What do you do if your leadership skills aren't recognized during performance evaluations?
As a systems engineer, you know how important leadership skills are for your role. You have to coordinate and communicate with various stakeholders, manage complex and interrelated tasks, and guide your team towards a successful outcome. But what if your leadership skills are not recognized or appreciated during performance evaluations? How can you demonstrate your value and potential to your managers and peers? Here are some tips to help you showcase your leadership skills and get the feedback you deserve.
Before you seek recognition, you need to assess your own leadership skills objectively. What are your strengths and areas of improvement? How do you measure your performance and impact? How do you align your goals and actions with the organizational vision and strategy? You can use self-assessment tools, feedback surveys, or coaching sessions to identify your strengths and gaps. This will help you create a personal development plan and set realistic and achievable goals for yourself.
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There are several reasons your leadership might not be recognized. -Leadership and management are not the same but often get conflated. Without recognizing this distinction, many technical leaders will have their leadership overlooked. -Your leadership might not follow the typical pattern of what they historically looked for. -You may be trying to do something new that their standard metrics aren't capturing. -You may be pulling in a direction that is not aligned with the organization. Before spending a ton of time on self-diagnosis, write down your accomplishments, viewpoint, and feelings, then go talk to your boss. If you're not on the same page, you're shooting in the dark.
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In engineering, people become respected as leaders by actually achieving things - this wins respect from your peers, and you will find people coming to you for help and guidance. Most discussion on leadership is pure prattle! The real question is, 'How will I deal with the responsibil;ities of leadership when people knock on my door for help?'. When you achieve, your peers will recognise you and soon, management will recognise you. So work hard at your projects and skills, be a doer not a talker and stop worrying about the chiimera of 'leadership'. It will come when you are ready and not before.
One of the best ways to improve your leadership skills and visibility is to seek constructive feedback from your managers, peers, and clients. Feedback can help you understand how others perceive your work, what they value and appreciate, and what they expect and suggest. You can ask for feedback regularly, formally or informally, and use it to adjust your behavior and actions accordingly. You can also give feedback to others and show your interest and appreciation for their work.
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“Hi, I’m Andrew Bielat and I’m a recovering Mechanical Engineer.” OK, and Maybe I’m not funny, but this is so much an engineer’s issue. The solution is simple, not necessarily easy. Ask your boss if leadership is valued in your role. If it isn’t and you want to grow as a leader you’ll need to make a change or convince your boss that it should be (not easy). If it is, you should ask for some coaching on the behaviors and practices that are appropriate to incorporate in your activities. Best case is that the company has these identified and characterized for you. Lastly, don’t make the mistake of thinking that being the smartest and most capable technically leads to being a leader. Don’t play dumb, but realize there is way more to it.
Another way to highlight your leadership skills is to showcase your achievements and contributions to your projects and organization. You can use various channels and platforms to share your results, insights, and lessons learned with your managers, peers, and clients. You can also use metrics and evidence to quantify and qualify your impact and value. For example, you can use dashboards, reports, or presentations to show how you improved the efficiency, quality, or reliability of a system or process.
As a systems engineer, you have to work with diverse and multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders. This gives you an opportunity to build your network and influence across the organization and beyond. You can use your communication, collaboration, and negotiation skills to establish rapport, trust, and respect with others. You can also use your technical, analytical, and problem-solving skills to provide solutions, advice, and support to others. By building your network and influence, you can increase your visibility and reputation as a leader.
Finally, you can demonstrate your leadership skills by seeking new challenges and opportunities to grow and learn. You can volunteer for new projects, tasks, or roles that require you to stretch your skills and knowledge. You can also pursue professional development courses, certifications, or mentoring programs that can enhance your competencies and credentials. By seeking new challenges and opportunities, you can show your initiative, curiosity, and ambition as a leader.
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