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LEAD ERSHIP

Were you born to lead?


Tomorrows captains of industry are likely to need very different skdls to their predecessors.Young engineers who think theyve got what it takes to reach the top, read on...

By Dr Robert Hawley

s engineers go through their lives they are increasingly called upon to act in a management role. That requires a particular skill set. Some end up as leaders of technology-based companies or in other parts of the manufacturing or service industries or Government. That requires a different skill set. Its important to distinguish between management and leadership. A simple contrasting definition helps: Managers do things right, leaders do the right thing. In other words, a leader knows whats best to do, while a manager knows how best to do it. In spite of a recent survey indicating that 93 per cent of respondents believe leadership skills can be taught, I dont believe you can be trained to be a leader without some inherent ability. You are either born with the right qualities or you arent. In a way, its like sex appeal. We know it when we see it, but we can spend far too much trying to acquire it. Truly inspirational leadership comes from withinfrom tapping into who we really are and combining that with skills and knowledge. Those who make it to the top often have all or some of the same characteristics: they are highly motivated to succeed, have high energy levels and work out career moves in advance. They tend to be goal directed, politically active, content and confident, and capable of distinguishing the important from the unimportant. At a strategic level, the leader of any organisation must align the efforts of the workforce to achieve the company vision. The vision is the most fundamental statement of an organisationsvalues, mission and goals. It must indicate a clear understanding of where the company is today and define a road map for the future. More importantly, leaders have to get their people behind them - all employees have to share the vision. As Franklin D. Roosevelt put it: It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead-and find no one there! The leader should therefore create a culture

Truly inspirational leadership comes from within -from tapping into who we really are and combining that with skills and knowledge

and an organisation that enables people to achieve and to be in tune with the educational and development needs of their employees -and the surrounding competitive business environment. The level of performance of the worlds best is being raised constantly as a result of innovation in communications, technology and learning. Today, business is about competition, measuring, comparing and continuous improvement. Expectations are higher, customers demand value for money, quality and service, and employees have greater expectations for training and development opportunities. Successful leaders must recognise the worth of their people and motivate them to perform to their best ability by giving them a clear direction. And that is the key. A clear view of the objective to be reached and then a determination to get to that objective and not be put off or diverted by side issues. The ability to communicate the reason for the objective- and the route to get to it -to ones colleagues or employees or to the City and shareholders is also vital. So too is the understanding of needs of employees who want to take pride in what they produce. To admire the people they work with. To work for a company that has a meaningful vision that is appealing to the head and worthy of the heart. To work for a company whose mission is committed to something more than just financial gain. To be valued not just for their technical skills, but for the diversity of their experience. To learn, grow and fulfil their potential. To trust their leaders to create an environment that will help them to experience meaning in their lives. Engineers as leaders Some engineers make excellent managers and never want to be leaders. Some have a desire to be a leader early in their career. Some find, when they look inside themselves, that they dont have leadership potential, nor do they wish to find it.
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ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT JOURNAL DECEMBER 2001

LEADERSHIP
SOME GROUND RULES FOR ASPIRING LEADERS
L Lead-always from the front and never from behind. Dont hide behind a consensus structure-take and be seen to take responsibility for your actions.

E Be energetic and self confident. A Be aware of the progress of your team by understanding their needs. Help and motivate them.
D Make decisions. E Surround yourself with excellent people. Dont be concerned if theyre cleverer than you-they will push you upwards.
R Review, and if necessary correct, actions arising from your decisions.

S Keep things, particularly messages, as simple as possible.


H Define your objectives and how to get to them.

Inlorm-communicate your vision and plans clearly to those who need to know.

P Prioritise your tasks.

When it comes to engineering and technology sectors of industry, however, companies need engineers with leadership skills to run them, not accountants. The Chairman of Sony summed it up by comparing business with sport: Just as you would not have a mgby coach who never played the game, how can someone who does not understand the working of technology take the reins of a technology operation? Industry boasts many great leaders such as Brunel, Parsons, Stephenson and Armstrong. The impressive thing about all these past captains of industry is the magnitude of their engineering achievements in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In those days, employees expectations were low and management could afford to wield the whip. Hiring and firing were commonplace. The evolution of stronger unions, coupled with greater expectations of employees, resulted in the need for more sophisticated management. A management that could get results through people, without the use of threats. Throughout time business leaders have had to adapt their style to be successful. Consider the background -yesterdays markets were mostly national or regional. The comp.etition was mainly regional. Employees lived locally, hours of work were 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., sometimes six days a week. The style of leadership was dictatorial and the leader had to be singleminded to succeed. Todays leaders are able to communicate worldwide without paper, and can have meetings with key staff across the globe without leaving either their office or even their home. The principal assets of the company have become information, or to put it another way we are in the knowledge-based economy. In the 21st century, success comes from multi-disciplined teams. The leader doesnt need to understand the detail of each team members job, but must appreciate the role they play. The style of leadership is rather more that of a benign dictatorship. The world in which todays young engineers
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will have to operate is where we will see the massive changes brought about by the explosion of technology. Markets will be global, with companies operating from anywhere and competing for business worldwide against other global companies. Employees will be global. We will see the growth of virtual companies as well as virtual universities and centres of learning. Both the place of work and the hours of work will be flexible, many people will work from home or from transient offices. They will work in geographical locations to suit their family needs. Centres of excellence will ignore geography. Tomorrows leaders So what will the role of the leader of the future be? The leader will manage by consensus rather than by compromise, and use situational leadership to exploit the approach best suited to his or her needs. By that I mean that the most appropriate style will have to be selected to suit the situation. The many complex interlinked issues that the leaders of tomorrow will face will dictate and produce an adaptive leadership style that will enable them to be flexible in responding to changes in the business environment. Get good people around you and leadership is easy. Remember the saying: Its difficult to soar like an eagle if you are surrounded by turkeys. Then you need the ability to get on with the job, to spot and tackle potential problem areas before they arise, prioritise tasks, and set long-range and short-term objectives and monitor them. Other strengths are the ability to communicate, honesty and integrity, innovation and vision, the ability to inspire trust, the ability to motivate, a personal drive and sense of purpose, self confidence, and the ability to make decisions. Remember, its better to make a decision, and correct it if it is wrong, than to make no decision at all. An excellent definition of what it means to be a leader comes from the former Governor General of Australia, Field Marshal Lord Slim: There is a difference between leadership and management, he said. Leadership is of the spirit compounded of personality and vision, its practice is an art. Management is of the mind, a matter of accurate calculation, its practice is science. Managers are necessary, leaders are essential.
0IEE: 2001
Dr Robert Hawley CBE is Chairman of Taylor Woodrow, and a past President and Fellow of the IEE.

ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT JOURNAL

DECEMBER 200 1

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