This is a guests blog by Jese H. Vance, P.E.
I have worked hard at honing my technical skills so far in my career. I would even say that in the first few years after college, the technical side of engineering was all that I focused on. However, over the last few years, I have found that the intangible lessons that I picked up through experience and mentorship are just as important.
Below are four of the top lessons that I have learned in my first decade of engineering:
Lesson 1: If You Always Tell the Truth, You Don’t Have to Remember What You Said
It is easy to think that a “little white lie” on occasion isn’t a big deal. Who or what is it going to hurt, right? This is an easy trap to fall into when someone’s feelings are at stake; however, one small lie can lead to another and another. Now, there are alternate versions of events that have to be remembered and when the truth actually comes out, the situation will be even worse. There will be many times throughout your career when telling the truth is not easy, but no matter how bad it is, telling the truth from the beginning is the only way to go. Tell the truth, explain the situation, and even if feelings get hurt, it will not be as bad as trying to explain why you lied all along.
Lesson 2: Judgement Is a Skill
You have likely heard people say, “I wasn’t born with the ability to (fill in the blank).” Like many things, good judgement is not something people are born with. Good judgement is a skill that can be built over time with experience. I often cringe when I think about some of the decisions that I made early in my career. When I look back, I think about what I would do differently and use those bits of information as a learning tool to improve future decisions. Even if a decision turns out to be the wrong one, it is unlikely that it will be a fatal blow. The important part is to reflect on why you made the decision and use that information to improve your judgement for future decisions.
Lesson 3: Take Care of Your People and They Will Take Care of the Rest
Have you ever wondered how some engineering firms continually dominate their field? Obviously, there are many factors that lead to success, but if you could only remember one, just remember that if you take care of your people, they will take care of the rest. If you do everything else right in your business but don’t take care of your people, true success isn’t going to find its way to your company. When I talk to people who work for successful companies, the common theme is that they are happy with where they work. Their company leadership has their back, and they truly care. They care about their individual success, happiness, and personal growth. It isn’t difficult to show your employees that you care. Even small gestures, like some new company apparel, can go a long way. If your employee is in the field and returning to the office late, go help them unload their equipment or treat them to a nice dinner. Those little extra pieces of equipment or apparel that some companies see as an “expense” are actually an investment.
Lesson 4: Start With the End in Mind
Clarity is essential when you are working toward your goals in life and business. It is difficult to figure out a route toward your goals if you aren’t sure where you are going. When your goals are vague, it is also easy to quit shy of the goal. This concept is important in setting company goals and personal goals, but it is also useful when working on individual projects. Visualize how you want the project to go, what obstacles could get in the way, how to get around the obstacles, and even think about how it is going to feel when the project is complete. I know this may sound a bit odd, but visualization is used by nearly every great athlete, entrepreneur, CEO, etc. When you start with the end in mind and have a clear vision of what that looks like, you may be surprised at how many resources and opportunities become available to get you where you want to go.
About the Author Jese H. Vance, P.E.
Jese H. Vance, P.E., graduated from Marshall University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and received a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Geological Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Jese works as a geotechnical engineer who specializes in forensic investigations. He has worked in the civil engineering consulting industry since 2012 and is currently preparing to launch his own geotechnical engineering firm. Jese lives in West Virginia with his wife and son. He enjoys crawling around on any landslide he can find and spending time on the water fly fishing. He can be found on LinkedIn.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s post by guest author Jese H. Vance, P.E. If you’re interested in your firm possibly joining the Civil Engineering Collective, please contact us here or call us at 800-920-4007.
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Anthony Fasano, P.E.
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
