A couple of people have asked me what exactly a practice leader is (now that I am one). Here is the official description:
A Practice Leader drives business into Habañero by building a practice that is oriented around an industry vertical (e.g. financial services), a horizontal area of delivery (e.g. collaboration solutions) or potentially even a geographic region. This person will have a flair for building marketable offerings within their practice area and will have a true entrepreneurial spirit. They will have a focus on driving Habañero’s top line growth.
Areas that practice leaders are responsible for include:
- Evangelism of their practice area and the things Habañero can deliver in that context
- Marketing and business development
- Being the expert in the problem and solution domains associated with their practice
- Driving innovation within the area
- Input to resource manager (i.e. drive the resource needs)
- Driving excellence in delivery by evolving the processes that are specific to their practice
- Contribution to performance management
- Partner management (when partners are specific to their area)
- Financial accountability for both budget and performance of practice
Hope that helps!

Hi Ben,
Thanks so much for posting this explanation of "What is Practice Lead".
I have been struggling to find jobs over the past few years because I have been applying for the wrong jobs using the wrong titles.
I have in fact been doing the role of Practice Lead as a contractor but it was not until I read your simple explanation that I now know where to look for roles that match my skill set.
"Bugger them new fangled words!" :)
Regards,
Nick
Posted by: Nicholas | Monday, October 19, 2009 at 12:28 AM