Engineering Management Institute

Pat Sweet

Four Skills Engineers Can Learn From Entrepreneurs

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This is a guest post by Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, PMP, CSEP

Whether you plan to launch a business or work within an existing organization, approaching the world from an entrepreneur’s perspective can be incredibly valuable for engineers. At their core, both engineers and entrepreneurs are problem-solvers. By approaching the world from the mindset of an entrepreneur, engineers of all disciplines can become stronger in their fields.

Here Are Four Skills That Engineers Would Do Well to Adopt:

1. Entrepreneurs See Opportunity

Entrepreneurs see the world in terms of opportunities. They are able to identify problems and pain points that, if solved, would create incredible value for people. Where many people see problems and are content simply to complain about them, entrepreneurs are able to see a world where that problem is actually solved and take strides to make that world a reality.

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Two Types of Goals That Matter When Leading People

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This is a guest blog by Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, PMP, CSEP

professional development goalsOf all the lessons that I’ve learned over the course of my career, one stands out as possibly the most important and impactful: 

The successful manager manages performance, not the person.  

An engineering manager is responsible for the performance of the team. Projects still need to be completed on time and on budget. Work outputs need to be high quality. This is where management of performance comes in. A successful engineering manager must take great care to establish clear performance expectations so that the team understands what is expected of them and how their work will be evaluated.  

Measuring Performance 

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Healthy Conflict: How Disagreements Spur Innovation

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This is a guest post by Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, PMP, CSEP

Healthy ConflictFor most engineers, conflict at work is something to be avoided. It’s about as desirable as spilling coffee on your pants before a big presentation or dealing with (yet another) paper jam. There’s an important difference, however, between conflict and most other office challenges: conflict is incredibly important. In fact, almost all innovative products and processes are the result of conflicts at work.

This leads us to two questions. Why is it that conflict is so important for innovation, and how can you approach conflict in a healthy way? In today’s article, I’ll tackle both important questions.

Why Is Conflict Important for Innovation?

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The Fundamental Equation of Leadership for Engineers

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This is a guest post by Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, PMP, CSEPFundamental Equation of Leadership

This is a guest blog post by Pat Sweet, P. Eng.

Leadership for Engineers. For most of us, seems to be one of those “you know it when you see it” kind of things. It’s hard to describe, but easy to notice. In effect we’ve all worked for great leaders, and we’ve all worked for crummy leaders. So, What is it about some leaders that makes you want to help them do whatever it is they’re trying to accomplish?

Throughout history, people have attempted to define leadership succinctly. There are plenty of quotable quotes out there that help shed light on what leadership is. Academics have created models to describe leaders, their behaviors, and the effects of those leaders on the people they lead.

But, with all these ideas, opinions, data, and models, it’s easy to get lost. It’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. It’s also easy to get confused when one person’s quote or model seems to contradict another’s. So that all the information becomes noise and we’re left with the same question we started with: what is leadership anyway?

To me, leadership can be summed up in what I call the fundamental equation of leadership. I call it this because it makes me feel like I’m brilliant, which I’m not, so just let me roll with this, OK? [Read more…] about The Fundamental Equation of Leadership for Engineers

TECC 64: Engineering Leadership with Pat Sweet – The Engineering Career Coach Podcast

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In this session of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, I am going to take you inside the Engineering Career Summit which is the event that Chris and I threw in Washington DC in early May and will be throwing again in May 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. I am going to play for you an audio recording of one the Engineering Career Summit sessions entitled Engineering Leadership by Pat Sweet, P. Eng.

In the Take Action Today segment, at the end of the show, I give you an approach on how you can apply your leadership skills in your career and life.

Pat Sweet is a Professional Engineer working in Ontario, Canada as a product manager in the rail industry. He’s also the author behind the Engineering and Leadership blog, where he shares his thoughts and experiences on leadership, productivity and career advice for engineers.

Listen to this session and learn what engineering leadership is and is not and the two models of leadership: [Read more…] about TECC 64: Engineering Leadership with Pat Sweet – The Engineering Career Coach Podcast

TECC 28: Nine Steps to Writing Proper and Meaningful E-mails for Engineers

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In this episode of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast, my guest, Pat Sweet, is going to give out some amazing strategies with nine specific points on writing proper and meaningful e-mails.

engineering careerThe Take Action Today segment of the show will show you how to get your message across in a way that’s easy for people to understand.

In today’s show, I interview Pat Sweet, a full-time electrical engineer and an MBA student living in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Sweet maintains a blog at www.EngineeringAndLeadership.com, where his goal is to teach engineers everything he knows about leadership and becoming a better engineer. Pat has held various leadership positions throughout his career already, even at a very young age.

Listen to this session and learn: [Read more…] about TECC 28: Nine Steps to Writing Proper and Meaningful E-mails for Engineers