January/February 2020

Leading Insight
A Focus on People and Production

Educators and practicing engineers are increasingly recognizing the importance of “engineering leadership,” but the term can mean different things to different people.

To sharpen the blurry picture, researchers from the Penn State University School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs’ engineering leadership development program conducted a study exploring engineers’ understanding of leadership behaviors.

The team conducted multiple interviews with eight engineering leaders to get a sense of their practiced or experienced leadership styles and the leadership styles to which they respond favorably. The most common words and phrases used by the engineers during their interviews: active listening, hands-off approach, teamwork, people-centered, and empowerment.

After analyzing transcripts of the interviews, the research team used the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid to assess leadership style. The grid was developed to identify a manager’s concern for people and production on a scale of 1 (being low) to 9 (being high). Many registered in the area of the grid designating both high concerns for people and high concerns for production—confirming that most engineers want to be trusted and empowered, and work in a team environment.

The researchers noted that a larger sample with a greater diversity of engineering disciplines would be beneficial.

“With the hope of developing engineers who can lead within today’s engineering domain, educational programs should develop a curriculum that stresses the importance of integration of task and people orientations for leaders,” they added. “Further understanding of engineering leadership allows for academia and industry to ensure they are creating leaders who are prepared for the work of engineering.”