by Peter A. DeLisle, Severns Project on Engineering Education, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Taken from The Balanced Engineer: Entering a New Millennium, proceedings of IEEE-USA's 1999 Professional Development Conference. Order no. UH2986, $25.00 members.
The problem is that engineers are not routinely prepared to lead groups of people and organizations through academic training or work assignments early in their career, so many are ill-prepared to lead projects or organizations. Too often, they get kicked off the dock and are expected to know how to swim. A less harsh image, but one equally as dysfunctional, is the that good engineers will apply some native talent to leadership problems, and through hard work and effort, will prevail. Many engineers have been ruined by this error in judgment rather than by their own missteps, and the unfortunate result is a double loss: they become unhappy and marginally effective managers, sub-optimizing the work of their group, and they often lose their personal confidence as individual contributors. The worse case is that they will fail as managers and feel a need to leave the company, since they can't regress by returning to the engineer's bench without an apparent loss of status and di! ! gnit y.
The intent of this paper is to interdict this thinking and counteract the damage done by the "natural leader" theory, while advancing a perspective and thoughtful approach to effectiveness. Engineering leadership is meant to be an active phrase, as in: to engineer.
As you can see, technical skills are the foundation of all management work, with first-line supervisors spending better than half their time solving technical problems, and with some time invested in planning, organizing, and controlling activities normally thought of as management work. The proportion of time spent solving technical problems should diminish as a person assumes more responsibility, with the management tasks consuming more time. However, interpersonal skills and the time spent communicating and influencing others is consistently present, and has considerable importance at all levels of organizational responsibility.
Leadership is a subset of interpersonal skill - a highly derived capability resulting from recognizing interest, skill, and suitability to influence others. It also extends to a person's willingness to take the risk to influence others, in circumstances where the outcome might be appropriate but difficult to accept. Leadership is not for everyone, but it's also not exclusive of anyone. It is an individual's act of self-direction and motivation and can neither be forced or designated if a person is unwilling. Neither is a person a leader by virtue of a position or rank. A closer examination of the conditions contributing to effective leadership will help bear this out.
The geometry of the model suggests that all the rays of the triangle must be present to determine effectiveness. The point of each characteristic lengthens with new skill development, and the area of the triangle grows with new capabilities and awareness. Absence of one element prevents leadership effectiveness from having a perceptible influence.
Engineers already possess some fundamental problem-solving skills. They not only recognize and describe problems, but also must offer acceptable solutions to the problematic environment. Engineers also subject their ideas to a variety of tests before adopting them. Peer review and benchmarking are normal activities for project teams. Engineers must also assume responsibility for the quality of their work, and more importantly, recognize that their work has a direct impact on the lives of other people in a tangible and material way. When coupled with conscience, this professional competence advances the capability of engineering leaders to influence very complex situations and wade into uncertain territory - with an expectation for a positive outcome.
Recognizing complexity is at the core of engineering leadership, since it speaks to the ethos of engineering and articulates one of the most important values of the profession. Only a few other professions share this commitment to self-examination and regard for impact on others: medicine, law enforcement and military. These endeavors depict how the influence of leadership is very clear and material. It's unfortunate that often management practice doesn't have a similar core ethical value.
A hard decision is different from a tough decision - one made based on competing priorities or scarcities. A hard decision is made by a consciously-competent leader who judges that: "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or one" (as we know from Star Trek: Wrath of Khan). This judgment skill separates leaders from managers. It also lays the foundation for engineers to assume more responsibility as the leaders of organizations.
Engineered leaders must be self-reflective and self-auditing, listening carefully and acquainting themselves with the best practices of others. Leaders must examine their personal values and recognize that leadership is an act of personal and professional integrity. The consequences for compromising integrity is a zero or negative multiplier - like the value of trust: you can be trustworthy 1,000 times in a row and untrustworthy once, and the product of the equation is zero or less. The same algorithm holds true for leadership and integrity. Once lost by carelessness, circumstance, or unwillingness to make hard decisions, the leader is compromised, and the mantle of leadership is lost.
The naive hero wavers at the threshold of conscious-competence long enough to finally say: "Anything I have to do to make this thing right!" At this point, O'Neil tells Ness that they can get to work. Dumbfounded, Ness hears O'Neil say: "Everyone knows where the problems are, but no one is willing to do anything. You said you would do anything you had to, to make it right. Now I'm willing to help you. You made the commitment."
As you read the following statement, ask yourself what you are prepared to do as an engineering leader.
Leadership is an invisible strand as mysterious as it is powerful. It pulls and it bonds. It is a catalyst that creates unity out of disorder. Yet it defies definition. No combination of talents can guarantee it. No process or training can create it where the spark does not exist.The qualities of leadership are universal: They are found in the poor and rich, the humble and the proud, the common man and the brilliant thinker; they are qualities that suggest paradox rather than pattern. But wherever they are found leadership makes things happen.
The most precious and intangible quality of leadership is trust - the confidence that the one who leads will act in the best interest of those who follow - the assurance that s/he will serve the group without sacrificing the rights of the individual.
Leadership's imperative is a "sense of rightness" - knowing when to advance and when to pause, when to criticize and when to praise, how to encourage others to excel. From the leader's reserves of energy and optimism, his followers draw strength. In her determination and self-confidence, they find inspiration.
In its highest sense, leadership is integrity. This command by conscience asserts itself more by commitment and example that by directive. Integrity recognizes external obligations, but heeds the quiet voice within, rather than the clamor without.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW IEEE FELLOW - K.R. Rao, UTA, has recently been elected IEEE Fellow for contributions to the theory and practice of image and video compression.
POLL ASKS: 'SHOULD ENGINEERS BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY?' - Today's Engineer magazine invites readers to respond to the question: "Should engineers bargain collectively?" According to Today's Engineer, "In reaction to the changing face of the American economy and the nation's increasingly intricate laws regulating industries, some high-profile trade associations are entertaining thoughts of unionizing to bargain collectively on behalf of their members. Such a move, by a group such as the AMA or the ABA, would challenge the traditional definition of professionalism - skills coupled with knowledge, as well as the customary role of the union." Respond to www.ieeeusathisweek.org/forum_collective_bargain/index.htm.
TRENDS IN MIGRATION TO AND CHANGES IN ADMISSIONS POLICIES FOR EIGHT INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES provides an overview of recent trends in international migration including labor markets, demographic and procedural issues, and particularly the increasing importance of highly skilled but temporary workers. The 20-page report, published by IEEE-USA, covers eight countries: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. To order, call 1-800-678-4333, product number UH2987, $9.95.
BUDGET COMPROMISE EXTENDS FUNDING IN KEY AREAS BUT CUTS SOME RESEARCH - A compromise has been reached between House and Senate leaders and the White House on a consolidated appropriations bill, which authorizes over $385 billion in federal funding and apparently extends a number of key expired tax provisions. In particular, the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit was extended for five years. Similarly, the Section 127 tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance was continued through 2001, but only for undergraduate courses.
Also included in the budget agreement are increases for university information technology research, reforms of the federal patent system, and provisions to discourage "cyber-squatters" from reserving and selling Internet domain names derived from the trademarks of other companies. To help offset increases, the bill includes 0.38% across-the-board budget cut, which will reduce R&D funding in previously approved appropriations. Language to speed up the relaxation of export controls on high-speed computers by two months was also dropped from the bill.
MCCAIN BILL TO ELIMINATE CAPS ON H-1B VISAS - On Oct. 27, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the 21st Century Technology Resources and Commercial Leadership Act (S.1804), legislation designed to increase "the United States scientific, technology, and mathematical resources" by eliminating the current cap on H-1B visas through 2006, to allow entry of an unlimited number of high-tech guestworkers. The bill was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee and has no chance of seeing action this session of Congress. However, its introduction keeps Candidate McCain's promise to industry to seek an increase in the H-1B visa caps, and positions McCain to press for passage next year. See thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:s.01804:
HOUSE PROPOSES K-12 SCIENCE STANDARDS AND TESTING REQUIREMENTS - As part of the Student Results Act of 1999 (H.R. 2), passed by the House of Representatives in October, the House approved an amendment that would require states to develop standards and testing requirements for K-12 science education. Currently science curriculum and testing standards do not exist in at least 20 states, some of which teach little science. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President (which is not likely until Congress reconvenes in 2000), the requirements would take effect in 2005, to allow schools time to develop the required standards and testing criteria.
GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE - Looking back to the 1900s, a survey by Princeton Survey Research Associates asked the American public what they thought were America's greatest achievements and failures during the 20th century. It is interesting to note that the list of achievements is topped almost exclusively by engineering-related accomplishments Question: What would you say has been . . .
America's greatest achievement during the 20th century?
America's greatest failure?
Survey by Princeton Survey Research Associates for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, April - May, 1999. Note: Shown here are only those achievements and failures mentioned by more than 5% of those surveyed.
HAWAII RADAR SITE DESIGNATED AS IEEE MILESTONE - The Opana Radar Site in Hawaii has been designated an IEEE Electrical Engineering Milestone recognizing the first wartime use of radar by the US military on Dec. 7, 1941.
The following history is printed on the Storyboard at the plaque location:
SCR-270B mobile radar operating at Opana Site. Private Joe Lockhard and Private George Elliott were operators at 7:02 am on December 7, 1941. Elliott was practicing with the radar set when he detected the approaching aircraft. They reported their findings to the temporary Information Center at Fort Shafter. Since this report came in after the designated watch time (4-7 am), all but two of the I.C. staff had gone to breakfast. On duty was Lt. Kermit Tyler, a pilot with the 78th Pursuit Sqdn (stationed at Wheeler Field), and telephone operator, Private Joseph McDoaneld. Lt. Tyler had been on duty since 4 am and this was only his second time at the I.C. After reviewing Lockhard's report, Tyler reasoned that the radar blips were a flight of B-17s due in that morning. Tyler instructed the Opana radar operators to disregard the information and 'not to worry about it.'Elliott and Lockhard continued to plot the incoming Japanese aircraft until 7:40 am when the contact was lost in the background interference as the planes approached Oahu. Both men secured the Opana radar site shortly before 8 am and went to breakfast. It was only later that they realized that Pearl Harbor was under attack.
IEEE NEW VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SERVICE OFFERS FREE ACCESS UNTIL FEB 2000 - The IEEE has launched a new educational service that brings technical courses to the users desktops. IEEE Video-On-Demand, available from the IEEE Web site at ieee.mediaplatform.com, streams entire video tutorials directly to viewers when they want them. The IEEE is offering a free trial period for any of the courses in the catalog from 1 December 1999 through 31 January 2000. Segments of each video are available for preview before subscribing to the service. After registration, viewers will be able to watch the complete tutorials, with full motion video and audio, PowerPoint slides, presentation notes and an interactive table of contents that allows users to go directly to information or presentations of interest. Tutorial available include:
IEEE JOINS REFERENCE-LINKING INITIATIVE - Twelve leading scientific and scholarly publishers, including the IEEE, announced on 17 Nov. that they are collaborating on a market-driven, reference-linking initiative that will change the way scientists use the Internet to conduct online research. The new service is expected to launch during the first quarter of 2000.
This reference-linking service represents an unprecedented, cooperative effort among Academic Press, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Physics, Association for Computing Machinery, Blackwell Science, Elsevier Science, the IEEE, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Nature, Oxford University Press, Springer-Verlag, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Researchers will be able to move easily from a reference in a journal article to the content of a cited journal article, typically located on a different server and published by a different publisher. Each publisher will set its own access standards, determining what content is available to the researcher following a link (such as access to the abstract or to the full text of an article, by subscription, document delivery, or pay-per-view, etc.).
IEEE AND STEVENS INSTITUTE ONLINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COURSES - Sharpen your knowledge of the telecommunications industry-and earn graduate credit and a graduate certificate, too. Telecommunications Management, a 4-course online graduate certificate program, addresses the increasingly demanding requirement of the telecommunications industry for technical expertise combined with business skills. Contact atrembly@ieee.org for registration information Enrollment is limited. Classes start in mid-January.
We had many great Chapter and Section meetings, Metrocon'1999, the 1999 Professional Development Conference in Dallas, Jean Eason won the election for Region 5 Director Elect, Bob Krause was appointed IEEE-USA VP of Member Acitvities, and on.
By the time you read this article, either you aren't able to read this because the Y2K issue really was, or the Y2k issue really wasn't and you are reading this article without any problems. I am sure that there will be many "war stories" to be told for years to come after the dawn of Jan 1, 2000.
On another topic near and dear to some of us, as discussed in the Dec1999 Signals, we want to go to a total electronic distribution of Signals, preferably via the web. To accommodate those members who don't have full web access, there are a number of free Internet access providers available. There is actually a new company starting soon right here in the metroplex. I have talked with them and they are interested in having as many IEEE FtW members join as want to. They will be offering more than simple dial-up, email and web access, one feature of particular note is a calendaring function just for group use. So, stay tuned for more information. Our goal is to continue to distribute to all members and hopefully add more capability as well.
2000 is shaping up to be another good year for us too, with many Chapter meetings, student paper contests, and Metrocon2000. On behalf of the entire FtW Section ExCom, welcome to the year 2000!
- Jeff Carrell
Recognizing our Section members for their long-time commitment to the profession on the anniversary of their joining IEEE.
50 yrs
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35 yrs
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25 yrs
20 yrs
Jean Eason, Editor