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INSTRUCTOR: 
Jim Marino, P.E., D.CE

This course is a part of ASCE Seminar Week March 20-24, 2023. Use code SeminarWK20 and save 20% when you register for two or more two- or three-day courses occurring that week.

Purpose and Background

A senior engineer executive recently said I can always find a good tuba player but I have one heck of a time finding a good conductor. In this new century, the engineering manager must not only be technically competent, but must possess the leadership or conductor skills to move the organization forward. The need for leadership skills is particularly important in this time of change and complicated by the explosion of new technology. Often, the most successful, technically competent engineers move into positions of leadership. The characteristics that earned the engineers the leadership positions (such as independent achievements and focused technical interests) are often the very characteristics that will lead to failure as a leader. Although engineers continually develop new technical skills, they receive little training to develop and hone their leadership skills. This seminar, designed for engineers, will help you to develop or expand your leadership skills and will provide tools needed for your success.

This seminar will guide you through the steps required to become a successful leader in an engineering organization. You will recognize the need for honing not only your technical but also your leadership skills. You will understand the differences in and the need for the art of leadership and the discipline of management. You will be introduced to important leadership philosophies and powerful tools and have the opportunity to apply many of them in the seminar setting.

Topics Covered

• Leadership vs Management. Participants will identify the characteristics of a good supervisor. Through discussion of the characteristics, the definitions of leadership and management will evolve. These characteristics will be compared to those of a good engineer. Dealing with generational differences will be a major theme throughout the seminar.
• Ethics, Servant Leadership, and Self-Assessment. In order to understand and sensibly apply the ASCE Code of Ethics, the origin and evolution of the code will be discussed. The role of ASCE in developing a code for global ethics will be presented. The concept of Servant Leadership will be explored. The role of a leader in establishing the moral climate of an organization will be understood. The seminar concludes with participants delving into their own value centers to determine if they are in sync.
• Becoming a Change Agent. Participants will understand the dynamics of motivation and change. They will develop their own plan for motivating during change. The participants will then be challenged with the questions - Can you really motivate another person? Can you get them to change? Do they need to change?
• Communication and the 2G's - Generations/Genders. Types of communications will be demonstrated and discussed. A highly thought provoking exercise on gender communications will be undertaken. Through additional exercises and discussions, an effective method for providing feedback will evolve.
• Courageous Decision Making. Structured processes will be presented to maximize both the quality and acceptances of decisions. These processes will be used to solve problems presented to the participants.
• Coaching for Team Building. A group development model will be presented that will reveal to the participants how teams evolve and develop and the corresponding appropriate leadership styles.

Benefits and Learning Outcomes

Benefits

• Learn how to successfully lead an organization
• Gain an understanding of yourself and your team
• Gain an understanding of generational differences
• Learn how to apply the art of leadership and/or the discipline of management
• Learn how to apply appropriate leadership styles to the situation
• Learn how to apply systematic decision making processes
• Learn how the multiple generations and genders communicate in the workplace
• Learn how to effectively communicate and provide feedback
• Evaluate your value system as well as the values of those being led
• Learn your role in establishing the ethical climate of your organization

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this seminar, you will be able to:

• Identify the characteristics of engineers (including self) and understand how these characteristics reflect in their leadership styles
• Apply the appropriate leadership style as a function of the situation, including the impact of gender and generational differences
• Be a change agent
• Implement techniques to improve communication, decision making, and team building skills
• Explain the evolution of our Code of Ethics to properly apply word and spirit of the current Code

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Achievement of the Learning Outcomes will be assessed through the use of group exercises and a self-administered evaluation quiz.

Who Should Attend?

The seminar is structured for civil engineers or other technical professionals in a leadership position, or those aspiring to move into a leadership role. Regardless of your position in an organization - you serve a leadership role!

Outline

DAY 1

• Introduction
• Leadership vs Management
• Ethics, Servant Leadership, and Self-Assessment

DAY 2

• Becoming a Change Agent Change
• Communications with the 2G's - Generations/Genders
• Courageous Decision-Making Coaching for Team Building
• Closing

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs

This webinar is worth 1.6 CEUs/16 PDHs. To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short post-test in class and receive a passing score of 70% or higher.