This is a summary of a book titled “How Successful engineers become great business leaders” written by Paul Rulkens and published by BEP, 2018. As an engineer who transitioned to becoming a boardroom advisor, he draws expertise from his experience and provides tips and valuable insights to others making a leap from technical to business domain. He proposes three power laws as framework and uses them as building blocks for “clarity, focus and execution” to achieve business goals. His tools leverage the pragmatism that engineers are trained and use towards excelling in business world that’s rightfully focused on revenue growth. He explains problem solving is central to both disciplines.
Nearly one in three Fortune 500 CEOs have an engineering background, and they can become business leaders by gaining non-engineering business experience or broadening their knowledge with additional education or training, such as obtaining an MBA. However, both career strategies can carry major downsides for engineers, such as the need for decades of hard work and cookie-cutter curricula. Engineers can make a smooth transition from the engineering side to the business side by carefully positioning themselves within their corporation or industry. To leverage their engineering talents and skills in business, engineers should embrace three "power laws": "prime location, prime time, and prime knowledge."
Prime location refers to where skills can have the greatest impact and gain the greatest recognition. Prime time, on the other hand, refers to when and how your skills can have the greatest impact. Prime knowledge, on the other hand, is the value of extra know-how that can have a multiplier effect on your business leadership career.
To achieve business goals, engineers should have clarity, focus, and execution. Achieving ambitious goals requires better skills and behaviors to solve different problems. In today's business world, corporate leaders, including engineers, should focus on revenue growth, strategic planning, innovative practices, and organizational performance. Engineers can excel in the business world due to their practical nature and ability to help organizations execute. However, developing effective execution cultures requires considerable planning, vision, and communication. Engineers can use storytelling and evocative language to encourage an execution culture and become models of attuned, disciplined, aware, and focused executive behavior. Regularly testing their developmental abilities and monitoring internal activities can help them become accomplished business leaders. Strategic quitting, a process where a company abandons a failed project, is essential when things don't work out as expected. Engineers are strategic problem solvers, making them perfect for executives who have obstacles to overcome and challenges to surmount. Control is essential in engineering training, but ambitious engineers need to let go of control and step into the unknown to achieve business success.
Engineers should identify their best fit for business and focus on their controllable talents and skills. Focus on higher-risk development activities, recognizing that larger goals require more obstacles. Expand their capabilities in reality-based thinking, process design, and accelerated learning. Improve leadership behavior by adopting new conduct and modeling it to employees. Build a referral network to secure new customers. Be mindful of biases and achieve strategic goals quickly with minimal resources and energy. As a business leader, consider available time, extra knowledge, business operations, employee rewards, legacy, and growth goals. Monitor progress, provide value to customers, and abandon dogmatic thinking. Embrace the importance of establishing a legacy, achieving one growth goal, and implementing single behaviors to achieve strategic goals.
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