1. Leadership in Engineering Talking Points
J. D. Cammerata
Lockheed Martin RMS

2. What is engineering leadership
What is leadership or what does it mean to lead?
It is independent of field whether it is engineering, government, academic etc.
At its highest level, leadership is serving.
It is why positions of leadership should be something to be pursued with a degree of reverence (a healthy fear or respect) because of the responsibility.
The best leaders have a “servant heart”.
They think in terms of serving people rather than doing tasks
There will always be another task, but relationships have staying power.

3. Honor and Respect What is giving honor?
Giving honor simply means to prefer another.
It is acknowledging the gift that is another human being.
“Life flows through honor” quote from Bill Johnson
When leading or working within teams, learn to understand who they are and how they do things.
Consider that they have value in the context of their entire life, not just in the context of how they may benefit a task.
The outcomes can be tremendous in terms of social equity.
People recognize there are no agenda driven relationships.
Value them for who they are rather than for what they do.

4. Character vs. Talent Talent is given. Skills can be taught.
Character comes through the afflictions and pressures of life.
Consider the pieces of iron and steel that we use to build the navy ships.
It takes a lot of heat and force to create the hull and superstructure of a ship.
But once complete it can withstand the pressure of the most rocky seas.

5. Stress vs. Pressure Growth in leadership requires pressure.
Pressure in and of itself is an event which has no negative connotation to it.
“The Events in your life + your Response to those events = The Outcome you receive.” Jack Canfield
Again, Pressure in and of itself is an Event which has no negative connotation to it.
How a person Responds to pressure dictates the Outcome.
Stress is simply a Response to the event of Pressure which produces a negative Outcome.
In nature, the high pressures deep within the earth are responsible for turning simple rock containing carbon into diamonds. It does not happen without the pressure.
When pressure comes it is something to embrace, as it will build within you the resiliency to withstand adversity and excel in it.

6. Specialization vs Generalization
Specializing too soon is not necessarily a good thing.
Seemingly innocuous roles, particularly in the beginning of your career, are part of the seed bed from which you harvest later in life.
Consider the muscle around the shoulder joint. It needs to work in many different directions other than the ones designed for a specific sport. Otherwise, imbalances occur and flexibility is lost.
An building architect who has never used brick and mortar is at a disadvantage to the architect who has.

7. Career as a Marathon Get as much first-hand knowledge by doing.
It is not enough to “mentally ascend” to the theory of how it is done.
It builds credibility and respect among your peers.
In doing you will begin to find your place and role that only you can fulfill.
One of the challenges in any industry is to resist comparing yourselves with one another despite the fact that a company will compare you with everyone else.
Take charge of your career rather than someone else taking charge of it.
Wisdom Regarding Career Expectations
Not always a linear progression to the next higher leadership position.
Sometimes it may call for a step back in order to advance in life let alone in career.

8. Team Chemistry Identifying teammates hardwiring is critical
Visionaries/”Ideators”
Ideas come at break neck speed, always thinking of new ideas new ways to do things
Like starting with a blank canvas with no particular order
Refiners
Wired to refine ideas, have a critical eye as to what will and will not work
Connectors
People and relationships are the focus. Know other people who can contribute and form that relationships that help the cause.
Administrators/Organizers
Wired to make order out of chaos. Initiate schedules and plans. Like step-by-step processes
“The Do’er”
Wired for action. Not particularly interested in ideating or planning. The just want to get going and start making headway.
All of the roles are important and must be acknowledged as valuable.
Leadership that surrounds itself with people of the same hardwiring is destined to fall victim to blind spots.
The case of the CEO and COO of Enron. Both had identical hardwiring = “Ideators” and Risk Takers. They excluded those who were hardwired refiners.

9. Organizational Constraint Theory
Any team or organization will only rise to the level of the chief constraint of its leader.
Constraints often manifest as Blind Spots
Blind spots are what everyone else sees in the leader that the leader does not see in oneself.
Get feedback on blind spots. Why?
Improve a strength and you get linear and incremental improvement
Identify and remove a constraint and improvement is exponential