Fake It So You Make It—Becoming a Proactive Tech Leader

Here’s a little secret: your CEO doesn’t want to call all the shots. What they really want is a leadership team that can run most of the company without them. People who spot problems, propose solutions, and take charge.

But what do most executives do?
They wait.
They “align.”
They play the role of middle-manager-on-steroids: more meetings, more slide decks, more alignment sessions, but no actual initiative.

CEOs don’t say this out loud, but I hear it all the time in coaching conversations:

“Why am I the one always pushing? What’s the point of having execs if I have to spell everything out?”

Here’s the harsh truth: If you’re not showing initiative, you’re just a glorified implementer. No amount of “but I’m busy!” is going to change the fact that you’re replaceable.

And I know what you’re thinking:
“But I’m not naturally that kind of leader.”
“I don’t want to overstep.”
“I need to stay in my lane.”

No. You need to grow up. You’re in the big leagues now.

Luckily, becoming proactive isn’t magic. It’s not about being charismatic or visionary. It’s a skill. A method. And like most skills, you can fake it until it becomes who you are.

Let’s get into it.

Myth: “I’m not the CEO, it’s not my job to set strategy.”

You’re right. You’re not the CEO. There’s a reason there’s only one.

But here’s what is your job: figuring out how to make the strategy real.

Translating vision into action.
Spotting gaps between the future the company says it wants and the messy present you’re living in. And then doing something about it—without being asked.

This is where most senior leaders fail. They wait for the “blessing.” They assume that if something’s important, it’ll come down from the top.

That’s backwards. The best leaders don’t wait for direction. They create it. But what should you do if you don’t know what to do? If you’ve cleared 30 minutes to “think about strategy” and realized you’ve stared at the wall for all that time with nothing to show for it? You can kickstart your “proactivity” with a few simple steps.

Step 1: Find Your Strategic Leverage

Let’s make this concrete. You want to start being proactive? Here’s your blueprint.

Start by mapping the areas in your domain that actually matter. That have strategic implications. That are going to move the needle.

For example, if you’re leading engineering, ask yourself:

  • Where are we bottlenecking company growth?
  • What would make us 10x more effective?
  • What’s the board asking about behind closed doors?
  • What are our opportunities to unlock even more value for the company and dramatically increase profitability?

Some examples:

  • Can we leverage AI to reduce operational overhead?
  • Are we stuck in a hiring trap because we only recruit seniors instead of growing talent?
  • Is our product profitable—or are we a dev shop with fancy branding?

Write these down. Then look for “interest signals.” What’s the CEO already mentioning? What do peers complain about? Where’s the tension?

Pick one. This becomes your proactiveness focus area.

Step 2: Manufacture Momentum

Now, identify a baby step. Something you can do within a week or two that makes a dent.

Yes, even if it’s small.
Why? Because progress creates visibility. Visibility creates opportunity. It lubricates serendipity.

Once people see you’re working on something important, suddenly:

  • A staff engineer brings up a related idea they’ve been sitting on
  • Sales tells you how this affects their churn rate
  • Finance offers budget to help you scale it

But none of this happens until you show movement.

This is how real influence works. It’s not about convincing people in a pitch meeting—it’s about being seen as someone who gets things done that matter.

Step 3: Build a Plan, Not a PowerPoint

After a few weeks of making headway, start designing a plan. Not a 30-slide strategy deck. A real plan. Something that can guide action.

Let’s say your initiative is making R&D more profitable. You might define your goal as:
“Support 5x more clients with the same headcount.”

That’s a strategy. That’s ambitious. That’s direction.

Then reverse-engineer:

  • What capabilities would that require?
  • What workflows need to change?
  • Who else needs to be involved?

Talk to your peers. Sell the “what’s in it for me” to the business side. Make it a company priority. Then, assign ownership. You don’t have to be in charge of everything yourself. You can spin up task forces or have existing teams in charge of it when possible. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the more people who become involved in your initiatives, the more momentum they gain. Before you know it, you’re “proactive.”

Step 4: Execute. Learn. Repeat.

Now we’re in motion. You’re no longer reactive. You’ve put a problem on the map, scoped a solution, and aligned resources.

Next, iterate.

As things evolve, adjust the plan. You’re not Moses coming down from the mountain with stone tablets—you’re leading a learning process.

Eventually, you’ll realize you can start another initiative. Or your team will. And suddenly, you’ve got a pipeline of strategic work happening because you started it.

That’s the win.

And No One Will Remember How It Started

The beauty of this approach is that it erases its own history. No one’s going to say, “Oh, but she only started this because it was already a board-level concern.”

No one cares. They’ll remember that you took ownership, got results, and made things move. That’s what “proactiveness” actually means.

And if you keep doing this? You’re not faking it anymore. You’re just leading.