This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias
Whether fresh out of school or experienced engineer, it’s never too soon to forge a trailblazer career journey. Avoid the active bystander status and start pioneering your own trail today!
Embrace Ownership Over Your Role, Including Successes and Failures
One way you can become your own career trailblazer is to take full ownership of your job. Sounds quite basic, right? But let’s dissect this for fuller context.
It’s one thing to tell people, “I am a such-and-such engineer,” referring to your title. That’s a great start! But in your day-to-day routine as that engineer, do you:
- Exert your best efforts regardless of the task? (Let’s face it, sometimes it’s difficult for engineers to get excited about necessities like report writing or answering the phone.)
- Make concerted efforts to optimize all resources at your disposal? Examples include reaching out to more experienced colleagues, asking questions, volunteering, researching topics, diving into archives, inquiring about lessons learned, introducing yourself as you initiate conversations, etc.
- Own up to both successes and failures? While it can be fun to share ingenuity or great results, can you be just as honest about failed attempts? Trying and failing is an essential component to take yourself to the next level.
These are just a few ways you can claim more ownership over your role. Regardless of job outcomes, owning your role is about looking back and saying, “I did my best with the resources I had.” No one can fault you for that.
Increasing job ownership raises your value and translates to higher quality work — practical features for any trailblazer!
Offer the Traits You Wish Your Manager Had
Managers have tough jobs. They balance various needs of their individual team members while juggling tasks, putting out fires, and keeping their managers happy. It’s fair to say that in general, managers must adapt to playing musical hats throughout the day.
Since managers are human, they forget things. They make mistakes, and they may even portray a little bias or favoritism at times. As an engineer, it can be tempting to assess your manager and focus on their flaws, especially when they seem to hold some power over your lived experiences.
Here is one way you can turn the tables and become a trailblazer: Offer to your manager the things you wish they would offer to you.
A few examples might include:
- If you think their communication style is weak, elevate your communication style to fill in any gaps.
- If you feel like they’re not acknowledging your good work, initiate efforts to share and ask for feedback.
- If you wish to be respected, offer your respect to them first.
I’m not claiming this is going to be easy. It will probably require a strategy to build your emotional maturity and interpersonal skills over time. But remember — managers are far from perfect, and they may even appreciate your forthcoming approach.
If you can sufficiently manage to offer the things you feel are missing, your trailblazing power will propel you ahead of your peers!
Leaders Don’t Always Know the Path
You are a leader.
Regardless of where your position may fall on the organizational chart, you are leading your own role. In part, the purpose of your role within the team is to synchronize experiences, knowledge, and results to achieve business goals.
That means people depend on you. They seek your input and require your educated opinions. As a leader, it is your responsibility to use judgment and personal strengths to represent the relevance of your duties.
But it can get very tricky when you feel left in the dark or you don’t know how to find an answer. For instance, how do you problem-solve with minimal information? What do you do when experienced people are no longer around to guide your process? It can feel maddening, as if you’re hitting your head against a brick wall!
The answer: You explore, chip away, and creatively try new ideas until the successful path is only revealed at the very end.
A great leader moves forward and blazes a trail even when the direct path is unknown. They do not allow fear, failure, or obstacles to get in their way. And more importantly, they own the results ahead of time. Whether flop or feat, trailblazers are prepared to embrace both success and failure — ownership required!
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
~ Marcus Aurelius
About the Author Gina Covarrubias
Certified Life Coach, B.S. Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering (Purdue University), M.S. Mechanical Engineering (University of Utah).
Gina is founder of Deliberate Doing, an exclusive STEM professional development service dedicated to helping engineers optimize their careers. She is the authority on establishing a purposeful career with her book, Career Purpose: When Work Isn’t Working for You. Whether speaking or coaching, she offers practical guidance for early and mid-level engineers.
Gina’s distinctive background blends life coaching expertise with 12+ years engineering/technology experience in the government, academic and corporate environments, all within the aerospace sector.
We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share on how to forge a trailblazer career journey.
Please leave your comments, feedback or questions in the section below.
To your success,
Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
