Gary M Butler, PE

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

The top leadership of any organization must find ways to motivate and guide all of the groups and individuals reporting to them.  Creating an effective VISION is essential.  A vision will provide a point of focus by which everyone can align their efforts toward a common purpose.  The organizational culture must also have clearly defined VALUES that act as a touchstone for daily decisions.  These values become part of the leadership system for sustaining the organization. High performing organizations develop and communicate a comprehensive STRATEGIC PLAN that implements their vision and values.  A well devised and maintained Strategic Plan is a necessary tool for the successful Executive Leader.

SUPERVISORY LEADERSHIP

Successful individual contributors are often promoted to roles that include responsibility for the performance of others. The ability to set goals for others as well as motivate them is a critical skill that must be mastered. A manager also needs to be able to assist others in improving their personal goal setting skills. Many successful engineers make poor supervisors and managers because they have not developed these skills.  The handshake given upon promotion is often their only training.

PERSONAL LEADERSHIP

The ability to set goals and accomplish them may be the most important shared trait of outstanding leaders.  Initially this ability must be developed internally to the individual. Many students get through their challenges by brute force.  Gallons of coffee and all-nighters become the norm.  Using this approach in the workplace may yield short term results but will not be supportable over time.  When their work is used by others, a tendency to procrastinate and slip in under the wire can start a domino chain that will cause group failure.  Unfortunately, many simply haven’t learned any other way to handle a large or challenging project.

LEADERSHIP TYPES

Natural leaders exist.  Some of them even graduate from engineering schools.  But just like the rest of us they rarely have the total suite of skills required to be successful when leading within a company.  The Baldrige National Quality Award, the touchstone for this series of articles, weights Leadership second only to Business Results in importance.  There are 3 types or levels of leadership we need to consider:

1. Personal Leadership
2. Supervisory Leadership
3. Executive Leadership

Each of these requires a unique skill set, but there are commonalities to be found.

BROAD COMPETENCY IS KEY

While a technical education may touch on aspects of one or two of the Baldrige criteria most are not a part of the curriculum.  Within these areas there are elements that affect the daily life of everyone in the organization.  The individuals and organizations that understand and master the Baldrige criteria are endowing themselves with the highest potential for success.  Technical professionals must become competent in more than their own specialty to be successful in the real world.  The Baldrige criteria provide the framework to effectively round out technical educations.  Even an organization that is not actively pursuing the award will greatly benefit from integrating the Baldrige discipline and philosophy into its culture.

BALDRIGE QUALITY AWARD

The Baldrige National Quality Award offers a helpful perspective on gaps in the education of new engineers. Research suggests that the Baldrige criteria are among the best predictors of organizational success. (The value of award winners’ stock increased by 512% over a 10 year period vs. 115% for the S & P 500.) Employees who have been trained to develop skill and understanding in the related disciplines will best serve their organization. The seven Baldrige criteria are:
Leadership
Strategic Planning
Customer & Market Focus
Measurement, Analysis & Knowledge Management
Human Resource Development & Management
Process Management
Business Results

NEW ENGINEERS

You would think that each year’s crop of newly minted engineering graduates would be ready to be turned loose on the world to solve its technical problems.  Engineering colleges certainly present them as if they are.  Unfortunately, in my experience, despite the brilliance of their professors and the difficulty of the curriculum most new engineers (yours truly included) barely know a thing about what it takes to solve technical problems in the real world.  The technology, science and calculations that got them through school are just the beginning of what they need to know.  Even those engineers with business classes will not be able to succeed without significant mentoring and coaching.  It falls to the organizations that hire them to complete their education.