Among the many courses offered through MIT Professional Education are a series on leadership for engineers, software developers, and other technical professionals. David Niño, Senior Lecturer, Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program, has developed these programs with a particular focus on helping people move from outstanding individual contributors to successful leaders, a transition that is often difficult to make.

We had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Niño recently about why the transition to leadership can be challenging for technical professionals, why they need leadership training, and why it’s helpful for them to go through it with their technical peers. Our conversation follows.