From Engineer to Manager

InTech, Jul 2005 by Sands, Nick

While many technical people equate that transition to changing from Jedi warrior to Sith lord, there is great power in management. Really there is a great need for management. As with the technical disciplines, the demographic shift of the baby-boomers looms large. The impending loss of proven talent has made renewal the watchword of the day. While technical resources come qualified by degree or certification, there is no pre-qualification for managers except experience.

Management is a smaller portion of the workforce, but it's the part that tackles budget, including the Sarbanes-Oxley documentation, and balances the ever more challenging priorities. Some of the most important management skills are the toughest to learn; patience, listening, and appreciation of talent. Even more important are leadership skills like setting a vision and organizational discipline. The foundation starts with good communication and a respect, even caring, for all co-workers.

There are ways to strengthen leadership skills. Practicing leadership at home is a great start, like coaching or volunteering. In the workplace, there are many opportunities to lead teams and projects, often non-technical in nature. Leaders find a way to complete their regular work and take on the miscellaneous tasks needed to keep the organization moving. Many leaders are committed to developing themselves as well as others. ISA's Leadership Training program is an excellent example. At a recent presentation by Paul Gruhn, many experienced leaders were there taking notes as they found further ways to improve their skills.

And now for the disclaimer. One of the first things I learned being involved in ISA was there are differences between companies; that they are not all the same. One of the next things I learned was that while there are differences, they are outweighed by the similarities. So from that I can say that the above view is very similar to your company, very different, or somewhere in between.

About the Author

Nicholas Sands is a Wilmington section volunteer and Process Control Technology Manager at DuPont Chemical Solutions.