[mindvirus]

I think the best thing you can do as a CTO is define the problems/goals and desired outcomes very clearly. Think of possible solutions if you can but don't share them, and give your team the problem to solve. And let them stumble a bit, because in the level of buy in and growth you'll get is more than worth it - it'll be their solution after all.

[yosito]

I'd second this. Your role as a CTO is to define technical strategy and help align your team with that strategy, not to tell your team how to do their jobs. They know how to do their jobs. That's why you hired them. Share your strategy and goals with the team, and trust their judgement on the specific decisions that help you get there. There's nothing more annoying than being an engineer whose technical decisions aren't trusted. If you have a quality engineering team, most of your decisions as CTO should be about strategic direction, not specific technical choices. Specific technical choices can be entrusted to your team as long as they're in line with the strategy.

[throwaway2331]

Literally the only two things leadership should do to be above the mean:

1. Clearly define a vision for the future/ goal(s) that should be achieved

2. Get out of the fucking way of your minions, and trust that you hired correctly, to let them figure out how to get to the finish line

Bonus Points:

3. Your temperament is in the Goldilocks' zone of neither being too much of a spendthrift, nor too much of a miser, when setting budgets, i.e. you're not some rando without P&L experience that was tied to your bonuses.