Jack Ma: Story of Alibaba E-Commerce and Online Retail by GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 013, Jac | Page 40

15
Things Effective
Engineering
Leaders Do
Here are things you can do to be the effective engineering
leader that you can be.
By Ninez Hernandez
So what engineering leaders do everyday to make them successful?
Being a leader in engineering company is never easy especially when you have to lead hundreds (and
thousands) of people at work. Every decision you make will affect the people you work with. It will even
affect your relationship with your customers. So, in order for you to be successful at work, you have to be an
effective engineering leader.
1. Know they don’t have the answers to everything
While they are assigned as the leaders at work,
they know that they don’t have the solutions
to everything. They keep themselves open to
suggestions from everyone at work.
2. They think before they react As soon as problems
arise, they think of the best possible solutions
immediately. They avoid letting their emotions rule
them.
3. Show people how it’s done, not tell. Talk is cheap.
Actions say more about a person’s leadership and
can be more productive for the company.
4. Find solutions, not blame While some leaders
like to play the blame game, effective engineering
leaders focus on solutions. They know blaming
someone or something will not help fix the problem.
9. Know when to give and when to take They know
that success means one must give and take. It’s not
all about “taking”.
10. Work well with others They don’t command.
They work side by side with their colleagues.
11. Trust colleagues They don’t micro manage. They
trust their colleagues they know how to get things
done on their own.
12. Don’t make excuses Instead of finding excuses
on why they can’t achieve certain task for the day,
they focus on what can be done instead.
5. Plan and prepare Instead of getting things done
without having a look at their strategy, engineering
leaders are more effective when they plan things
over and prepare their strategy. 13. Praise for the right reasons They don’t praise
the people they work with just to make them feel
better about themselves, they praise when their
colleagues achieve success.
6. Don’t want instant success They know that
instant success isn’t going to help the company in
its long-term goals. 14. Give constructive criticisms They want their
colleagues to improve so they give constructive
criticisms. They make sure though that they don’t
embarrass them in public
7. Focus on the details While it’s good that people
focus on the big picture, effective engineering
leaders know that in order to achieve that, they have
to focus on the details as well.
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8. Focus on strengths Instead of not assigning
someone because of their weaknesses in certain
areas at work, these engineering leaders assign
certain tasks to employees based on their strengths.
E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017
15. Never distracted easily They know what they
want and they will not stop just so they could
achieve them.