Written by Holtby Turner
If anything is clear, in speaking to our network since the country voted to withdraw from the EU, it is that it’s too early to tell what the long-term impact will be on the UK construction sector. What is resoundingly evident is that to reduce economic uncertainty, spending on infrastructure needs to be maintained, in order to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of the Global Economy. To achieve this, we need world class leaders to represent the industry, not only to UK Government, but international investors.
There are many preconceptions regarding leadership – such as the figure of the charismatic, larger-than-life CEO with a solid corporate management skillset. However, as Harvard Business School found – a quarter of the world’s best-performing CEOs studied engineering, and are introverted in management and leadership style.
Yet engineers can be overlooked in succession planning, cited as too detailed orientated or lacking emotional intelligence. However with the right support and development opportunities, the skillset engineers possess translates to successful leadership:
Technical Skills
An engineering mindset teaches efficiency, speed and being solution-driven. As important is not being afraid of the detail, all of which are critical leadership skills. Engineers have an astute capacity to identify practical problems and seek out solutions!
Project Management
This expertise includes knowing how to manage a diverse team of professionals. Equally it requires the control and management of more and more complex data, as programmers and projects become more demanding. Establishing an acceptable level of governance without reducing the ability of teams to be agile, evaluating compliance, managing and challenging budgets and delivery.
Communication Skills
Whether with management or clients, an engineer’s ability to communicate ideas and issues without ambiguity is a pre-requisite for an abundance of reasons! Engineers are, by their nature, driven by fact. So they come straight to the point to drive timely and informed decision-making; arguably an asset to most boardrooms, in the UK or overseas.
Creativity
Developing solutions in the built environment requires a very high level of practical, entrepreneurial creativity. Engineers need to innovate across the board, be it reducing carbon emissions or fixing a wobbly Millennium Bridge.
Critical Thinking & Analytics
Faced with complex problems, engineers need to find efficient solutions, assessing pros and cons for all scenarios and solutions, and being able to select and roll with the best one. This also makes engineers comfortable with analytics, which in a world of big data is a critical business skill.
So the key is to find engineers with a how-to mindset that extends beyond technical skills. Where are they you might ask? We’ll more often than not they’re working right for you, they just need to be identified. This is easier said than done. But if the infrastructure sector is going to meet the demands of the 21st century, we need to promote those pioneering technical minds into leadership roles.
This means not only more engineers move to the boardroom, which ensures a solid leadership pipeline, but it also inspires the best outside talent to choose your organisation over your competitors. Which has wider industry benefits as well, ensuring the next generation view engineering as a career path with a route to the very top. A win-win situation for everyone.
