than us on loyalty?
   

2. Alternate “Why / What”: Drill down four more levels, alternating if needed between “why” and “what”. For example:
   

   • What are the priorities you think are important to level up our loyalty?

   • Why is our loyalty stronger in this region of the world and not in this region?

   • What is your view about the loyalty trends and how we are positioned for this?

   • What are the constraints you think we should unlock?
     

This gives you a structured way to listen, learn, and then map your tech solutions to real C-level concerns. The important thing is to understand what the focus of the business colleagues or the C-level is, because this is their reality. Understanding their reality will help you to come up with better ways to push your ideas and convictions.

Note: Stay non-judgmental, don't give your opinion in this kind of conversation. Your role here is to listen and learn, not to fix - yet.

🎯 Mini-Mission (10 minutes)

1. Choose one business colleague at VP level or higher (to bring you enough perspectives) that you feel close enough with
   

2. Run a Why-What Business conversation with him or her. As a way of introduction, just say that you'd like to broaden your business perspective, it will always be well appreciated.
   

3. Reply to this email with your top “why” insight and one idea for a tech-driven solution.

🙏 I’d Love to Hear From You

What’s the most surprising “why” you uncovered?

Reply to this email, I read every note.

And don’t forget: follow me on LinkedIn for behind-the-scenes reflections between newsletters and spark the conversation in the comments!

P.S. Referral Pilot 🚀

Forward this email to one engineer friend you appreciate and who may benefit from this as part of the “sharing is caring” mindset! Put a nice forward word, a good opportunity to connect or re-connect. 

✨ May the Shift be with you!

From Geek to Star by Khang | The Way Forward