CTO Leadership & Organizational Management 3

Question 1

A newly promoted engineering leader struggles to shift from individual contributor to people manager. What is the CTO's best intervention?

Accepted Answer

Assign a structured mentorship program and set clear leadership milestones

Answer

Structured mentorship with defined milestones accelerates the identity shift from maker to multiplier in new managers.

Question 2

Which conflict resolution approach is most appropriate when two senior engineers have an ongoing technical disagreement that is blocking a project?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a structured technical review where both present evidence-based arguments

Answer

A structured evidence-based review respects technical expertise while creating a fair process for reaching a decision.

Question 3

What does psychological safety in a technology team primarily enable?

Accepted Answer

Team members to take risks, speak up, and admit mistakes without fear of punishment

Answer

Psychological safety, as defined by Amy Edmondson, allows teams to learn from failure and innovate without fear of interpersonal risk.

Question 4

A CTO wants to improve cross-team collaboration between product and engineering. Which structural change is most effective?

Accepted Answer

Embed product managers within engineering squads

Answer

Co-locating product managers within engineering squads reduces handoff friction and builds shared context continuously.

Question 5

In Situational Leadership theory, which style is appropriate for a team member who is highly skilled but currently lacks motivation?

Accepted Answer

Supporting — collaborate to restore confidence and motivation

Answer

Supporting style focuses on two-way communication and relationship-building to re-engage a competent but unmotivated employee.

(CTO) Certified Chief Technology Officer Practice Test