In this episode, I discuss digital transformation projects with speaker, author, and former football player Tanvir Bhangoo, and why these projects are much less reliant on technology than you might expect.  

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode49Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

In this age of the Great Resignation, engineering firms everywhere are asking themselves what they need to do to attract and retain the best talent. Maybe you’re an engineering manager asking yourself the same question. Should you give people more money? Better flexibility? Better benefits? As you’ll hear, my guest today believes that the single most important thing you can do is provide a clear path for career growth and to actively support that growth, and he’s got the data to prove it. Anthony Fasano is the President and CEO of the Engineering Management Institute, an organization dedicated to helping engineers develop managerial skills such as communication skills, public speaking, networking, productivity and leadership. Anthony is a professional engineer and a certified professional coach. He holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Lafayette College and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Columbia University. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode48

With the world becoming increasingly interconnected and colocation becoming less and less critical to business operations, engineering organizations everywhere are transcending national boundaries. While organizations absolutely benefit from finding talent globally and integrating a diversity of thought and background into their ranks, managing international teams is incredibly difficult. Today’s guest, Pamela Kellert, has made a career out of managing large, global technical teams in a number of industries. In today’s interview, she shares her insights into how to better manage international teams. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode47

Dolores Hirschmann believes that clarity of message is critical to effective leadership. A leader’s team can’t buy in to a vision without first understanding it. In today’s episode, Dolores helps engineering leaders understand the importance of clarity of message, how to tell if your messaging is clear, and provides practical steps on how to improve your communications.

I think we’ve all felt at one time or another that we were living inside a Dilbert cartoon - as though the company we worked for didn’t care much about us or the world around us so long as growth targets were hit. And if you’ve had that experience, you know it can make for a pretty terrible work environment. My guest today wants to make organizations like that a thing of the past. Ralf Specht is just about to release his new book, Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture and Success with the Soul System, and in the book, he spells out how companies can regain their soul, and makes a strong case for soul being good not only for staff, but for performance as well. Mr. Specht has been called “a visionary business leader” by FastCompany Pressm, and was a founding partner of the startup Spark44, a global marketing communications powerhouse. He consulted for more than 20 years with global companies and brands such as Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, General Motors, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Puma and PWC with McCann Erickson.

Duncan Oyevaar believes in the power of business engineering. He has seen that organizations can dramatically improve themselves by equipping their engineers with excellent business skills, and he’s got the data to prove it. Today, we talk about why engineers need to understand a business’ financials, value stream mapping, continuous improvement, and the importance of listening to your staff. 

 

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode44

Subscribe to the free Engineering Leadership Weekly newsletter to learn valuable engineering leadership tools and techniques, get access to special events, discounts, and many other members-only offers. Join a community of thousands of engineering leaders from world-class organizations like NASA, Airbus, BAE Systems, Texas Instruments, John Deere, and the US Navy by subscribing today.

In this special edition, I tease the next episodes of the show and make a major announcement about the future of the Engineering & Leadership project.

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode43

Subscribe to the free Engineering Leadership Weekly newsletter to learn valuable engineering leadership tools and techniques, get access to special events, discounts, and many other members-only offers. Join a community of thousands of engineering leaders from world-class organizations like NASA, Airbus, BAE Systems, Texas Instruments, John Deere, and the US Navy by subscribing today.

• Can you tell us a bit about your background in engineering and leadership?
• What prompted you to make the move to coaching?
• What is coaching? How does it differ from consulting or therapy?
• Can you tell me a story about a time when you left space for your team  to make its own decisions rather than step in for them?
• You’ve written that Values drive behaviour, behaviours drive results. Can you expand on that?
• What concrete things can leaders do to elicit their own values? How do we avoid the trap of things we “should” or “shouldn’t” value?

One of the hallmarks of a great leader is the ability to draw people together in the name of something greater than themselves. They establish bold missions for their teams and paint a vivid picture of what a better future could look like if they were to succeed.

For Vivian Shen, CEO and co-founder of Juni Learning, that mission is to provide kids with world-class computer science, math and english eduction no matter where they live. That mission has carried Juni to incredible heights in the past few years, leading to remarkable growth and substantial investments from well-known investors.

In today's episode, Vivian and I discuss the importance of mission in leading a team, why she decided to move on from her "dream job" at McKinsey, how she's successfully building a remote technical team, and what the future holds for Juni.

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode27

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage

https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

Many of us think of our lives in  as though they move between discrete phases. First we get educated, then we work, then we enjoy life in retirement. My guest in today's show turns that notion on its head by combining work, education, and a zest for life all at the same time.

Dr. Lucas Marino is a principal life cycle engineer for the COLUMBIA submarine program,  engineering manager, educator,  small business owner, and family man. In today's episode, we discuss the importance of learning and teaching for practicing engineers, pursuing passions, and keeping it all in balance.

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode26

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage

https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

We have all heard that necessity is the mother of invention. If there's any good that has come from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that it has forced many of us to re-evaluate our lives, take stock of where things stand, and ask some tough questions: Are we living the lives we should be? Are we prioritizing what we value most? If this world we live in really is this fragile, are we taking the opportunity we have to make a difference? It's forced the reinvention of ourselves.

For my guest today, it wasn't a pandemic that drove a reawakening, but the sudden end of his marriage that forced a major reset in his life. Michael Tranmer is a professional engineer, author, and TedX speaker who has chronicled his journey from rock bottom to true happiness in his book Satori Ananda: Awaken to Happiness. We discuss his story, self-discovery, and how to drive change in your own life.

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode25

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage

https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

We all go to school expecting to learn the skills we need to succeed in the real world. As engineers, we probably felt  confident that  would end our degrees equipped with everything we needed to build strong careers and climb the ranks. Armed with knowledge of AutoCAD and second-order differential equations, there would be nothing we couldn't handle.

For anyone who's been in the workforce for any length of time knows, however, is just how far that is from the truth. That's why author, engineer, CTO and veteran MIT instructor Mark Herschberg wrote The Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success that No One Taught You. After teaching in MIT's Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program for nearly 20 years, combined with senior leadership experience in startups and fortune 500s, Mark learned exactly what skills engineers needed to thrive and how to teach them.

In today's episode, I interview Mark to learn more about:

• The essential skills he believes you need to succeed as an engineering leader
• Why universities don't do a better job of teaching skills beyond the technical necessities
• What makes management so hard - How to start leading others on the first day of your career

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode24

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage

https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

In today's episode, I speak with Andrew Hinkelman, leadership coach and former CTO of Parametric, a fintech startup recently acquired by Morgan Stanley, about leadership and management in the technical world, and how to set yourself up for success as a leader in tech.

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode23