Hey, it’s Collin. Welcome to Engineering Echelons, a newsletter full of ideas and insights to help engineers excel at management.

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.

• New and noteworthy news

• A management perspective to consider

• Leadership insights to delve into

• And more…

First time reading? You can subscribe here.

Alright, let’s get into it.

Noteworthy Headlines

Architecture Firm Billings See Continued Decline (AIA)

Highlights:

• ABI score rose to 47.6 in October from 43.3 in September, indicating that billings continue to decline but not as severely.

• Project inquiries increased to 54.8, their most significant increase in a year and a half.

Delayed September jobs report reveals construction job surge (ENR)

Highlights:

• The construction sector showed across-the-board gains, with building contractors adding an estimated 4,200 jobs, heavy and civil firms boosting employment by 4,900 positions, and specialty contractors adding an estimated 10,030 workers.

• Despite the rebound, the construction industry has added only 2,000 jobs since March.

• According to the AGC’s Construction Confidence Index, contractors remain confident that hiring will pick back up over the next six months.

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Management Perspective

When you step into a management role, you gain something concrete: a title, decision-making authority, and a perch in the org chart. Maybe you’re even featured on the company’s website.

That’s one form of power called positional power. It’s important, but it’s hardly all you need to be influential.

Unfortunately, some managers rely way too much on their title. These types of managers believe they are entitled to respect and big perks because of what’s in their email signature.

It’s hard to like these guys.

The other type of power you need comes from who you are. I call this personal power. It’s also sometimes referred to as social capital.

If positional power comes from your job title, personal power comes from your name.

Personal power comes from investing in relationships, building a strong reputation, and developing organizational knowledge. Personal power represents all the trust, value, and goodwill you’ve created in your organization.

Personal power can only go so far, though. If your organization is big, and you need to quickly connect with someone across the world about staffing a project, having a certain job title helps lower barriers.

Similarly, some clients feel special when interacting with an associate vice president or other leader in the firm.

Job titles are useful and exist for a reason. But too many people get caught up in relying on their title to get what they want without understanding it’s only one form of organizational power.

To be an influential person, develop both positional and personal power.

Management Insights

Haruki Murakami on blazing your own trail:

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

—

Morgan Housel on real smarts:

“Someone with B+ intelligence in several fields likely has a better grasp of how the world works than someone with A+ intelligence in one field but an ignorance of that field just being one piece of a complicated puzzle.”

—

John Lewis Gaddis on capitalizing on wins:

“Victories must connect: otherwise they won’t lead anywhere. They can’t be foreseen, though, because they arise from unforeseen opportunities. Maneuvering, thus, requires planning, but also improvisation. Small triumphs in a single arena set up larger ones elsewhere, allowing weaker contenders to become stronger.”

Management Resource

Don’t cling to your old job after being promoted (HBR)

It’s exciting to get a promotion. After reality sinks in, logistics need to be determined. Usually, there is a transition period to smooth the change. This article covers how to navigate the transition so you can shed the old responsibilities and excel at the new ones.

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Get in Touch

Did something strike a chord? Tell me about it.

Or…

• Let me know if you’ve found something worth sharing.

• Let me know what challenges you’re having as a manager.

• Let me know what challenges you see other managers having.

Send me an email at [email protected]

Looking forward to hearing from you. See you next time.

Collin

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