Leadership in engineering: Government can provide direction, but not leadership in industry

Dr Jenifer Baxter considers how engineers can help drive, rather than be driven by, government policy through collaborative decision-making, stability and motivation.

When we talk about leadership in engineering, usually this relates to senior management and how they drive a motivated workforce, increasing productivity and innovation along with supporting staff development.

This article isn’t about that type of leadership. It is about industry leadership and driving an engineering revolution in the UK through the collaborative decision making, stability and motivation of a sector of highly skilled individuals. As with many other parts of the UK economy, engineering has looked to the government to provide both leadership and direction, but is this necessary?

It has long been evidenced that to provide the UK engineering sector - and particularly my sector, energy and environment engineering - with the growth required to deliver the needs of the nation, we will need to attract many more engineers, from school leavers to senior management.

Waiting for a political decision on where to invest in our skills and supply chains could end with the opportunity for growth passing us by. This will then lead to a greater need to access skills from overseas. Does this matter? Yes, engineering is a highly skilled profession that offers greater opportunities for social mobility than almost any other UK sector.

Recently, I have been working closely with the power sector in the UK. This sector is experiencing a destabilised environment due to rapid changes in government policy and the very high costs associated with investment and innovation in this sector. Upstream from there, the oil and gas sectors are also feeling the impacts of an unstable working environment due to current low commodity prices. This destabilisation may lead to a loss of UK industry and the skills and experience that we have developed here, which would be a great loss to the UK in both economic and social respects.

When considering leadership within an industry sector, it is difficult to facilitate activities that can bring stability, and often the government is expected to do this. Government can provide direction, but not leadership in industry.

In 2013 Mike Myatt described the Four Pillars of Stable Leadership. Taking these concepts and identifying how individuals, not just CEOs and senior executives can provide stable leadership in the power sector, here are some ideas about how collectively as an industry we can deliver stability, innovation and investment to provide a collaborative cutting edge industry that drives government policy rather than vice versa.

• True North: Stable leaders have an open mind, but they also have strong convictions and principles – there is a need to provide clean, affordable electricity for an increasing population. Each company has assets that can be exploited: investment in innovation for efficiencies and cost savings, collaborative developments with local communities, industrial symbiosis, exploitation of opportunities, growth in niche markets and emerging technologies.
• You Play How You Practice: Your performance is always tied to your preparation. Invest in the training and development of technical staff, developing long-term collaboration where stability and sustainability are the goals rather than short-term profit margins. Develop new business models that look into the future and are adaptive to changes in the market place. Don't put all your eggs in one basket and exploit possible new models for power station design and energy generation.
• Lead With Compassion: The most stable leaders understand their success is rooted in the care and well-being of those they lead. Develop a culture of long-term investment in staff and the company, ensure everyone is valued, benefits from activities and delivery of projects and is brought in. Encourage incremental as well as disruptive innovations and be prepared to take risks. Don't allow government decisions to stifle innovation and investments, but continue to challenge engineering and non-engineering staff to achieve.
• Freedom To Fail: If the people you lead are afraid to make mistakes you’ll never see their best work – you will have led them to a perpetual state of mediocrity. Take risks, encourage new system innovations and collaborations, but know when to let go of failed projects. Be dedicated to the cause, drive change in communities, continue to invest in a good opportunity, and move away from short termism. Generate a supply chain that buys into your culture, make outsiders want to be part of your company and your activities. This generates trust in employees and project partners who believe that projects will be delivered.

“Be the change you want to see in the world” - Ghandi