Leadership vs. Management in Engineering
Summary
TLDRIn this discussion, Kate Harris, CEO of Stanley Consultants, explores the key differences between management and leadership in engineering. She explains that management focuses on personal skills and facilitating tasks, while leadership emphasizes team dynamics, vision, and empowering others. Leaders talk about 'we' rather than 'I,' prioritizing team achievements over personal contributions. Harris highlights that leadership requires humility, authenticity, and continuous learning. She encourages engineers to view leadership as an evolving craft, necessary for tackling greater responsibilities as they advance in their careers.
Takeaways
- đ The difference between management and leadership is often misunderstood but essential in professional growth.
- đ ïž Managers focus on their personal skills and abilities to create outcomes, often relying on technical expertise or direct oversight.
- đ€ Leaders, in contrast, emphasize the collective power of the team, focusing on collaboration and the contributions of others.
- đ„ Leadership is characterized by a shift from 'I' to 'we,' where leaders prioritize the team's success over individual accomplishments.
- đ± Leadership involves setting direction, facilitating discussions, and making difficult decisions, often balancing multiple trade-offs.
- đĄ Authentic leadership requires humility, vulnerability, and a focus on serving others, rather than being self-centered.
- đ Leadership development is a continuous process that requires ongoing learning and refinement of skills.
- đ Becoming a leader involves active and intentional effort, not just technical progression or acquiring more credentials.
- đ Leaders must adapt and grow to meet new challenges as their roles expand, which often requires improving emotional intelligence (EQ) and decision-making skills.
- đ Organizations should evaluate leaders not just on past technical success, but on their ability to lead teams and drive progress in the future.
Q & A
What is the key distinction between management and leadership according to Kate Harris?
-Kate Harris explains that the key distinction is that managers focus on their personal skills and how they facilitate tasks, while leaders emphasize the power of the team and the contributions of others to achieve outcomes.
How does Kate Harris define the role of a manager?
-Kate defines a manager as someone who uses their skills to create outcomes, typically relying on their own expertise or direction, and eventually forming teams to handle tasks as they progress in their career.
What, according to Kate Harris, defines a leader's approach?
-A leader talks about the collective efforts of the team, facilitating discussions, making decisions, and focusing on engagement and communication rather than their own abilities.
What does Kate Harris mean by the 'I to we' transition in leadership?
-The 'I to we' transition refers to a shift from focusing on oneâs own skills and contributions (management) to focusing on the contributions of the entire team (leadership). Leaders talk about 'we' and the collective success, rather than 'I' and personal achievements.
How does Kate Harris differentiate between good leaders and those who are more self-centered?
-Good leaders, according to Kate, are humble, authentic, and focused on the teamâs success, whereas self-centered leaders may be more egocentric or focused on their own achievements.
What attributes does Kate Harris believe the best leaders possess?
-Kate believes the best leaders are humble, vulnerable, authentic, and strong decision-makers who are not afraid to get out in front of people, but also focus on team collaboration and outcomes rather than personal credit.
How does Kate Harris suggest engineers approach leadership development?
-Kate suggests that engineers should treat leadership development as an ongoing process, similar to technical skill development, by going back to school, reading, and continuously learning to become better leaders.
Why does Kate Harris emphasize the need for leaders to develop both EQ and IQ?
-Kate emphasizes the need for both EQ (Emotional Intelligence) and IQ because leadership requires understanding and managing people (EQ) as well as making informed, smart decisions (IQ) to serve others effectively.
How does Kate Harris challenge traditional views on technical roles and leadership?
-Kate challenges the idea that technical expertise alone is sufficient for leadership roles. She argues that being promoted to higher roles based on past technical performance can be misleading, and true leadership requires focusing on developing people and broader organizational responsibilities.
What advice does Kate Harris give to individuals transitioning from management to leadership roles?
-Kate advises that individuals transitioning from management to leadership roles should focus on shifting their mindset from personal skillset and control to team empowerment, collaboration, and supporting the collective success of the organization.
Outlines
đ€ Understanding the Difference Between Management and Leadership
The host opens the discussion by addressing a common question from engineering professionals about the difference between management and leadership. Kate Harris, CEO and President of Stanley Consultants, shares her perspective based on decades of experience. She believes that management focuses on personal skills and direct outcomes, while leadership is about facilitating the success of a team. Managers tend to talk about 'I' and their own contributions, whereas leaders focus on 'we,' emphasizing team success, collaboration, and decision-making for the collective good.
đŻ Leadership as an Art and Lifelong Learning Process
Kate discusses leadership as a craft that requires continuous development. She emphasizes that even though individuals often seek technical qualifications like licenses and credentials, leadership is a skill that also needs constant improvement. Leadership roles come with increasing responsibilities, requiring a combination of emotional intelligence (EQ) and intellectual ability (IQ). She encourages leaders to invest in their development by reading, attending courses, and being intentional about refining their leadership skills, regardless of their position.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄManagement
đĄLeadership
đĄTeamwork
đĄSkills
đĄDecision-making
đĄHumility
đĄProgression
đĄResponsibility
đĄAuthenticity
đĄCommunication
Highlights
Management focuses on personal skills and creating outcomes, while leadership is about facilitating teams and empowering others.
Managers talk about their own skills and contributions, while leaders talk about the contributions and power of the team.
A key difference between leadership and management is the shift from focusing on 'I' to focusing on 'we'.
Leaders make tough decisions, set direction and pace, and focus on teamwork, communication, and engagement.
Authenticity, humility, and vulnerability are key traits of effective leaders.
Leaders are not egocentric or self-serving; instead, they focus on empowering others and achieving collective goals.
Leadership is a craft that requires constant learning, development, and improvement over time.
Effective leadership is both an art and a skill that must be honed through practice and study.
Kate emphasizes that leadership is about serving others, not relying on personal skills or command.
Becoming a great leader involves balancing both emotional intelligence (EQ) and intellectual capability (IQ).
Leadership is a long-term commitment that requires ongoing personal growth and self-improvement.
Engineers often focus on technical expertise and credentials but rarely emphasize leadership development.
As responsibilities grow, leaders face bigger challenges that require continuous learning and adaptation.
In organizations, leaders should be promoted based on their leadership abilities, not just their technical expertise.
Leaders with specialized responsibilities should focus on developing others and elevating them in their career paths.
Transcripts
what's the difference between management
and leadership in engineering I get this
question all the time from engineering
professionals but today we're lucky to
have with me Kate Harris president CEO
and chair of Stanley Consultants Kate
has a lot of experience in our industry
and she's worked with a lot of managers
and leaders and Kate can you please help
our listeners help the engineers out
there thinking about the difference
between these two what is the difference
in your opinion of management versus
leadership
[Applause]
[Music]
that's just a great question so I
remember my first job when I left school
was at 17 was a management trainee and I
remember talking to my father about this
and having these arguments and I said
it's very clear they're different I'm
saying no they're not the same they're
just interchangeable words they're not
so and so you know 40 years later
um I still don't think they're the same
and so um here's how I would Define it
from a gut check perspective and I work
with a lot of people I recruit a lot of
people I interview a lot of people I
develop teams with a lot of people and
that's been my one of my skills
throughout my career and I am looking
for how people talk and how people
behave and so when I'm talking to a
person that talks about what they can do
um either the skills they bring or you
know the facilitation approaches that
they make or you know how how they
create these teams then I'm talking to a
manager I'm talking to somebody that
uses their skills personally to be able
to create an outcome okay whether in
your when you're more Junior and you're
doing some work and your your delivery
is an output that you have to do the
technical or client service and you're
reliant on you
you know you're turning from an expert
into a manager when you create teams
around you okay when we see leaders who
talk about they and talk about this
issue around what others are doing
then we're starting to see leaders okay
when we're starting to to see people
talk about the power of the team how
people contribute you know the skills
that they bring to the party we know
that leaders are you know facilitating
discussion they're leading and you know
Direction setting and Pace setting we
know all those things are leadership
skills and requirements we know they're
making marginal decisions that you know
in terms of really difficult trade-offs
but they're not talking about themselves
they're talking about the power of the
team they're talking about the power of
the company they're talking about the
power of communication and engagement
triangulation who do we talk to how does
this work what are we bringing to the
table so that that job of that leaders
is not now reliant on their personal
skill set or their chain of command or
how they direct traffic or direct teams
it's around you know bringing together
great people
to achieve fantastic outcomes so for me
very simple it's an eye to we a
situation and I can spot you know having
done this now for 40 years in management
I can spot pretty quickly who we're
talking to because while we're saying it
we also have to be authentic and so you
know some tricks around you know do we
really believe that
um or not or are we kind of more insular
more sort of egocentric or self-serving
the best leaders I know are humble
vulnerable or authentic they are
powerful decision makers they're not
scared to get out in front of people but
really it's not about them any longer
it's about how to engage the the
constituents that they serve and so you
know I to we would be the number one one
thing that I would look for combined
with that sort of leadership philosophy
um
um around sort of
um humility so that leadership versus
kind of egocentricity
now that's awesome man I think what's
great about that is not only is it
something that you can catch yourself on
and start to notice about yourself as
you're trying to maybe you want to make
that transition from a manager to a
leader but I think to Kate's point if
you're tasked with developing leaders in
your organization which Kate is doing on
a daily basis as she said you can start
to understand where that person is on
the kind of manager to leadership
progression just based on the way
they're talking based on their actions
and having that ability to notice that
helps you to understand the different
needs of the different managers and
leaders in your organization and then
you can decide on how to you know how to
equip them better but I think little
things like that Kate where you can
recognize that gives you a lot more
power to be able to build more leaders
in your organization well look there's
two pieces one is the natural
progression of you and your skill set
and what you desire for yourself and
your career because you own that right
and and then there's a piece around you
know leadership being both an art and
the skill often I hear people say you
know I train to be an architect an
engineer you know a business person
actually I spend every day training to
be a leader and I take that very
seriously
um I go back to school often I read
articles often because I'm trying to
become the best leader that I can be I'm
not imitating or replicating anybody
else but I am being very thoughtful
around you know the art and skill and
develop of being a leader
um in whatever organization or whatever
company you're in so yes I mean these
these pieces around working hard at this
you know even the most fantastic leaders
that I meet we're working hard at that
stuff you know it's important it is a
lifelong process and you have to be
committed to it because it it's not an
easy uh career path and uh you need a
lot of you know what we would call EQ
and IQ in order to be able to to
progress and to serve others as well
through leadership yeah I love that
because you hear all the time in our
industry I want to get the license I
want to get the next credential I want
to be become a better expert but you
very rarely hear people say you know I
want to become that next level leader I
got to go back to school or learn
something else about leadership and I
think you need to think about leadership
that way because leadership is a role
it's a responsibility and it's a craft
that you can improve you gotta you know
you gotta develop your craft as a leader
and the more you grow the bigger
leadership challenges that you're going
to deal with and which means you need to
get better right you can't just say hey
I'm CEO so now I'm good to go no now
you're probably got to get even better
because now you have you bigger
challenges that you have to deal with so
I mean I mean look look I mean I think
we catch ourselves in our organization
in our industry progressing technically
as you said what we've started to do is
say at a certain level it is a
leadership role where they focus on
something like a technical position
rather than saying it's a technical role
and you're also a leader we're saying
now we're it's not what this is about
anymore
um so if you are you know the chief
engineer of our company then you're in a
leadership role with a focus on
engineering and bringing others up
through that career path if you are the
CEO you are a leader who's focused on
you know leading and running the
operations of our organization and so
we're starting to challenge ourselves a
little bit around you know how can we be
saying these things when we're
progressing people into positions that
are based on how good they were at the
last job not on the next job and not
only that but the titling and role of
responsibility is also focused on the
functional aspects of a leadership role
and or simply challenging ourselves I
think that's probably wrong you know
we're Leaders with special
responsibilities so um you know we have
to catch ourselves all the time around
those things
well Kate Harris president CEO and chair
of Stanley Consultants thanks so much
for talking a little bit about
management versus leadership which is
always talked about in the industry but
you brought some great clarity to it for
me and I'm sure for our viewers as well
thanks so much Kate thank you you're
very welcome thanks Charlie man that was
awesome I mean I do get that question
from Engineers all the time and I really
love the way that Kate explained it
because by thinking about the language
that people use their perspective you're
able to gauge whether or not someone's
kind of in that management stage of
their career in that leadership phase or
somewhere in the middle and you can kind
of help them and guide them which is
very very powerful please consider
subscribing to our channel here we're
constantly putting out videos like this
to help Engineers become successful
leaders in their firms and in the
industry and I'll see you next week
[Applause]
thank you
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
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