Leading Intelligent Networks: From Hero Culture to High Performance

Network transformation isn't just about better technology; it's about better leadership. While my previous articles established that we're in the third era of networking and outlined how documentation and standardization create the technical foundation for intelligent networks, the most critical component remains: the humans who must drive this transformation.

Whether you're building internal network automation capabilities or leading third-party teams through managed services or network-as-a-service (NaaS) partnerships, successful third-era network operations require the following leadership traits:

These are proven methodologies that directly translate to better business results through improved network performance.

The Network Leadership Gap

Traditional network operations developed around individual expertise and heroic troubleshooting. This craft-based approach worked when networks changed slowly and business demands were predictable. Today's networks face unprecedented demands, such as hybrid work, cloud migrations, IoT proliferation, AI workloads and more; yet most network teams still operate using yesterday's leadership models.

Research from the DORA team , some of which is detailed in their book "Accelerate ," provides compelling evidence that organizations with strong transformational leadership practices achieve significantly better technology delivery performance. While this research focused on software development, the same patterns hold true for network operations: effective leaders influence performance indirectly, by enabling teams to adopt effective technical practices and lean production approaches.

Related:Intelligent Network Organizations: Why Team Structure Trumps Technology

Outcome-Focused Leadership in Network Operations

Traditional network management focuses on activity metrics: tickets closed, changes deployed and uptime percentages. These measurements tell what happened, not whether you're delivering business value.

Outcome-focused leadership flips this equation. For network operations, this means tracking metrics such as the following:

Related:Cross-Cultural Communication in a Global Network Team

The transformation requires shifting conversations from "we deployed 47 configuration changes this month" to "we reduced service delivery lead time by 60% while maintaining zero business-impacting incidents."

This approach works equally well for internal teams and external service providers. When working with NaaS providers or managed services, establish clear business metrics in service agreements rather than just technical SLAs.

Lean Management in Network Operations

Lean management focuses on eliminating any activity that doesn't directly benefit the customer while increasing the speed of value delivery. In network operations, this means examining every process through the lens of whether it creates business value.

Eliminate Network Waste

Network teams generate enormous waste without realizing it, such as the following:

Related:How to Deal with Vendor Relationships as a Network Manager

Value Stream Mapping

Map the complete process from service request to delivery, then systematically remove bottlenecks. A branch office network deployment might reveal that 80% of lead time is spent waiting for approvals, while only 20% involves actual technical work. Lean management focuses on streamlining approvals rather than just optimizing technical implementation.

Continuous Improvement Culture

Create systematic processes for teams to identify and resolve inefficiencies. Regular retrospectives enable network teams to examine recent incidents or projects for improvement opportunities, always focusing on process improvement rather than individual blame.

Team-Focused Leadership

Recent McKinsey & Company research demonstrates that team-centric organizational transformations lead to dramatic improvements in efficiency and growth. Network operations have traditionally been organized around individual expertise, but third-era networking demands collaborative, cross-functional teams.

Breaking Down Network Silos

Traditional network organizations create artificial boundaries between LAN, WAN, security and application teams despite those teams managing interconnected infrastructure. Team-focused leadership dissolves these silos in favor of service-oriented teams responsible for end-to-end outcomes.

Instead of separate network security and operations teams, create teams responsible for specific business services that include both security and connectivity aspects. This ensures network changes consider security implications from the beginning.

Psychological Safety

Network operations historically punish failure harshly because outages have a visible business impact. But fear of failure creates conservative teams that avoid necessary improvements because disruption risk outweighs potential benefits.

Team-focused leadership creates psychological safety by establishing clear distinctions between acceptable risks and reckless behavior. This includes implementing canary deployment processes , establishing clear rollback procedures and creating cultures that learn from incidents rather than assign blame.

Empowering Teams

Effective leadership means providing the tools, training and authority needed to solve problems without escalating every decision. Traditional operations require senior engineer approval for routine changes. Team-focused leadership establishes clear guidelines that enable appropriate independent decisions, escalating only when changes exceed defined risk thresholds.

Implementation Strategy

These leadership changes don't happen overnight, especially where stability concerns often override improvement initiatives.

Here are some steps to follow:

The Business Impact

Organizations that implement these leadership approaches see measurable improvements in business agility, operational efficiency and competitive advantage. More importantly, they build network operations that evolve with changing business requirements rather than becoming organizational constraints.

The largest network transformation challenge isn't purely technical; the needed tools exist. The real challenge is sociotechnical in nature and requires leadership transformation: move from managing networks to enabling business outcomes through better ways of working.

Whether you're building internal capabilities or leading external partnerships, focus on outcomes that matter to the business, eliminate activities that don't create value and empower teams to improve how they work. Your network's transformation to third-era capabilities depends on this leadership evolution.