There is no ‘one’ path to leadership in engineering

There is no single route into leadership in any profession and the people who end up as leaders often have very different trajectories. Some focus their entire lives on advancing, for others it happens by accident.

Often, becoming an engineering leader is a gradual process as you advance from a technical expert into more senior positions. 

Where could your leadership skills be bolstered

Very few people are ‘born’ as natural leaders. However, by amassing skills, techniques and knowledge, they can become more effective at leading. 

A technical engineer, for instance, may have gathered extensive knowledge which they can pass onto their teams. That, however, doesn’t mean they’re so good at stakeholder management, which is an equally important leadership skill. Becoming a better leader is therefore about analysing your existing skillset and seeing how it could be strengthened to make you a better leader. 

Seven common paths to leadership in engineering

It is clear that no leader journey is identical, but, over the years, the Institution’ leadership experts have identified that many managers in engineering fall into one of the following seven types, and the skills they recommend are developed so that these managers can move to the next level on their careers:

1. The technical expert - “I am an expert in what I do but I need to learn how to bring my clients and team with me”
   Recommended courses: 
   • Communication and influencing skills
   • Stakeholder management 
   • Presentation skills
2. The accidental manager – “I just ended up managing the team, I’ve had no formal training”
   Recommended courses: 
   • Leadership Practice
   • New engineering manager
   • Mentoring skills
   
3. The new manager – “I’d welcome some support and guidance in my new role”
   Recommended courses: 
   • New engineering manager
   • Managing time
   • Performance management and appraisal skills
4. The unofficial leader – “I have to lead others, but I do not have any ‘line’ authority”
   Recommended courses: 
   • Leading without formal authority
   • Self-leadership
   • Communication and influencing skills
5. The remote manager – “My challenge is to effectively manage a team spread across different locations”
   Recommended courses: 
   • International management
   • Innovation and problem-solving skills
   • Unconscious bias

6. The aspiring leader – “I see leadership and management as part of my desired career path”
   Recommended courses: 
   • Aspiring engineering manager
   • Leadership Practice
   • Self-leadership 

7. The experienced manager – “I know what I’m doing but I’d like to explore new technologies and work more strategically”
   Recommended courses: 
   • Senior engineering manager
   • Managing millennials
   • Leading change

Leadership training for engineers

The Institution has over 30 years’ experience training engineers to become more effective leaders. We have developed courses which provide practical, tangible and ready-to-implement methods which relate directly to your circumstances. No matter where you are on your journey to leadership, we have a course to support you every step of the way.
To learn more about our courses, visit our leadership training page today.