Leadership/Management

What Does Transformational Leadership Mean for Engineers?

March 2, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Holly Welles

Transformational leadership is a model of leadership that involves a leader who inspires his or her followers to work together toward a common goal and focus on the greater good. The best transformational leaders can enter a stagnant organization, identify its issues, and begin making improvements almost immediately.

While this type of leadership may come naturally to some people, most must learn how to develop these skills before they can apply them. As future engineers, this means developing yourself, practicing these newly learned skills, and working towards a common goal with an organization in which you’re already involved.

Scientific Laws of Leadership

January 9, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jeff Perry

As engineers, we learn massive amounts of equations, corollaries, theorems, and laws. These typically apply to mathematics or scientific laws that must be understood in order to make appropriate engineering designs and calculations. However, have you ever wondered if these scientific laws that the natural world follows have applications to our personal growth, development, and leadership? In my opinion, the answer is a clear “Yes!”

In this post, I’ll take examples from some of the most commonly known scientific laws of physics — Newton’s Laws of Motion. I’ll show you how these fundamental laws apply to the movement and progress of people and teams, not just physical objects. Then, I’ll provide suggestions actions, or “motions,” you can take in your own leadership.

The Essential Competencies of an Effective Engineering Leader

November 25, 2019 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Kyle K. Cheerangie, P.E.

As a young engineer, I knew early on that I wanted to be a leader. However, I didn’t know the basics of leading others, nor, therefore, how those might fit in with my personality. Certain aspects of leadership came naturally to me: I was a natural at simplifying complex tasks and listening to others. However, two skills eluded me: I often let my ego get involved in the task and I found it difficult to communicate in groups. Since then, I have learned, on-the job, the four competencies an effective engineering leader needs to have:

Successful Employee Management for Your Engineering Startup

August 26, 2019 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jim Hughes

Employee Management The number of engineers launching their own startup companies is increasing. More and more engineers are pursuing new entrepreneurial ventures with the dream of becoming their own boss, launching their own product or services, and making a dent in their industries. This has highlighted something that is critical to startup success: employee management, which is a huge challenge.

Employee management covers best practices to retain the top talent who will help you achieve your goals. As a founder, you know that a big part of your success (or failure) is your people. So, as you work your way towards establishing an engineering startup, it is important to equip yourself with knowledge in employee management.

Finding the Right People

Effective Delegation Techniques for Engineering Professionals

May 6, 2019 By EMI

Effective Delegation Techniques for Engineering Professionals is a guest blog by Mary Jane Riccardi

In my 10+ years working as a learning and development professional in an engineering consulting firm, there was one skill that I heard frequently was lacking for both project managers and organization managers. That skill was delegation. On the surface, effective delegation sounds pretty easy. However, in reality, it can be very difficult and uncomfortable. Delegation is the assignment of responsibility to another person to carry out a specific activity. [Read more…] about Effective Delegation Techniques for Engineering Professionals

How to Hire and Manage Millennials

January 23, 2019 By EMI

***This* *is a guest blog by Allison Hail***

With millennials making up a large part of the workforce, it’s fast becoming necessary for all employers to know how to manage them. Millennials who have just graduated are well aware of the growing opportunities in other countries. As a result, they are likely to consider moving abroad; one study suggests that 59% of millennials in the United States would consider moving to a foreign country for a job, compared to 35% of the general population, and this statistic is even higher in countries such as France and the Netherlands. There are a few things to keep in mind that will make hiring and managing millennials a smooth process:

TECC 192: Why Engineers Quit Managers Not Companies

December 11, 2018 By EMI

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

In this episode, I talk with Rich Archbold, senior engineering director at Intercom. We talk about an article he wrote called: “People leave managers, not companies. Don’t let that manager be you.”

Engineering Quotes:

Here are some of the key points discussed about why engineers quit managers and not companies:

From Civil Engineer to Manager – Anthony Fasano Featured on Recent ASCE Interchange Video

October 22, 2018 By EMI

Engineering Management Institute (EMI) President Anthony Fasano, P.E. was recently featured in an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Interchange Video entitled From Civil Engineer to Manager. ASCE Interchange is a multi-part series of educational videos on important issues in the engineering community produced by ASCE.

In each monthly 6- to 7-minute segment, Casey Dinges, ASCE’s senior managing director of public affairs, membership, and marketing, engages experts and other leading voices in interviews from the studios of LAI Video in Washington, DC.

Here is Fasano’s full October 2018 ASCE Interchange video…

In this video Fasano answers the following questions:

Civil engineers at most firms, usually early in their careers, must decide whether they want to take the technical path or the management path. How does an engineer decide or know which way they should go?
If the civil engineer has decided they want to take the management path, what are some ways the engineer can show their boss they are ready to manage?
What skills do you think a civil engineer must have to be a manager? Of those, which three skill do you think are the most important?
If they don’t have these skills, how can they develop these skills?
What’s the difference between a manager and a leader?
Are there any good books or podcasts you’d recommend that provide more insight into managing?

This is Fasano’s second ASCE Interchange Video. His first, which published in January of 2016 here, covered recruiting and hiring trends in civil engineering and has had over 11,000 views to date.

About Engineering Management Institute, Inc. – Engineering Management Institute, Inc. is a coaching and training company based in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Founded in 2009, Engineering Management Institute has inspired thousands of engineers through its various content channels which include written articles, podcasts and videos. The company and its founder has been cited on many major media outlets including CNN, Mashable, and mostly recently Forbes.

The Foundation of a Great Management Career in Engineering

September 25, 2018 By EMI

This is a guest blog post by Mary Jane Riccardi, SPHR, MBA

Management Career

Whether project management or organizational management, the foundation of a great management career starts with exceptional technical/professional performance. Many engineering professionals start their careers with strong technical skills, honed through years of schooling, challenging work assignments, and delivering on project management expectations. Moving into a project or organizational management role takes a new set of skills, which can be developed long before acquiring the manager title.

Through developing professional consulting competencies engineers can accelerate their skill development while providing additional contribution to their firms. Also, it allows early career engineers to demonstrate their people skills to those internal decision makers, who may be making those promotional decisions.

So what specifically are professional consulting competencies? After talking with and listening to many junior and senior professional consultants in the A/E industry, I developed a 10-competency model that can be used to guide any engineer in their role as a professional consultant. Executing on technical skills and abilities can develop the first four, the next five require focus on people. Pursuing self-development is important regardless of your career goals.

Why Engineers Make Great CEOs

August 8, 2018 By EMI

Why Engineers Make Great CEOs is a guest blog by Thomas Anderson, P.E.

Engineering is the most common undergraduate degree of the Fortune 500 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). It has been for some time. Approximately one third of CEOs majored in engineering and only 11% graduated from business school. The Harvard Business Review has a list of the 100 best-performing CEOs on the planet.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos topped the list. Bezos earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science and electrical engineering from Princeton University. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella is an engineer. General Motors’ Mary Barra as well. Carlos Ghosn of Nissan and Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing also have engineering backgrounds. Ursula Burns, the CEO and chairman of Xerox Corporation started her career as an engineering intern. In fact, 24 of the top 100 CEO’s have a Bachelors or Master’s degree in engineering.

Engineers are a little bit different. Sometimes introverted and always good at the math, they build and fix things; complex things. They have a unique ways of looking at the world. The qualities below make engineers exceptionally good at leading companies.