Taking command is something each of us does when we assume a leadership role. It doesn’t matter if you’re the principal in a firm, at project manager, or a team member on a project team, when you act from a position of leadership, you’re a leader.
Here are the perspectives from the panel:
On boosting morale:
· Empowerment. Delegate effectively to provide team members the opportunity to learn, grow, and have responsibility in the outcomes of the organization.
· Establishing trust. Develop a mutually trustworthy relationship with your team – walking the walk; providing top cover; supporting members when they’re down; not shooting the messenger; doing what you say you’ll do.
· Discipline. Set and maintain the standards, don’t pick-and-choose when you’ll do so. And ensure team members carry through on what they say they’ll do so others don’t have to pick-up slack.
· Linking what you do to the greater mission. Most everyone wants to know that what they are doing is part of something important, something with impact. Leaders boost morale by knowing that this is…knowing the why…and then conveying that to the team.
· Listen to your people like it’s the first time. Give everyone the respect they deserve by listening to what they have to say. It doesn’t matter if you already know a lot about a particular aspect, if the person talking is young, has put time/energy into developing themselves to understand it as well, and is now presenting to you, listen like you don’t anything about it. Give everyone the courtesy of focused attention.
On leading change: every organization goes through change, whether it’s re-organizing or adapting to market realities. Leaders get in front of it as much as possible. If it’s coming and is going to affect your team, then your role as the leader is to share as much information as possible with those who will be affected so they can decide what to do for themselves. On the flip side, if you lack clear information, then absolutely don’t pass along conjecture, rumor, or wild guesses to your team. (See establishing trust above.)
On respecting people’s time: A person’s time is the most precious asset they have. Squandering it without reason is an abuse you must guard against committing.
· Science projects. If you’re asking a team member for information or to perform analysis, ensure you know both why and what you’re going to do with the information. While it’s acceptable for a leader to prepare for worst case scenarios, it’s not acceptable to have people investing man-hours putting together answers, presentations, or analysis on matters that aren’t required or have a low-probability of occurring.
· Making anyone wait for you in a meeting. Booked back-to-back? Caught in a discussion on the coming weekend’s plans and can’t break free for your 10 o’clock? If you have someone waiting on you simply so you don’t have to waste your time, then shame. I had a boss once who booked himself solid and was therefore, routinely twenty or more minutes late to his next appointment. What message did that send? When you make others wait on you, you’re transmitting the message “you’re time isn’t as important as mine”. Wrong. Everyone’s time is precious. Put in place safeguards to protect time: don’t book back-to-back meetings (give yourself at least 15 minutes); have a meeting cancelation protocol (it’s 10 minutes at college, right?).
On understanding your organization’s finances: time is money and money is money. It doesn’t matter if you’re in private or public sector work. A leader has to understand how the money flows. Without funding, you and your team won’t be able to do what it exists to do.
· Understand your budget. What are the annual expenses? What is the annual budget development cycle? Who’s involved in the approval process? What’s your historical daily burn-rate? Knowing what to include and why, how to put it together, and the ability to assess historical information and forecast forward are essential skills.
· Validated requirements. Knowing what is needed, be it equipment, an infrastructure project, training, etcetera is important. Knowing why it’s needed is better. And knowing what the risks are if it isn’t funded is the ultimate. Anything can be a requirement but not every requirement is necessarily valid. A leader spends the time and energy to understand not only what is needed, but why it’s needed as well as the risks to the organization/mission/client of not funding it.
· Emergency Funding Process. In public sector organizations there’s always an emergency funding process. In many private sector businesses the same. Small businesses or solopreneurs? Maybe not. Crises happen and when they do, that’s not the time to figure out how to fund the mitigation actions. Invest time deliberately to understand the process, the stakeholders, and the information needed to expedite emergency funding requests. Be prepared, not reactionary.
On getting recognized for your efforts: advice I received when I was a second lieutenant? Bloom where you’re planted. That same advice echoes through the memories of many Air Force civil engineers and likely many of you. More than a quaint saying attributed to Saint Frances de Sales, Bishop of Geneva in the late 16th Century, it’s a call for focus. Focusing on the job you have before you. Several times throughout my career I had projects or held positions that I thought…well, sucked. But I did the best I could despite my inner voice of protest and was rewarded positively for my efforts. It’s often hard to see the silver lining of the dark cloud cast by what we feel is a dead-end job or uninspiring project, but if you’re young and attempting to build a reputation in your organization, dying on the vine by doing a half-assed job isn’t the answer. Bloom where you’re planted by doing the best you can with what you have where you’re at. (In case you didn’t catch it, that’s St. de Sales and Teddy Roosevelt in the same sentence!)
How to Bloom Where You’re Planted in 2014 (or any other time for that matter…)
On doing the work: akin to the previous perspective, don’t focus solely on the end outcome of your actions – the prize. You want to achieve a leadership position – be a commander, a partner, a senior project manager. Will that position simply be handed to you without you establishing your credibility, your technical skill, your reputation, or your work ethic or moral character? Not likely. Many times it’s said to focus on the goal, but this alone won’t guarantee its achievement. Especially in situations where you are vying for limited positions of authority. A better bet is to focus on the path, the process, the journey – the work you have before you now. Focus on doing accomplishing what you have to do now, on developing yourself (mentally, spiritually, physically) and on supporting those around you. That’s a definite way to ensure achievement of your goal.
In summary, what do you do now if you’re a young engineer aspiring to a position of command or leadership in an organization?
1. Do the work. Focus on the path before you and bloom where you’re planted.
2. Be discerning on the advice you’re given along the path. Not everyone’s advice is the right advice for you. (Including this article!) There isn’t one true path to a goal – what got me to command doesn’t mirror what got any other commander to command. Seek advice, but don’t blindly apply it.
3. Have a plan. Most everyone who achieves command or a senior leadership role in an organization has a plan, even if they think they don’t have a plan. That plan includes timeframes, education, professional growth opportunities, and family. Most also have a back-up plan, what the military terms ‘branches-and-sequels’: if Plan A doesn’t happen we move to Plan B and if “X” happens, then we shift to Plan B-3. If you don’t want to get that detailed, then take up the habit of “ABZ Planning”, a term coined by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha in their book The Start-up of You. Plan A is your primary focus, what you’re doing now based on your competitive advantage. Plan B is you’ll do when Plan A isn’t working, hits a dead end, or you discover a different route to take. Plan Z is your emergency plan – what you do when everything goes to hell. It’s the last resort that allows you to rearm, reload, and regroup for a new ABZ Plan.
Christian Knutson, P.E., PMP is a leader, civil engineer, and author. He’s an accomplished professional specializing in A/E/C work internationally and author of The Engineer Leader, a recognized blog on leadership and life design for engineers and professionals.