Industrial Vehicle Technology - August 2024
A LETTER FROM AMERICA
Alan Berger 2024-07-29 09:59:35
What makes a great leader?
PRODUCING GREAT PRODUCTS IS OFTEN THE RESULT OF A DESIGN PROCESS THAT IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS. THE SECRET SAUCE OF SUCCESS IS GREAT LEADERSHIP – BUT HOW CAN THAT BE ACHIEVED?
Great products are the result of deep market insights and engineering teams that collaborate to generate innovative solutions to those market needs. However, this does not happen automatically – it takes leadership. Therefore, great products need great leaders in addition to key market insights and clever engineers.
Alas, great leaders are something of a rarity in the world of engineering. Many of us have worked in organisations where the best engineer got promoted to be a team leader, and sometimes the best engineer team leader got promoted to be director of the entire division. The approach might work in theory, but in practice it often produces sadly predictable results – a frustrated underperforming team and a frustrated leader who does not know why. Indeed, the very thing that makes a great engineer – an intense focus on detailed technical tasks – is exactly what makes for a poor leader. The great leader focuses on managing the people and letting the people focus on the tasks.
Understand your role
What does that mean? It starts with recognising that the engineers, designers and technicians are the ones that produce the value (completed and validated designs). The entire management hierarchy is just there to create and support the ecosystem that enables the design team to succeed. Ultimately, leaders do not produce anything that a customer buys, which can be a hard realisation on the management ego. Of course, as a leader, you will occasionally make a significant product or supplier decision. However, this is about risk management where you are balancing your experience with inputs from your people and others. In the end, the hands-on developers implement that decision.
“THE VERY THING THAT MAKES A GREAT ENGINEER – AN INTENSE FOCUS ON DETAILED TECHNICAL TASKS – IS EXACTLY WHAT MAKES FOR A POOR LEADER” About the author Alan Berger is a veteran of the off-highway industry, having spent more than 25 years in product development with Case Construction, Volvo CE and CNH Industrial. He is currently CEO of the on- and off-highway vehicle consultancy, abcg AB.
Motivation is key
With the basics in place, the leader needs to ensure that everyone is supported and motivated. When I started leading, doing so without any formal training or guidance, I tried a very basic approach. I tried to treat my team the way I had wanted to be treated when I was a hands-on engineer. Rather surprising to the young me, this simple approach worked marvellously. That said, it is also important to recognise that people are motivated by different things. An effective leader needs to sense what that is and adjust assignments and environments to maximise motivation. Without being too Machiavellian, a highly motivated individual will do nearly anything that you ask them and will work at the top of their capabilities.
Most people also need to know why their work is important. Everyone who works for a larger company probably has some overall company goals and a published strategy. The CEO talks about these goals in public and internal meetings, confirming that this is, in fact, what is important. It is often not clear for the engineers, designers, and technicians how the project they are working on (and even the tasks they are doing on that project) matter to that overall company objective. The leader needs to make this connection for them.
Engineers are incredibly important. Let’s treat them with the respect they deserve by making sure the leaders we put in place are just as skilled at leading as the engineers are at engineering.
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