Two key tools for our next generation of leaders
The Melbourne Cup – and with it the start of the Silly Season – is now well and truly in the rear view mirror. With the end of year approaching it feels like the right time reflect on my achievements over the last three years. This year more than any before I have taken great joy and satisfaction from mentoring and coaching young, up and coming professionals and wanted to distill what I have learnt through a hugely challenging period down into some simple ideas that can be easily applied. On 21st November I will present these ideas to the World Engineering Convention Melbourne. I am using this article as my first opportunity to articulate these ideas and welcome any feedback.
Reflecting back to late October 2016 I had just been made a Principal at BG&E. After getting a very lucky break I had found myself in the role of Design Manager for the Ipswich Motorway Upgrade Project Stage 1, Rocklea to Darra and was suffering a severe case of imposter syndrome (that I would later understand to be a very natural part of any new role). My wife was pregnant with my third son to complement our two year old and four year old and I was grappling with how a third little Cook would fit into my already busy life.
Fast forward three years and the tender for Rocklea to Darra was a success, the detailed design is complete and I am three quarters of the way through my next Major Project. Last year I was awarded Engineers Australia’s Young Engineer of the Year and Consult Australia’s Future Leader. BG&E’s Transport team in Queensland has more than doubled in size and is delivering high quality work that we are extremely proud of. I have made it through having three boys under 5 and now have my eldest in Prep. I am extremely proud of what I have been able to achieve over this period but recognise none of it would have been possible without two key changes in my approach to work and life in general.
Mentoring and Coaching.
My eldest son Will has a swimming coach, an OzTag coach, a soccer coach and two age managers at Nippers. At school he is taught by his teacher and her teacher’s aid. In addition to this he has a sports teacher, a music teacher, an art teacher and a drama teacher. He learns a phenomenal amount and surprises me each day with how much he learns. Will is six.
At the age of 30 I had no teachers. I was working in a highly challenging and always evolving field, yet saw no need to have any form of teacher or mentor beyond what I picked up from my peers on a day to day basis. This changed for me when I was thrust into the position of Design Manager on Rocklea to Darra. I knew that I personally had the drive and dedication to do the job well, but realised I lacked the experience to excel in the role.
At the same time this was happening I was doing a lot of reading which stressed the importance of mentoring (in particular Mastery by Robert Greene for those interested). Typically I would have been too proud to ask someone for help, but I recognised this was a make or break opportunity for me professionally and approached one of my past Clients to help me better understand the role of Design Manager and what I needed to do. They enthusiastically accepted my approach for help and coached me through a hugely challenging period. This relationship has since developed into a strong friendship. Without this relationship there is every chance Rocklea to Darra would not have been a success for me, and all the success that flowed would likely have never have eventuated.
In 2018 I was extremely fortunate to be part of Roads Australia’s Fellowship Program. This program aligned me with one of the Senior Leaders in the Road industry in Queensland. Through this Program I learnt more about myself than I ever expected. I learnt how to interact with peers in industry that I had previously placed on a pedestal and believed I had no place interacting with. I learnt to set bigger goals for myself and challenge what I considered to be achievable. An outcome of this relationship was the recommendation that I seek out a professional coach.
I took on this challenge, sought out one of the best coaches in the industry and paid (from my own pocket) for their time. This coaching was in no way cheap, but reaching into my own pocket only strengthened my resolve to achieve the goals we set. This experience once again pushed me to new levels of performance professionally, and also helped me map out a career path that would not only result in professional success, but also helped me refocus myself so that this was not to the detriment of my young family.
Today I have broadened my number of mentors to around five to seven and engage with them on a regular basis. I also have a number of mentees who come to me for mentoring. I learn just as much from my mentee – mentor relationships as I do from my mentor – mentee relationships. I can say without a doubt that without mentoring I would not have achieved half of what I have managed in the last three years.
Adopting an Analytical, Problem Solving Based approach to all Elements of Work (and life).
From what I have experienced, the pathway to career progression for a young consulting professional is typically a strange one. Young professionals must first demonstrate their worth and value from a technical perspective. Once proven they are typically given management responsibilities. These responsibility are new and strange and don’t seem to align well with their learned technical skill set. It is not uncommon to see a young professional with a technical background and career ambitions struggling to come to terms with their new role as a manager. I personally cringe when I look back on some of the Projects I managed early in my career and decisions I made. I focused far too much on the technical details I was comfortable with and not at all enough on the much broader task I had been given.
A turning point in all of this for me came via a light bulb moment when having breakfast with a mentor. During the breakfast we spoke about my new role as a Design Manager, and how it can be broken down into discrete elements. Once this was done resources could be assigned to each element or task, the work carried out, reviewed and the process repeated again until success was achieved. This embarrassingly obvious and extremely simple framework tcan be applied to any problem, big or small, in any situation. As an engineer with a technical background it was the same process I used to solve technical problems, applied in a much broader sense. This approach can be condensed down to the following:
- Understand your problem.
- Break it down into the smallest possible pieces
- Assemble a team
- Rebuild your Project (or solve your problem)
- Test it
- Repeat until complete
As a young professional with a technical background this approach has helped me take complex problems and solve them in a way that I am comfortable with, is repeatable and works.
In 2018 I was named Engineers Australia’s Young Engineer of the Year and Consult Australia’s Future Leader. As fortunate as I was to receive this recognition, they were both awards I decided to pursue a year before applying. I spent the year prior understanding the criteria, breaking down what needed to be done and then chipping away at gaining experiences that would give me the best chance of receiving the awards. On a monthly basis I would come back to the submission, write a small part of it, and evaluate where I was and then start the process again. When I set the goal of winning these awards I considered it essentially impossible. The criteria was challenging and required a depth of experience I did not have - yet after a year of hard focused work both became a reality.
I use this approach on a daily basis in my role as a Design Manager to ensure I remain focused. It is just as valid for developing an approach to completing a multi-million dollar design engagement as it is to getting out the required deliverables for the week. I even use the approach for things as mundane as preparing the weeks food on Sunday afternoons – a task far more challenging and stressful than it sounds when you have a six, four and two year old under your feet.
The approach is simple, makes sense and provides young professionals with a clear road map to solving problems. I highly recommend it to any young professionals out there who are trying to solve problems of any shape or size, in particular those who are trying to make the transition from a technical role to a management position.
Where to now?
On 22nd November I will be presenting on this theme at the WEC in Melbourne. If you are around please drop in and come and say hello. For everyone else I would love to hear your thoughts on these concepts and how we can better prepare our young professionals to be future leaders.
Mentoring and Coaching Opportunities
If there are any young professionals out there would want to give mentoring or coaching a go please feel free to get in touch directly. I find the opportunity to pass on my learning and experiences hugely rewards, it may just be the change you need to help achieve some real goals in 2020.
Transport professional
5 年Great article Stuart. These accolades are no surprise to those who know you. Well done for taking the bull by the horns and making things work for you. Can wait to see what your next 3 years bring!
Principal - Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Douglas Partners Pty Ltd, FIEAust, CPEng, NER, RPEQ
5 年What an inspiring article and journey Stuart.? It is great to see a dynamic engineer giving back to the community. Keep up the fantastic work.