The following is a summary of Episode 50 of my podcast, The Engineering Career Coach (TECC) Podcast. I will summarize the main points in this post; however, you can also listen to the show through the website or by subscribing on iTunes. I offer a career-changing tip at the end of each podcast session.
Christian Knutson PE, ENV SP has over two decades as a civil engineer field grade officer in the United States Air Force. He has developed his soft skills as a successful engineer and has utilized them on various projects and programs that he has executed in the United States Air Force.
Here are the lessons I’ve learned:
- You can always improve as an engineer regardless of your experience level or age. Continue to develop yourself; there is no limit for you.
- Three important skills that I’ve learned throughout these fifty episodes:
Communication – Communicate as clearly as possible at all times, leaving nothing up for interpretation.
Decision-Making - Make meaningful decisions based on your goals, not just based on the way you are feeling that day or week.
Relationship – Your career and life revolves around relationships. Identify the key relationships and invest time and energy into them. Build strong relationships because they will not only bring you opportunities, but also will bring you fulfillment in your career and life. - Know when to delegate and do so effectively.
- The way you respond to what happens to you is critical as to how far you go in your career and life. There is always a learning opportunity in every situation, find it and leverage it.
- Understand how you can provide maximum value to other people like your employer and your clients. Find out from the people you want to provide value to, what they expect and what they are looking for.
- Set your goals and make sure every one of your decisions and actions are based on them. Get clear on what you want to do in your career.
What have you learned in your career to date that might be helpful to other engineers?
Anthony Fasano, PE, author of Engineer Your Own Success, found success as an engineer at a very early age and now writes and podcasts to help other engineers do the same. Visit Anthony’s website at EngineeringCareerCoach.com to access all of the free engineering career resources he has created to help engineers succeed.