Five Steps to Transition from Engineer to Leadership

Engineering, by its very nature, is technical work. Leading a team is not.

Because the two jobs require different skill sets, engineers who seek managing or executive roles don’t always land those positions. They follow a career path that leads to those positions. Before they can become supervisors, they must show they have the skills needed to lead teams.

Dorota Shortell is chief executive officer at Simplexity Product Development, an engineering product development company, in Portland, Ore. When she began her mechanical engineering career she hadn’t planned to enter the C-suite. But in retrospect, she saw how her career was shaped by the skills she demonstrated and the steps she took toward a leadership position.

Here are the five steps she shared that engineers must take if they want to transition into leadership roles.

1. Communicate Your Successes

Shortell began her career by redesigning an assembly inside a desktop printer.

“I realized a few weeks in, I’m doing all this work, but I don’t know if the client really likes the work,” she said. “I asked the senior engineer on the project if I could give the client a summary report every Friday to make sure they’re OK with the changes before we get too far down the line.”

Those reports proved helpful to the client. So much so that representatives later requested Shortell for another project..

The client welcomed the reports because they offered a clear view into the project.

Shortell also advocates sharing—in other words, communicating—your successes with higher-ups.

“Communication is always the difference,” Shortell said. “You can do great work, but if no one knows about it—and your managers are busy people—you won’t get recognition for it.”

She points out that she checked with the senior engineer on the project before sending the weekly reports.

“As we think about our leadership path, we can’t just assume we’re going to do something and step on others’ toes. They’re going to feel you’re going over their heads,” she said. “There’s a balance between advocating for yourself and asking.”

Related Reading: For Engineers, Is an MBA or MEM Better to Climb the Ladder?

"The key to success here is to communicate with your team and managers while advocating for yourself," Shortell said.

2. Share Your Career Goals

Within four years of beginning her career, Shortell was promoted from design engineer to project manager to senior mechanical engineer. One thing that helped her climb: She told her boss of her plans for a career as a manager.

“I talked to my supervisor and said I wanted to become a project manager and asked about the things I can do to get there,” she said. Stating her goal clearly helped Shortell's manager better understand her career goals. "Don’t be shy to say, 'Here’s the path I want to take, what are the skills I can develop and what is it I need to do to get there.’” she said.

3. Demonstrate Confidence

How you present yourself can be just as important as the technical skills you bring to the job.

“Not that you don’t need to know the technical side of things, but showing that you can be a leader is what gets you noticed,” she said.

Shortell believes she was promoted because she was “already acting like a senior engineer” before she attained that role. “My boss said, ‘It’s easy to put you in front of clients, and people already know they can trust you and rely on you,’” she explained.

Act and dress in a professional manner. Learn and hone soft skills so you’re at relative ease among other professionals, Shortell added.

Soft skills, including communication techniques, can sometimes be difficult for those engineers who are more comfortable working alone at their desks each day. But, with practice, relating to others becomes easier.

4. Connect with Others

This necessary step to a leadership role sounds less intimidating when referred to as “making connections” rather than networking. Think about it as forming friendships, Shortell said. The fact that the friendship may eventually lead to a new job or a promotion is of secondary value. 

“Reaching out to people, connecting with people, is really important. But I know, as an introvert, it’s hard,” Shortell said. “Don’t go in saying ‘Here’s what I have to sell.’ Treat it like ‘This might be a cool person to know. Let me find out about them and see if I can help them.’” Networking doesn’t have to be hard.

More For You: Recruit, Retain, and Train Young Professional Engineers

Society and organizational meetings and gatherings—like those held by ASME chapters—are a great place to meet other interesting people in your field.

Treat networking as the long game, she advises. Don’t expect immediate results. A connection you made two years ago may phone you tomorrow with news of a job opening at his or her company.

5. Take on New Opportunities

Be willing to take on a new role even if you’re not 100 percent certain you’re up to the task, Shortell said.

“A lot of times we want to ensure we’re successful at something because we don’t want to fail. But if you don’t fail once in a while you’re not stretching yourself,” she said.

“Did I know how to be a CEO? No. Did I know I could learn to do the job? Yes. I’m smart. I knew I could ask for help and I knew I could figure it out as I go along,” she said.

The willingness to step up and show up gets you noticed, she added.

The steps that can help you attain a leadership position will take courage and determination. They may not be easy, but the payoff comes not only in attaining the role you desired, but also in growing as an employee and as a person. Even if you don’t pursue an executive role like CEO, these leadership skills will open doors and enhance your career.

Jean Thilmany is a science and technology writer in Saint Paul, Minn.