Most engineering professionals I speak with have goals focused around being a more successful engineering leader in their organizations. The challenge is that engineering projects, departments, and divisions are highly complex, requiring a blend of strong leadership and organizational skills. General George C. Marshall had both, and in this article, I would like to share the strategies he used and provide some recommendations as to how they can be utilized in the engineering world.
I learned about General Marshall through reading Cal Newport’s book “A World Without Email.” I then decided to research Marshall further and found a wonderful paper entitled “George C. Marshall: An Enduring Model of Leadership Effectiveness,” written by Jack Clarcq, Richard DeMartino, and Michael E. Palanski (2011). This article is based on the information provided in said paper, which was based on interviews with the last remaining Marshall subordinates and which were conducted in 1989.
Marshall is considered by many to be the one of the most effective leaders ever, including acclaimed management expert Peter Drucker, who referred to Marshall as one of the great industrial leaders and industrial managers of the twentieth century. Marshall completely reorganized the U.S. Army, making it a much more efficient organization among other feats.
Clarcq and DeMartino’s paper highlighted two major themes related to Marshall’s leadership style: his personal leadership effectiveness and organizational leadership effectiveness.
I will attempt to summarize the key points of each of them here and provide some advice on how engineering professionals can utilize these strategies in italics after each point.
Theme I: Personal Effectiveness
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