Jane Divinski and I walk occasionally and, recently, while on a hilltop in Rancho San Antonio, she asked if I would consider writing a piece for this blog. I was a bit perplexed as I am not an engineer and said as much. Jane's reply was something like this – “Your recruiting specialty is engineers. You know a lot of technical leaders and have to evaluate their strengths every day.” OK. I got it. Here goes....
Engineering leadership is a huge domain, one that expands and contracts appropriate to each situation. It includes technical knowledge, management competencies, and the softer behavioral leadership stuff which we can call leadership style. It's often the softer stuff that trips up professionals on their career journey. The candidate who does not make a personal connection, demonstrating an attractive leadership style during an interview will lose to the one who does. Finely tuned competencies in planning for the future, communicating graciously, behaving consistently, and inspiring others to their greatness are hallmarks of leadership. Leadership style is developed and comes from practice, learning, correcting and retuning the big and little things that matter in our behaviors.
Below, we'll take a brief look at just a few elements leadership style and ask a few provocative questions about how these elements could manifest. Some of these observations come from some recent conversations with industry leaders; others were inspired by a book I've read more than once: The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. They are real life heroes for me.
Communication skills. How well do you engage with people? Do you make eye contact? Are you approachable? Do you cut people off in mid sentence to get your point verbalized? Take notes so as to not lose an important point vs. interrupting. What is your style of asking questions? Do you come off as the grand inquisitor or as someone sincerely, generously asking a question. Then, how well do you listen to the answers? Would your team say you demonstrate the ability to listen and to ask questions that matter? Can you convey a highly technical concept clearly to decision makers in the non-technical community? How well do you communicate what is truly important in the moment?
Presence. This is how you show up - are you on time, appropriately dressed, attentive, ready for the meeting, with your research done in advance? You only get ONE chance to make a good first impression. Would you like your team to emulate your behavior? When interviewing for a new situation, ask what success will look like - what will it do for the organization? Learn who the stakeholders are - ask to interview with them so you can best understand what is needed and wanted. Learn what is missing in the organization that will make a difference. Then, present what you can do in alignment with that. Are you truly a good fit for the team? Is the team a good fit for you?
Charisma – You have an attracting style with a healthy dose of humility. People are inspired by your presence on the project. You get calls from people wanting to learn your opinion. You listen to what is asked and are responsive vs. bowling over the audience with all the great things you've done or would do. You remember to check your ego at the door. You ask for help. You know it is perfectly OK to say "I don't know" if that's really your answer to a question. How would you boss describe your ability to attract talent to your organization? Would you hire you?
Curiosity. You have a breadth of curiosity and knowledge about your company and your industry. You learned about its history, competitors, performance, management team, and its potential for growth – sometimes by consulting other leaders. This will truly help with your decision-making (see decisiveness, below). Knowing what matters will keep your work and your team moving forward. You consult with your team on how they would solve a problem. You know what your peer's specialties are and call on them for advice. Thinking about a really tough technical challenge you helped solve last year, who did you call on for help? Did you give them credit? Thank them? (see charisma and humility, above) Do you surround yourself with people who help you look at the bigger picture?
Competence and Vision. When articulating the future of your organization, you present a crisp forward-looking plan. It is actionable and includes a road map to success with measurable milestones. Your vision inspires people to bring their passion to work. They own the project with you. As an engineering leader, you are aware of the big picture, the world outside of the technical domain. Your plans acknowledge where the technology or science fits in the big scheme of things. Your style is to pursue a technology path for the good of the organization not because it’s a fun and really thorny problem to work. You acknowledge when you need help getting the work done and get it in a timely manner.
Decisiveness. You have just a few filters you use to make decisions quickly. Leaders listen, decide and act based on the current situation and knowledge. Leaders are hired not because they never make a mistake, but because they learn from mistakes and succeed in spite of them. Leaders have the power of their convictions and are not easily influenced by the issue du jour.
Integrity. Honesty is everything. Everything you do should be publishable on this blog or the front page of a newspaper. You give others' a good reputation to live up to. You are good for your word. You admit to making a mistake. It’s easy for you to say why you left your last position or are looking for a new situation – and – you have a strong bridge to your past.
There a whole lot more to write about here. I’ve barely scratched the surface. I'm wool gathering about a piece that speaks to the traits of the engineering leader as the hiring authority.... There are schools, books, and organizations devoted to the study of Engineering Leadership and its importance to our work universe. Read a book on leadership at least once a year. Our valley is an extraordinary tribute to the work and dedication of engineering leaders. We really do have rocket scientists working nearby. There are really smart people making very difficult decisions daily about the future of technology just down the road from you. Take the time to get to know a leader outside of you immediate milieu. Explore what engineering leadership means to them. Look at what it means to you. Write a blog piece about it.
____________________________
Gretchen Sand is Senior Partner and co-founder of Skyline Recruiting Corporation solving staffing challenges for Silicon Valley high-tech companies since 2001. Gretchen's focus is placement of senior individual contributors and executives in the engineering and product management domains. Prior to founding Skyline in September 2001, Gretchen served as Vice President, Business Development and COO for Lloyd-Ritter Consulting where she got her start as an engineering recruiter in 1996. Prior to 1996, Gretchen worked for Lockheed Corporation in many functions of the product development value chain: program planning and management, operations management, new business development, and systems engineering. More about Skyline Recruiting Corporation can be learned at: http://www.skylinerecruiting.com
Engineering leadership is a huge domain, one that expands and contracts appropriate to each situation. It includes technical knowledge, management competencies, and the softer behavioral leadership stuff which we can call leadership style. It's often the softer stuff that trips up professionals on their career journey. The candidate who does not make a personal connection, demonstrating an attractive leadership style during an interview will lose to the one who does. Finely tuned competencies in planning for the future, communicating graciously, behaving consistently, and inspiring others to their greatness are hallmarks of leadership. Leadership style is developed and comes from practice, learning, correcting and retuning the big and little things that matter in our behaviors.
Below, we'll take a brief look at just a few elements leadership style and ask a few provocative questions about how these elements could manifest. Some of these observations come from some recent conversations with industry leaders; others were inspired by a book I've read more than once: The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. They are real life heroes for me.
Communication skills. How well do you engage with people? Do you make eye contact? Are you approachable? Do you cut people off in mid sentence to get your point verbalized? Take notes so as to not lose an important point vs. interrupting. What is your style of asking questions? Do you come off as the grand inquisitor or as someone sincerely, generously asking a question. Then, how well do you listen to the answers? Would your team say you demonstrate the ability to listen and to ask questions that matter? Can you convey a highly technical concept clearly to decision makers in the non-technical community? How well do you communicate what is truly important in the moment?
Presence. This is how you show up - are you on time, appropriately dressed, attentive, ready for the meeting, with your research done in advance? You only get ONE chance to make a good first impression. Would you like your team to emulate your behavior? When interviewing for a new situation, ask what success will look like - what will it do for the organization? Learn who the stakeholders are - ask to interview with them so you can best understand what is needed and wanted. Learn what is missing in the organization that will make a difference. Then, present what you can do in alignment with that. Are you truly a good fit for the team? Is the team a good fit for you?
Charisma – You have an attracting style with a healthy dose of humility. People are inspired by your presence on the project. You get calls from people wanting to learn your opinion. You listen to what is asked and are responsive vs. bowling over the audience with all the great things you've done or would do. You remember to check your ego at the door. You ask for help. You know it is perfectly OK to say "I don't know" if that's really your answer to a question. How would you boss describe your ability to attract talent to your organization? Would you hire you?
Curiosity. You have a breadth of curiosity and knowledge about your company and your industry. You learned about its history, competitors, performance, management team, and its potential for growth – sometimes by consulting other leaders. This will truly help with your decision-making (see decisiveness, below). Knowing what matters will keep your work and your team moving forward. You consult with your team on how they would solve a problem. You know what your peer's specialties are and call on them for advice. Thinking about a really tough technical challenge you helped solve last year, who did you call on for help? Did you give them credit? Thank them? (see charisma and humility, above) Do you surround yourself with people who help you look at the bigger picture?
Competence and Vision. When articulating the future of your organization, you present a crisp forward-looking plan. It is actionable and includes a road map to success with measurable milestones. Your vision inspires people to bring their passion to work. They own the project with you. As an engineering leader, you are aware of the big picture, the world outside of the technical domain. Your plans acknowledge where the technology or science fits in the big scheme of things. Your style is to pursue a technology path for the good of the organization not because it’s a fun and really thorny problem to work. You acknowledge when you need help getting the work done and get it in a timely manner.
Decisiveness. You have just a few filters you use to make decisions quickly. Leaders listen, decide and act based on the current situation and knowledge. Leaders are hired not because they never make a mistake, but because they learn from mistakes and succeed in spite of them. Leaders have the power of their convictions and are not easily influenced by the issue du jour.
Integrity. Honesty is everything. Everything you do should be publishable on this blog or the front page of a newspaper. You give others' a good reputation to live up to. You are good for your word. You admit to making a mistake. It’s easy for you to say why you left your last position or are looking for a new situation – and – you have a strong bridge to your past.
There a whole lot more to write about here. I’ve barely scratched the surface. I'm wool gathering about a piece that speaks to the traits of the engineering leader as the hiring authority.... There are schools, books, and organizations devoted to the study of Engineering Leadership and its importance to our work universe. Read a book on leadership at least once a year. Our valley is an extraordinary tribute to the work and dedication of engineering leaders. We really do have rocket scientists working nearby. There are really smart people making very difficult decisions daily about the future of technology just down the road from you. Take the time to get to know a leader outside of you immediate milieu. Explore what engineering leadership means to them. Look at what it means to you. Write a blog piece about it.
____________________________
Gretchen Sand is Senior Partner and co-founder of Skyline Recruiting Corporation solving staffing challenges for Silicon Valley high-tech companies since 2001. Gretchen's focus is placement of senior individual contributors and executives in the engineering and product management domains. Prior to founding Skyline in September 2001, Gretchen served as Vice President, Business Development and COO for Lloyd-Ritter Consulting where she got her start as an engineering recruiter in 1996. Prior to 1996, Gretchen worked for Lockheed Corporation in many functions of the product development value chain: program planning and management, operations management, new business development, and systems engineering. More about Skyline Recruiting Corporation can be learned at: http://www.skylinerecruiting.com
No comments:
Post a Comment