Category: Professional Development

The 90-Day Success Blueprint: A Guide to Thriving as a New Engineering Manager

The 90-Day Success Blueprint: A Guide to Thriving as a New Engineering Manager Are you starting a new job as an engineering manager? Exciting times lie ahead, but the challenge can be daunting. Leading a team of engineers, building relationships with colleagues, navigating a new environment and delivering results can be overwhelming. But, with the […]

Communicating in a Global Context: Know Your Audience

“If an engineer’s primary goal is ultimately to solve problems for society, this goal may not be fulfilled if engineers cannot communicate effectively. Engineers can develop great solutions, but if we cannot effectively explain to society a solution is safe and viable, then we have failed.” -Kevin Forbes, P.E. It’s not enough to excel at […]

Foundational Skills to Leverage in the New Year

Foundational Skills to Leverage in the New Year Originally published on Inside Indiana Business, January 20, 2022. Being proficient at completing the technical aspects of your position can only take you so far. To stand out from others, strong foundational skills are required. Individuals who are self-aware and adept at communication and relationship building, position […]

Learn to Embrace Change

Without change, progress is impossible. Pause and reflect on that statement for a minute. It’s in our nature to resist change. Socrates helps us direct our energy around change with his advice, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” When we […]

How to Turn the Pandemic into Opportunity for Meaningful Progress

Originally posted by Inside Indiana Business on October 29, 2020. As organizations adapt to change brought about by the pandemic, many contemplate how long it will take for our world to return to normal. Normal will be what we make of it. Our former ways of living and working have evolved in many ways to […]

The Critical Need for Sound Leadership

Not All Leaders Are Prepared to Lead If you’ve recently found yourself frustrated and confused by leadership, you’re not alone. Being able to take charge during periods of rapid change and deal effectively with ambiguity are key competencies needed in today’s leaders. We need individuals who are decisive, trustworthy, and capable of creating solutions today […]

Volunteering Helps Others and Helps You Develop

Hurricane Harvey brought chaos and devastation to the lives of so many people. It also highlighted how people selflessly serve others. People risked their lives to help one another, making personal sacrifices for complete strangers, animals and communities. One photograph posted on Twitter by Michael Berry (@MichaelBerrySho), caught my attention—it was a line of people […]

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What Managing Without Guidance Costs Us

Hiring, training and attrition can cost us a lot but managing without guidance costs us as well – much more than we might think: First, it can cost us our jobs. We may think because we’ve acquired a certain level of experience and education that we’re somewhat insulated from cutbacks or outsourcing but that’s not […]

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Low Cost Ways to Continue Your Professional Development

Professionals who anticipate changes are more likely to act and transition with the least amount of disruption to their lives. In fact, the ability to be anticipatory is gaining attention as a competency desired of employees. No doubt, being anticipatory in your role for your employer is valuable but it’s also valuable to you as […]

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Stretch Development in this Employment Era

Using Stretch Development to Adapt and Thrive Recruiting practices and talent management continue their evolution accelerated by several factors including competition, technology and globalization. Professionals need to understand expectations and adapt in order to survive and thrive in these new times. Adapting also often involves learning and development. Effective growth more often than not involves […]