Most leaders today probably don’t think of themselves as “software people.” Fair enough – if you’re running a manufacturing firm or a law practice, you might feel far removed from the world of code. But in reality, software is everywhere now. Payroll, logistics, marketing dashboards, even HR leave requests – nearly all of it runs on lines of code written somewhere by someone. The strange part is, decisions about that code often fall on leaders who don’t fully know what they’re signing off on. And that gap is starting to matter more than it used to. Some businesses now encourage employees to excel as a software developer with ServiceNow University, not because they need a hundred new coders, but because just having a shared baseline understanding can stop costly mistakes before they happen.
1. Decision-Making That Doesn’t Rely on Blind Trust
Imagine you’re at a board meeting, and someone pitches a shiny new platform. The demo looks slick, the promises sound huge – faster reporting, automated insights, the lot. Do you approve it? Leaders without even a hint of software knowledge often just trust the pitch.
The trouble is, “integration issues” or “testing cycles” end up blowing the timeline apart later. If you know the basics – scalability, debugging, version control – you’ll naturally ask sharper questions. That doesn’t mean you’re doing the coding yourself, but you’re no longer nodding along blindly. And honestly, a lot of failed IT projects start at the very top because nobody challenged assumptions when they still could.
2. Meeting Employees Where They Actually Work
Something leaders sometimes forget: staff don’t just work for the pay cheque. They want to feel their managers actually understand what the job involves. If you’re setting impossible deadlines because you don’t realise how long proper development takes, morale will collapse.
That’s not theory, it happens constantly. By contrast, when a leader respects testing cycles, sprints, and bug fixes, the team feels backed rather than pressured. Employee expectations aren’t just about perks like remote work – they’re about being led by people who “get it.” That sense of alignment often matters more than the occasional bonus, because it shapes whether talented developers stay or quietly head for the exit.
3. Growth: For People and the Business
There’s another layer to this. Software projects are unpredictable – something always breaks, deadlines shift, fixes take longer than anyone wanted. Oddly, that mess is where a lot of growth happens. Debugging teaches patience; working across teams teaches negotiation. Leaders who understand development can see these moments as training grounds, not just frustrations.
They encourage people to stretch, maybe even step into leadership roles themselves. That culture of personal growth builds loyalty too. Employees who feel challenged (but supported) don’t tend to leave in a hurry, which saves the business time and cost on hiring. So the “soft skills” that come out of tech projects often prove just as valuable as the code itself.
4. Making Companies Less Fragile
The past few years – pandemics, supply chain shocks, inflation swings – proved how fragile many organisations are. Companies locked into silos struggle to adapt, because one department doesn’t understand what the other is doing. Leaders with a foot in both business and software worlds can bridge that.
A CFO who understands development can push for tools that strengthen reporting accuracy – good financial management depends on it. A marketing director who knows how data is handled in code won’t accidentally design a campaign that falls foul of privacy rules. This kind of cross-knowledge isn’t glamorous, but it’s what makes a company able to bend without breaking when disruption comes.
A Final Thought
Nobody is suggesting executives should lock themselves in a room with textbooks on Python. But ignoring software completely is a risk now. The basics – what it means to test, to debug, to integrate – are part of running a business, even if you never type a line of code.
Leaders who embrace that reality make smarter choices, treat teams with more respect, and build organisations that are harder to knock off balance. In other words, the language of software and the language of business are starting to merge. Leaders who speak at least a little of both will simply have more options when the next challenge arrives.
