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04.07

All Engineers Need Leadership Skills

By Gary C. Hinkle

Engineers need to be influential. At all levels of an organization, engineers should play a significant role in driving innovations that will benefit customers and increase profits.

From the earliest stages of their careers, engineers are expected to lead projects and teams, and to bring new ideas to fruition. Senior-level engineers are expected to lead large, complex projects; to drive innovation; and to provide guidance for less-experienced peers. Excellent leadership skills are necessary to effectively execute such responsibilities.

Engineers are trained to innovate, but, unfortunately, many have not learned the skills necessary to influence others and to develop ideas that increase profits. Many managers are trained to do this, but they cant get into the minds of every engineer to harvest all of their ideas.

Engineers, then, need to know how to articulate their thoughts so that others will be inspired to build on them. They need to learn how to drive projects and ideas to create innovations that customers will value. While not every engineer will be the next Thomas Edison, every engineer can aspire to accomplish great things that customers will value. Engineers who dont have these goals need to ask themselves Why not? Every manager who isnt encouraging their engineers to have high aspirations should ask themselves the same question.

Following are seven reasons why technical professionals need leadership skills:

• Technical acumen alone is not influential.
  Technical gurus without leadership skills have limited influence. Not many can achieve guru status, but wouldn't you rather be a guru with technical master and the combination of business skills and interpersonal skills that make a great leader?

• Leadership is not just for managers.
  Leading and managing require different skill sets. Some leadership experts might argue this point, but most agree that leadership has little to do with "management." Generally speaking, managers should also be good leaders. However, strong leaders often aren't suited to be managers, and forcing a strong leader into a management role can be counterproductive.

• Engineers lead projects.
  Even engineers who aren't "project leads" provide a certain amount of direction, and they need to influence others to help get their work done.

• Engineers can guide less-experienced peers.
  Guidance is providing direction   one of the three basic definitions of leadership (the other two are influence and authority).

• Engineers need to help their managers' business succeed.
  You may not be inspired to help your manager be more successful as an individual, but you must be dedicated to helping your business achieve success. If not, find another job.

• Engineers can influence decision-makers in their organizations.
  Engineers understand technology better than non-technical managers, and they understand the details better than most technical managers.

• Everyone should be interested in building character.
  Leadership is mostly character and a little bit of skill. People listen to people who have integrity and who apply it well on the job.

Gary C. Hinkle is chair of the IEEE Oregon Section and president of Auxilium, Inc. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.