Chapter 9 - Engineers as

Managers/Leaders

Dr. C. M. Chang
Department of Industrial & Systems
Engineering
1
 Chapter Contents
• Introduction
• Differences in Work Done be Engineers and
Managers
• Career Paths of a Typical Engineer
• Factors Affecting the Promotion of Engineers
to Managers
• Factors Causing Engineers to Fail as Managers
• Leaders and Managers
• Emotional Intelligence
2
 Table of Contents (cont’d)
• Leadership Skills for the 21st Century
• Unique Contributions Expected of Engineering
Managers
• Career Strategy for the 21st Century
• Take Charge Formula
• Concluding Notes
• Appendices

3
 Engineering Leadership
• Only 26% of CEO’s in the top 1000
companies had their first degrees in
Engineering (more in foreign countries)
• Only 10% of university presidents are
engineers
• Few engineers are in Congress
• President Jimmy Carter was the only engineer,
but he did not get reelected
4
 Why So?
• Engineering mindset and attitude not
compatible with management work?
• Education preventing engineers from
becoming great leaders?
• Strengths in engineering have become
weaknesses in management?
• Differences in work done by engineers
versus that by managers?
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CHARACTERISTICS ENGINEERS MANAGERS

Focus Technical/scientific tasks People (talents, innovation, relationships);

resources (capital, knowledge, process
know-how); projects (tasks, procedure, policy)

Decision Making Adequate technical information Fuzzy information under uncertainty (people's
Basis with great certainty behavior, customer needs, market forecasts)

Involvement Perform individual tasks Direct work of others (planning, leading,

organizing, controlling)

Work Output Quantitative, measurable Qualitative, less measurable, except

financial results, when applicable

Effectiveness Rely on technical expertise Rely on interpersonal skills to get work done
and personal dedication through people (motivation, delegation)

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CHARACTERISTICS ENGINEERS MANAGERS

Dependency Autonomous Interdependent of others

Responsibility Pursue one task at a time Pursue multiple objectives concurrently

Creativity Technology centered People centered (conflict resolution, problem

solving, political alliance, networks building)

Bottom Line "How" (operational) "What" and "Why" (strategic)

Concern Will it work technically? Will it add value (market share, financial,
core technology, customer satisfaction)?

Adopted and revised from P. Morrison, "Making Managers of Engineers," Journal of Management in
Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 4 (1986)

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Career Path of Engineers

Exe cutive s

Mid-Le ve l Po sitio ns

Te chnical Co ntributo r

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 Technical Contributors
• Focus on the operational aspects of technology-
based work (design, analysis development,
testing, evaluation, feasibility study, application,
programming)
• Success Factors - (1) Do things right -
reliable/trustworthy, (2) Solid engineering
fundamentals, (3) Easy to work with, (4)
Motivated to learn, (5) Mature and professional
attitude

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 Technical Contributors (cont’d)
• First few promotions are usually automatic
• Some sample titles: engineer, assistant staff
engineer, staff engineer, senior engineer -
Chemical and Process industries
• Other sample titles: member of technical
staff (I, II, III) - Computer and Aerospace
industries

10
Mid-level Positions
• Dual Ladder System (1)
Technical (senior engineer,
consultant, associate, fellow)
(2A) Managerial
(section engineer, supervisor,
manager, director)
(2B) Project
Management (project
engineer, project manager,
manager, director)
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 Dual Ladder

Vice President

Director Director Fellow

Manager Manager Associate

Supervisor Project Manager Consultant

Section Engineer Project Engineer Senior Engineer

Staff Engineer

Engineer
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 Mid-level Positions
• Mid-level positions are equivalent in
ranking, mid-point salary and prestige
• Technical Ladder is capped at the Corporate
Fellow level
• Managerial ladder, including Project
Management positions, leads to Executive
level positions (vice president, CTO)

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 Mid-level Technical
• Larger responsibility for programs of high
technical contents but no managerial duty
• Add value by technical contributions,
innovations, and technology applications
• Fellows are typically well-renowned both
inside and outside of the company for
technical expertise demonstrated in patents,
publications and commercial success
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 Mid-level Project Management
• In A/E firms (Bechtel, Babcob Welcox, Stone
Webster) with emphasis on major capital projects,
project management career path is emphasized
• Success factors are (1) Multidisciplinary skills
and background, (2) Interpersonal skills and team
collaboration, (3) Project control, (4) Problem
solving and conflict resolution, (5) Risks
management

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 Mid-level Managerial
• Larger responsibility of managing people,
tasks, capabilities, functions and programs
• Devote increasingly less time on technology
work and more on managerial work
• Success Factors (1) Established technical
expertise, (2) Proficient in all management
functions, (3) Problem solving and conflict
resolution, (4) Strategic planning abilities
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 Remarks on Mid-level Positions
• Technical ladder positions are less quota-
limited than the corresponding positions in
managerial ladder
• Transfer from positions in technical to
managerial ladder is somewhat more easier
than the other way around

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 Executive Level Positions
• Positions such as vice president (VP) of
Engineering and chief technology officer
(CTO) demand leadership capabilities in
creating and implementing technological
strategies to capture new business
opportunities
• Teamwork with other high level executives is
a critical success factor
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 Work Contents
• Change of work contents with engineering career
progression

First-line Mid Executive

Supervisor Manager
Technical 70% 25% 5%
Managerial 25% 50% 25%
Visionary 5% 25% 70%
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Goals for All Levels: Add Value

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National Science Foundation Study
Engineers/Scientists in Management

49%
48%
Percentage (%)

47%
46%
45%
44%
43%
42%
41%
Younger than 35 to 44 45- 54 Older than 55
35
Age

Source: Surgent, John (2014), “The US Science and Engineering Workforce: recent,
Current & Projected Employment, Wage and Unemployment,” CreateSpace 21
 To Manage or Not to Manage -
Pros
• Financial rewards
• Authority, responsibility and leadership
• Power, influence, social status and prestige
• Career advancement, achievement and
recognition
• Random circumstance

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 To Manage or Not to Manage -
Cons
• Long hours and hectic life (overtime, travel)
• High stress level (pressure of deadlines,
constraints of resources, political infighting,
lack of peer cooperation, trivial personnel
conflicts)
• Poor family life (not seeing family much)
• Health hazards (travel, unhealthy foods,
physical stress)
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 Success and Happiness
• Success in a management career contributes
positively to happiness, but requiring certain
sacrifices causing unhappiness - one must select a
path to optimize happiness
• Happiness factors: (1) Wealth, (2) Social
standing, (3) Professional achievements, (4)
Peer recognition, (5) Quality of family life, (6)
Health, (7) Absent of excess stress and anxiety,
(8) Power, and (9) Others

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 How to Get Promoted
• Competence in current assignments -
master current duties and responsibilities,
gain respect of co-workers and get
favorable recommendation from the boss
• Readiness and desire to become manager -
handle larger and more challenging
assignments (budget, people, impact)
• Good match with organizational needs

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 Managerial Competency
Managerial Competency

Knowledge Skills Aptitude

Political
Strong Will Strong Need Strong Capacity
to Manage for Power for Empathy
Handling Power
& Enterprise Politics
Technical

Conflict Resolution Managerial

Administrative Leadership Motivation Communications Coaching & Appraising

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 Leaders and Managers
• Managers – set goals, plan actions, secure
resources, set up structures, exercise control and
getting results (to keep organization functioning
properly and create orderly results)
• Leaders – set vision and direction, create
strategies to achieve vision, conceive actions steps
to accomplish goals, align people and form
coalition, motivate and inspire people to move
forward (to promote future-oriented changes)
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Characteristics Managers Leaders

Focus Do things the right ways Do the right things

Administration, problem solving Direction setting

Reconcile differences Creativity and innovation

Seek compromises
Maintain balance of Power

Emphasis Rationality and control Innovative Approach

Accept and maintain status quo Challenge status quo

Putting out fires Blazing new trails

Targets Goals, resources, Ideas

Structures, people

Orientation Tasks, Affairs Risk taking

Persistence Imagination
Short-term view Long-term perspective 28
Success Factors Tough-mindedness Perceptual capability
Hard work
Tolerance

Goodwill
Analytical capability

Points of Inquiry How and when What and why

Preference Order, harmony Chaos, lack of structure

Aspiration Classic good soldiers Own person

Favor Routine Unstructured

Follow established procedure

Approach with People Using established rules Intuitive and empathetic

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Personality Team-player Individualist

Relevance Necessary Essential

Thrust Blend in Stand out

Bring about compromise Lead Changes

Achieve win-win

Mentality "If it isn't broke, don't fix it" "When it isn't broke, this maybe

the only time you can fix it."

Adapted from Abraham Zaleznik, "Managers and Leaders: Are they Different?" Harvard Business
Review (March-April 1992), and Warren

Bennis, "21st Century Leadership," Executive Excellence, Provo (May 1991).

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 Leadership Talents
• Leadership talents are defined as natural
predisposition or recurring patterns of
thoughts, feelings and behaviors that can be
applied productively
• Gallup Organization identified leadership
traits through interviewing of 40,000 top-tier
mangers over 30-year period
• Two other sources on leadership profiles
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 Example Leadership Profile
• Ability to Provide • Drive to Execute - Related
Direction: to Motivation: (1) Ego drive
• (1) Vision - Able to - Define oneself as
create and project significant, (2) Competition
beneficial images, - Has the desire to win,
(2) Concept - Able to (3) Achiever - Is energetic,
explain most events well, (4) Courage - Welcomes
(3) Focus - Is goal challenges, (5) Activator -
oriented Is Proactive

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 Example Leadership Profile
• Capacity to Develop Relationship with Others:
(1) Relater - Can
build trust and be caring (2) Developer - desires
to help people grow (3) Multi-relater -Has a
wide circle of relationship
(4) Simulator - Can create good feelings
in others
(5) Team - Can get people to help each other

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 Example Leadership Profile
• Management System - Relates to management
abilities: (1)
Performance Orientation - Is results oriented, (2)
Discipline - Needs to structure time and work environment,
(3) Responsibility and Ethics - Can take psychological
ownership of own behavior, (4) Arranger -
Can coordinate people the their activities, (5)
Operational - Can administer systems that help people be
more effective, (6) Strategic Thinking - Is able to do what-
if thinking and crate paths to future goals
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 Top Executive Profile
• Ability to work with
people
• Social poise -- self-
assurance - confidence
• Considerate of others
• Tactful - diplomatic
• Self-control
• Ability to analyze facts, to
understand and solve
problems
• Make decision
• Maintain high standards
• Tolerant - patient
• Honest and objective
• Organize time and priorities
• Delegate
• Create enthusiasm
• Persuasive
• High concern for communication
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 Characteristics of Successful
Leaders
• A strong drive for responsibility
and task completion.
• Vigor and persistence in pursuit
of goals.
• Originality in problem-solving.
• Drive to exercise initiative in
social situations.
• Willingness to accept
consequence of decision and
action.
• Self-confidence and sense of
personal identity.
• Readiness to absorb
interpersonal stress.
• Willingness to tolerate
frustration and delay.
• Ability to influence other
person's behavior.
• Capacity to structure social
interaction systems to the
purpose at hand.
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 Emotional Intelligence
• All leaders have a high degree of
emotional intelligence
(1) Self-awareness
(2) Self-regulation
(3) Motivation
(4) Empathy
(5) Social Skills
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 Emotional Intelligence
Component Definition Hallmarks

Self-awareness Ability to recognize and understand Self-confidence

own moods, emotion, and drives, Realistic self-assessment
well as their effects on others Self-depreciating sense of humor

Self-Regulation Ability to control or redirect own Trustworthiness and integrity

disruptive impulse and moods Comfort with ambiguity
Propensity to suspend judgment - to Openness to change
think before acting

Motivation A passion to wok for reasons that go Strong drive to achieve

beyond money or status Optimism, even in the face of failure
Propensity to pursue goals with Organizational commitment
energy and persistence
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 Emotional Intelligence
Empathy Ability to understand the emotional Expertise in building and retaining talent

makeup of other people Cross-cultural sensitivity

Skill in treating people according to Service to clients and customers
their emotional reactions

Social Skill Proficiency in managing relationships Effectiveness in leading change

and building networks Persuasiveness
Ability to find common ground and Expertise in building and guiding teams

build rapport

Source: Daniel Goleman, "What Makes a Leader?" Harvard Business Review (Nov.-Dec. 1998).

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 Unique Contributions Expected of
Engineering Managers/Leaders
• Changes in technologies, Internet-based
software tools, globalization - (1) Gatekeepers
- Screen and admit, (2) Technological
Intuition - Apply new technologies to create
business benefits (e.g., tech startups), (3)
Technological Innovation - Reduce time and
cost of product development (set priority, ask
insightful questions, apply new technologies)
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 Product Development
• Out of 58 initial product ideas, only 12 survive the
business analysis screening for compatibility with
the company’s mission and long term objectives.
This step uses up 8% of the total development time.
• Only 7 of the 12 remain after an evaluation of
potential. This step uses up 9% of the total
development time.
(Reference: A. J. Pearce and R. B. Robinson, Jr., “Strategic Management:
Formulation, Implementation and Control,” p. 233, Richard D. Irwin (1994)

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Product Development (Cont’d)
• Three of the 7 survived after development work is
completed. This step uses up 41% of the total
development time
• Only two remain after the pilot/field testing of
commercialization step, which uses up 19% of the
total development time
• Only one has eventually become a commercially
successful product. This step uses up 23% of the
total development time

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 Product Development

Product Development Success

80
Percent of Time

60
Products/

40
20
0
0% 8% 17% 58% 77% 100%
Percent of Time

Percent of Time Number of Product Ideas

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 What Causes Engineering
Mangers s to Fail?
Po lit ics
N arro w U nce rtainty
Inte re st

Te nse
Kno wle dge Risks
Pe rso nality

Manage rial
Te chno lo gy
Skills So cial
Skills
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 Failure Factors for Engineering
Managers
• Lack of political savvy
• Uncomfortable with ambiguous situation
• Tense personality
• Lack of risk-taking willingness
• Tendency to clinch on technology
• Lack of human relations skills
• Deficiency in management skills and perception
• Not cognitive of manager’s roles and responsibility
• Narrow interest and preparation
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 (A) Lack of Political Savvy
• Hate company politics
• Not building personal network - making
friends at the right places and form alliances
• Uneasy to fit into organizational culture -
strong beliefs, unique value, rigid principles,
and inflexible minds
• Engineering mindset - rational, efficient,
introspective (can be a disadvantage at top)
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 (B) Uncomfortable with
Ambiguous situation
• Not comfortable with approximate/incomplete
answers - (1) Not used to the idea of
introducing additional assumptions and make
problems solvable (mental rigidity), (2) Hate
problems with many inaccurate/unknown
factors, (3) Dislike planning with uncertainty
• Avoid using intuitive knowledge, in favor of
cognitive knowledge based on facts and data
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 (C) Tense Personality
• Mothers never taught them to smile
• Unable to say “no”
• Unable to ask for help (personal ego and
pride get in the way)
• Afraid to be wrong
• Tendency to take mistakes personal

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 (D) Lack of Risk-Taking
Willingness
• Conservative in nature, with low tolerance
to risks, not comfortable of being “Often
wrong, never in doubt”

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 (E) Tendency to Clinch on
Technology
• Leaning on technology as a safety net,
being fearful of losing own strong base
• Regarding technology as the only thing
respectful, valuable, intellectually pure and
worth doing, unknowingly disregard the
value being added by other non-tech
functions and activities - ignorance and
arrogance
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 (F) Lack of Human Relation
Skills
• Limited flexibility and sociability
• Lack of broad-based knowledge and
understanding of non-technical issues
• Being argumentative and righteous some of
the time
• Low level of tolerance and long memory for
unpleasant minor encounters
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 (G) Deficiency in Management
Skills and Perception
• Not able to work through people and help
others to succeed (fearful of others being
potentially better than themselves one day)
• Tendency to apply self-imposed ultra-high
standards in appraising employees
• Not able to tolerate poor performance of
others

52
 (H) Not Cognitive of Manager’s
Roles and Responsibility
• Not aware of manager’s duty of adding
value by applying resources effectively
• No understanding of time and effort
requirements of solving people problems
• Lack of background knowledge in finance,
marketing, accounting, economics, best
practices and success factors in industry

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 (I) Narrow Interests and
Preparation
• Narrow technical viewpoints, lack of broader
vision and business perspectives beyond
technologies
• Not prepared for leadership roles in dealing
with corporate affairs and issues of
regional/national scope
• Not learning continuously (new technologies,
business models and best practices)
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 Most Common Reasons for
Career Failures for Engineers
(A) Po o r Inte rprso nal Skills

(B) W ro ng Fit

(C) N o t Able to Take Risks

(D ) Bad Luck

(E) Se lf-de structive Be havio r

(F) Lack o f Fo cus

(G) W o rk Place Biase s

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 (A) Poor Interpersonal Skills
• This is the single biggest reason for career failures.
Every one needs to be
(1) Showing respect and sensitivity in dealing with
others,
(2) Minimizing conflicts and disagreements,
(3) Giving and taking criticisms well,
(4) Striving to build team support,
(5) Becoming emotionally stable, and
(6) Behaving professionally
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 (B) Wrong Fit
• Not fitting to the cultural norms, core values,
priority, profit motives, social/
environmental preferences, and others of the
workplace
• Hard to adapt one’s own abilities, styles,
personality and chemistry to those of co-
workers
• Solution is to move on quickly
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 (C) Not Able to Take Risks
• Staying in a position far too long for fear of
losing control of own comfortable life
• Not willing to venture out (e.g., taking on a
management position, relocation for a
promotion, new job, different industry, etc.)

58
 (D) Bad Luck
• Caught unexpectedly in an organizational
restructuring situation (mergers and acquisition,
downsizing, change of market conditions,
economic downturn, out-souring strategies,
formation of supply chain, etc.)
• Bad luck is not always avoidable
• Be ready for it by keeping oneself marketable:
Value creation attitude, skills, and records
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 (E) Self-destructive Behavior
• Examples include: work in secret,
resistance to change, being excessively
aggressive, shown non-cooperative attitude,
picking fights with people, becoming overly
argumentative, being readily excitable
about trivialities, and showing a lack of
perspectives in things
• Must check own behavior often and modify
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 (F) Lack of Focus
• Try to be jack of all trades, but not good in
any thing of value
• Having no expertise to be known for is
dangerous for one’s career (examples: work
well with different people - getting things
done effectively through teams; problem-
solving – applying FMEA or root cause
analysis techniques to complex problems)
61
 (G) Workplace Biases
• Ideally, all workplaces should be free of any
biases with respect to gender, age, color,
national origin, religious beliefs and others
• In reality, some workplaces are indeed better
and more progressive than others in this respect
• Take proactive steps to avoid getting hurt by
such possibilities

62
 Question # 9.12
• Everyone works for a boss in industry. The boss
factor is extremely important, as it directly
affects a person’s career progression. On the
other hand, every one has specific values, basic
beliefs and certain fundamental principles, which
must be honored and upheld all the time and
under any circumstances. Are there guidelines on
how to effectively manage own boss?

63
Question # 9.9
• Some engineers and
managers are known
to have more
difficulties in
interpersonal relations
than other. How can
they improve their
interpersonal skills?

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What Takes to be Successful in
Corporate America
Pe rsonality

Pe rform ance
Com m unications
Skills

Succe ss
Factors
Hum an
Re lations

De cision
Making

65
 Success Factors
• (A) Performance - Make sure that each and
everyone of assignment is done well -
“You are only as good as your last
performance.”
• (B) Personality - How one acts and behaves
is important. One should project a mature,
positive, reasonable and flexible personality

66
 Success Factors (cont’d)
• (C) Communications Skills - Ability to
communicate is important for promotability,
particularly writing concerning readability,
correctness, appropriateness and thought
• (D) Human Relations Skills - Interact with
people to create and maintain acceptable
working relationships, avoid being labeled
“Not working well with people”
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 Success Factors (cont’d)
• (E) Make Tough Decisions - Take prudent
risks and make the tough plays
• (F) Work Experience - Build up own work
portfolio with diversified experience and
high impact assignments
• (G) Self Control - Stay cool and be able to
withstand pressure and stress, having high
tolerance to frustration
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 Success Factors (cont’d)
• (H) Technical Skills/Ability - Capabilities
need to be kept marketable
• (I) Health and Energy Level - Take care of
own health and maintain physical vitality
• (J) Personal Appearance - To fit into the
corporate image by following the boss’s
example

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What Can Engineering Managers
Do Best?
• Apply special technologies in product design
• Adopt web-based technologies to e-transform
the enterprise
• Select other tools to realize benefits in
operational speed, cost and efficiency
• Develop network partners to advance supply
chains

70
What Can Engineering Managers
Do Best? (cont’d)
• Innovate ways to customize products and
serve customers better, cheaper and faster
• Seek and adopt best practices to manage
engineering enterprises
• Employ new technologies and innovations
to add value to all stakeholders

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 Career Strategy for the 21st
Century
• Think, speak, act and walk like an
entrepreneur - entrepreneurial mindset
• Embrace change as an opportunity for growth,
“Eager to stay, yet ready to leave”
• Be visionaries and detail-oriented
• Know own strengths and weaknesses, be
competitive, and set high standards for self
• Build alliances and stay connected
72
 Career Strategy for the 21st
Century(cont’d)
• Avoid specialization in favor of adaptability,
cross-functionality, people skills, and a solid
customer focus, learn fast to do new things or
partner with someone who knows
• Stay professionally active and keep skills
marketable
• Maintain work/life balance - “Earn a living,
make a life”
• (Source: James F. Kacena, “New Leadership Directions,” The Journal of Business Strategy, March/April 2002)

73
 Another Career Strategy for 21st
Century
• Balance own priorities to have a full and
meaningful life
• Develop broad business background, stress
integrity and persistence
• Learn leadership by observing and doing
• Understand company and industry
• Make an impact - make the world just a bit better
because of your efforts
• (Source: Valentin Fernandez, “Career Strategies for the 21st Century,” Executive Speeches, June-July 1999)

74
 Take Charge
Speech by Mary Beth Roach, 17th Turbomachinery Symposium at
Dallas, TX (November 9, 1988)

• T- Time to reflect on one’s strengths and

weaknesses (and do something about the
weaknesses)
• A - Attitude (to foster and modify)
• K - Knowledge (to remain marketable)
• E - Empathy and considerate (to care for
other’s feeling)
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 Take Charge (cont’d)
• C - Communications (to improve and perfect)
• H - Health and Humor (to diligently maintain)
• A - Appearance (to dress for success)
• R - Respect (self and others)
• G - Goals (to clearly set for self and family)
• E - Empower the possibilities (to delegate,
assist, entrust and praise others, be generous)
76
 Summary and Conclusions
• “Rules of thumb” from experience are
worth knowing
• Constantly reading to reinforce one’s
conviction in the values of noted leadership
profiles
• Practicing them until the preferred behavior
becomes ones’ second nature

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 Question # 9.3
• Hoffman, author of “Prescription for Transitioning Engineers Into
Managers,” Engineering Management Journal (September 1989),
believes that a management education program should have three
elements:
• (1) Behavioral – People skills (motivation, team building,
communications and delegation).
• (2) Cognitive (production, marketing, finance, control).
• (3) Environmental (markets, competition, customers, political, social
and economical environment in which the organization operates)
The first two elements appear to be self-
evident. Explain why the third element, the environmental, is
important?

78
79
 The Engineer of 2020
• National Academy of Engineering,
Washington D.C., <nas.edu>, Published a
Phase 1 Report: “The Engineer of 2020”
• Eleven “Attributes of Engineers of 2020”:
(1) Strong Analytical skills, (2) Practical
Ingenuity, (3) Creativity, (4) Communication,
(5) Business & Management, (6) Leadership,

80
 The Engineer of 2020
(7) High ethical standards, (8)
Professionalism, (9) Dynamism,
(10) Agility, resilience, and flexibility,
(11) Life-long learning

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 The Engineer of 2020
• May be reground into 4 major categories:
(1) Leadership (high ethical standards,
professionalism, communication)
(2) Technical capabilities (strong analytical skills,
practical ingenuity, creativity)
(3) Business and Management
(4) Drive to excel (dynamism, agility, flexibility,
life-long learning)
• Indeed, these are the same attributes emphasized
here
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