OK, I can admit it. Whenever I hear the dreaded "L" word in a conversation about business it somehow gives me a sick feeling. The "L" word I am speaking of is leadership. There's so much hokey management advice and philosophy surrounding this topic, it is hard not to have a negative reaction.

That said, leadership is an important topic to engineers everywhere – whether you work in the public or private sector. You all want to get things done. Most of what you want to get done requires a complex team effort involving a lot of people. That certainly implies leadership is needed.

But there are problems leading in the typical business or government organization. "Unity of command" is one of the fundamental principles of organization structure. Each person should have one and only one boss. In the real world, rarely is that the case. This makes leadership all the more difficult.

My advice to current or aspiring leaders is as follows:

Set an example – Be a hard worker. Sell. Show you are a team player. Show you aren't a quitter. Show that you can make sacrifices when you have to for everyone else. Your example is the single most important thing you can do as a leader – all eyes are upon you.

Don't be a credit hog – Don't be someone who always grabs the glory and the spotlight. Do the opposite. Give the credit to the others. They are the ones you have to keep motivated to make things happen. You are motivated – you are already the leader.

Act like you understand that you only have one reputation – That means you can't do anything even slightly unethical, underhanded, illegal, or otherwise and keep that reputation. Once it is gone, it's gone for good, and without a solid reputation, a leader cannot lead!

Don't ask anyone to do what you won't do yourself – The leader is not too proud to do dirty work, do mundane work, go somewhere they don't want to go, work late, cut vacation short, work for a client who is hard to work for, work with someone who is hard to work with, comply with policies on timesheets and expense reports, and more.

Get into the details – Leaders have to understand how things work. If you are having problems getting invoices out in a timely manner, go sit for a week with the people in your firm who prepare the invoices. If you want to know the CAD technicians' problems with your layering standards, go work with them for a while and see for yourself.

Be tough when you need to and soft when you need to – Leaders do not shy away from their responsibilities and can make the tough calls when necessary to cut costs or get out of unprofitable businesses or confront non-performing managers. These things are essential. But that also doesn't mean that they forget to be human, show respect, treat everyone with decency, and be compassionate to others in need. A big part of leadership is demonstrating both toughness and compassion.

Don't have hidden agendas – Effective leaders are honest. They tell people what they are trying to do and don't have some other motives that they aren't sharing. They also don't manipulate people even if they had the power to do so because it isn't the right thing to do.

Be accessible and responsive – Leaders have to keep their doors open (most of the time, anyway), their cell phones on, and their e-mail inboxes cleared out so they can respond when someone needs their advice, decision, input, or clout to get something done.

There are other qualities, but these are the essential ones. So make sure you aren't turned off by the "L" word, but instead exemplify and embrace the best leadership characteristics that will help make you effective.

We hope you like our September 2011 issue of CE News! My e-mail address is mzweig@zweigwhite.com, and my cell phone is 508-380-0469 – we love hearing from you!

Mark C. Zweig,
mzweig@zweigwhite.com