Engineering Management Institute

UPCOMING WEBINAR

TCEP 105: From Civil Engineering to Helping Civil Engineers in Texas Every Day

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Helping Civil Engineers

In episode 105 of The Civil Engineering Podcast, I speak with Lindsay O’Leary, PE, LEED AP about her career path from a civil engineer to now working full-time as the Executive Director for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Texas Section where she is helping civil engineers to achieve success on a daily basis.

Engineering Quotes:

Helping Civil Engineers

Helping Civil Engineers

Here are some of the questions I ask Lindsay about how she went from being a civil engineer to helping civil engineers on a daily basis:

  • How did you go from being a civil engineer to Executive Director for the ASCE Texas Section?
  • Do you think you would be able to do this job successfully if you weren’t a civil engineer?
  • What are some of the challenges the organization is facing that you have to deal with?
  • What were you dealing during the Hurricane Harvey disaster?

Here are some key points discussed in this episode:

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TECC 184: Career Questions Answered Through a Peek Inside the Engineering Management Accelerator

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Engineering ManagementIn this episode, I am going to answer some questions from some of the engineers who participated in our Engineering Management Accelerator Online Workshop. We had so many great questions during this course related to professional development, job promotions, communication, leadership and more, that I decided to share the answers here so that engineers all over the world can benefit from them.

Engineering Quotes:

Engineering Management

Engineering Management

Here is the summary of questions and answers from a recent group coaching call during the Engineering Management Accelerator Online Workshop:

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TECC 174: Strategies Tech Managers Can Use for Building Effective Teams

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Building Effective TeamsIn this episode, I talk with Jen Bunk, architect of the People Stack® – the network of people, places and things that help tech managers build better teams.  Jen  provides strategies that tech managers can use for building effective teams.  Jen also talks about how, in order to be an effective leader, you must commit to leadership and also consider seeking coaching and guidance in your own career.

Engineering Quotes:

Building Effective Teams

Building Effective Teams

Here are some of the key points discussed on building effective teams within an organization:

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TECC 173: Five Levels of Leadership to Help You Become a Powerful Engineering Leader

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Powerful Engineering Leader

In this episode, I talk with Chris Goede from the John Maxwell Company about leadership. Chris explains the 5 Levels of Leadership model and gives some great strategies for becoming a very powerful engineering leader.

Engineering Quotes:

Powerful Engineering Leader

Powerful Engineering Leader

Here are some of the key points discussed on becoming a powerful engineering leader.

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TECC 166: Learning to Lead through Leadership Flow

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Learning to Lead through Leadership Flow

Leadership FlowIn this episode, I talk with seasoned leadership expert, an author on General Leadership and an extremely accomplished leader and leadership coach, Croft Edwards about his new book called: LeadershipFlow | Perfectly Square; A Story About Learning to Lead and Transforming a Company. Our conversation focuses on how you can learn to lead by using Leadership Flow in both your career and life.

Engineering Quotes:

Leadership Flow
Leadership Flow

Here are the key points discussed on learning to lead through Leadership Flow:

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TECC 164: Sync to Swim: Project Leadership for Engineers and Project Managers

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Sync to Swim: Project Leadership for Engineers and Project Management

Project LeadershipIn this episode, I talk with Colonel Mickey Addison, USAF (ret), MSCE, PMP about a project leadership model known as Sync to Swim.  As an Air Force officer, Mickey has handled national portfolios totaling billions of dollars, and he is passionate about leadership. We will also talk about his books, Leading Leaders and The Five Be’s.

 Engineering Quotes:

Project Leadership

Project Leadership

Here are the key points discussed on Project Leadership for Engineers:

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How to Become an Effective Engineering Leader – Engineering Career TV Ep. 24

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Q: How can I become an Effective Engineering Leader?

Welcome to Episode #24 of Engineering Career TV. In this episode, I discuss the book titled Real Power: Business Lessons From the Tao Te Ching and give you some advice on how you can become an effective engineering leader. 

I will spend most of the Engineering Career TV episodes answering questions that have been submitted from engineers around the world on how to rapidly advance their careers and live the lives they want to live.

You can submit questions for the show by clicking here.

Let’s jump into today’s episode, a book review of the book entitled Real Power: Business Lessons From the Tao Te Ching, which is the fourth in a series of book reviews where I am discussing books that can help to provide more stress-free productivity:
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Using Negative Feedback For Success

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This is a guest blog post by Carol Evenson

Negative FeedbackIt may be the nature of most people to try and avoid receiving negative feedback. When some people do receive such feedback, they often ignore it, rationalize it or attack the source of it. Very seldom do they see the benefit of improving from it. Negative feedback is an opportunity to reflect and learn. When approached the right way, it can be used as a valuable tool for success.

Research

A person needs to carefully consider how to respond to feedback. Studies have been done that show individuals who are successful at handling negative feedback experience more success than individuals who are not. According to Fast Company, research conducted by the training firm Leadership IQ has shown that more than 45 percent of newly hired people often fail during their initial 18 months on the job. Out of this, over 25 percent fail simply because they are not able to accept the negative feedback they receive. Researchers concluded that for a person to be able to benefit from negative feedback, they need to have a certain amount of critical self-awareness. Should a person not be able to accept that they make mistakes, they may have a personality disorder and have a strong negative reaction to any type of feedback. Individuals with a certain amount of self-awareness are able to use negative feedback as an effective way to improve.

Seeing Negative Feedback As Positive

The people who benefit most from negative feedback will see it as something positive. It will drive them to improve their performance. These are people who ask a lot of questions after receiving any type of negative feedback. According to Forbes Magazine, they will try and gain as much insight as possible into the situation. They will make a strong effort to understand the reasons for the negative feedback and what can be done to correct what happened. They are able to hear exactly what is being said to them. They know the negative feedback received from performance software such as sales dashboards and others can provide opportunities for success. [Read more…]

Transitioning from Engineer to Manager – Engineering Career TV Ep. 3

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Q: What does it take to be a manager besides having strong leadership skills?

Welcome to Episode #3 of Engineering Career TV. The topic for this episode is Transitioning from engineer to manager.

I will spend most of the Engineering Career TV episodes answering questions that have been submitted from engineers around the world on how to rapidly advance their careers and live the lives they want to live.

You can submit questions for the show by clicking here.

Let’s jump into today’s topic, Transitioning from engineer to manager, which is based on a question from Zach, where he asks the following: [Read more…]

Developing Program Management Competencies to Excel in Your Engineering Career

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Program Management

Over my career I’ve amassed knowledge and skills, and the experience, to manage large programs. This took years. I didn’t step into my first infrastructure program management role until my 12th year as a practicing engineer, managing a housing program in the Air Force.  A few years later that program became a nearly $1 billion infrastructure program covering Europe and into Afghanistan.

Did I have any formal training to set me up for these roles?  No.

Most of us will step into project management – or even program or portfolio management – positions with little to no formal training. Since most people selected to manage projects, programs, or portfolios have exhibited the basic skills to do so effectively, the lack of legitimate training isn’t seen as show-stopper in companies.

However, in surveys of both public and private sector organizations conducted by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and other project management focused entities, some startling statistics highlight the importance of some amount of formal study: [Read more…]