Leadership Uncategorized

Social Impact through Culture Change

We recently wrote about Lyda Hill Philanthropies and its IF/THEN® initiative. Today we want to draw your attention to an exhibit the organization created a few years ago.

To raise the profile of women in STEM careers, IF/THEN commissioned more than 120 life-sized statues to be made at once. Using 3D scanning and printing technologies, the project exhibited the largest collection of women statues ever assembled. In 2020, the statues were displayed all together at NorthPark Center in Dallas in 2021 and at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, in 2022.

Since then, the statues have been moved to multiple locations across the United States. To find one near you, visit the exhibit site. That page also features profiles of the women honored in the exhibit. To see how the statues were made, watch this short video from Miranda Cosgrove and the CBS program Mission Unstoppable.

Leadership Uncategorized

This Is What a Scientist Looks Like

One of the most valuable skills of any scientist or engineer is the ability to look at a problem from different perspectives. Having everyone think alike just brings more of the same answers. Diverse teams often come up with more creative and more effective solutions. The same principle applies to leadership.

Women were historically discouraged from studying technical fields or pursuing leadership positions. In our books and on this site we profile some of the women who followed their talents and interests anyway: Dianne Chong, Jan Hansen, Katy Kolbeck and Jill Gugisberg Wall. These four are great examples of innovative thinking and entrepreneurship.

Today we also want to recognize an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for girls and women in science and engineering. IF/THEN® empowers STEM innovators and drives cultural change so the next generation is inspired to solve our biggest global challenges.

Please set aside some time to read about Lyda Hill Philanthropies and its mission of social impact through culture change. The site should inspire you. It definitely inspires us.


Photo by Carol M. Highsmith (Public Domain)

Leadership Uncategorized

Necessary v. Sufficient

Did you ever try to solve a problem you thought was technical only to find it wasn’t? How did you figure out what was really happening? Did it reveal a gap in your training?

Sometimes the question is not “what is the answer” but “what is the question.”

In 1992 the National Society of Professional Engineers asked employers and educators what skills engineers need to do their jobs and how well prepared they are. Here’s what they found:

Graduates were well prepared in math and science, as expected. But they fell short in areas like teamwork, social/ethical/environmental issues, integrative thinking, design and leadership. The skills they had were necessary but not sufficient.

Since then, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Engineering Leadership Development Division (LEAD) has promoted leadership education in academic programs, and the accrediting body ABET has included leadership in its Student Outcomes criteria.

That gap inspired us to create our Leadership for Engineers capstone course and the two books that followed. Our goal is to help individuals learn and grow, and to transform STEM education and technical careers.

And that begins with asking what the question really is.

Leadership Uncategorized

Thanks for a Great STEM Day 2025!

The Minnesota State Fair has come and gone, and with it STEM Day 2025. We had great guests, visitors and conversations. Jan Hansen, Jill Wall, Katy Kolbeck and Arnie Weimerskirch answered questions and offered suggestions on a wide range of subjects. People who enjoy what they do and love sharing it with others make any field more interesting and rewarding.

A visit from trailblazing STEM educator AnnMarie Thomas was an unexpected treat. We hope to write a feature on her soon. For now, we recommend you visit her website and see more ways STEM education can be innovative, creative and exciting.


AnnMarie Thomas, Jill Gugisberg Wall, Jan Hansen

Leadership Uncategorized

Plan Your Visit for STEM Day

STEM Day at the Minnesota State Fair, presented by SciMathMN, is scheduled for Thursday, August 21.

Visit our booth in Dan Patch Park on the Fairgrounds in front of the Grandstand. Stop by any time, or plan to meet some of the leaders featured here and in The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership.

Meet Katy Kolbeck at 9 a.m.,, Jill Wall at 11 a.m., Jan Hansen at 1 p.m. and Arnie Weimerskirch by video at 3 p.m. Bring your questions!

Discounts on copies of the book will be available, and proceeds will support the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering Leadership Fund.

Read more about STEM Day.

See you there!

Leadership Uncategorized

Meet the Leaders—In Person

SciMathMN STEM Day at the Minnesota State Fair is a celebration of all things science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This year, STEM Day is opening day — Thursday, August 21.

Some of the leaders featured in The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership and on this site will be there in person: Katy Kolbeck, Jill Wall and Jan Hansen. Arnie Weimerskirch will be there virtually. Read their stories and bring your own questions, or meet them first and then read their stories. The booth will be in Dan Patch Park on the Fairgrounds in front of the Grandstand.

Discounts on copies of the book will be available, and proceeds will support the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering Leadership Fund.

Read more about STEM Day and the Minnesota State Fair. See you there!

Leadership Podcasts, Uncategorized

Why Intellectual Curiosity Matters

Dr. John Abraham on the Leadership Blueprints Podcast

BJ Kraemer, president and CEO of MCFA, hosts the podcast Leadership Blueprints. He invites guests from architecture, engineering, construction, development and related industries to share insights on leadership. He recently interviewed Dr. John Abraham, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering and one of the people mentioned in The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership. Kraemer and Abraham are both engaging and interesting; together, they’re downright entertaining.

Leadership Profiles

Profiles in Quality

Most leaders understand the importance of quality. Some study quality theory, reading authors like Joseph Juran and W. Edwards Deming. And a few, like Arnie Weimerskirch, make it the focus of their work. Arnie is one of the leaders featured in The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership.

Harry Hertz, director emeritus of the Baldrige Program and author of the online column “The Baldrige Cheermudgeon,” profiled Arnie in a recent post titled A Career in Industry and Baldrige. Hertz shares some of Arnie’s history and observations about the value of taking a systems approach to quality. It’s concise, engaging, and worth reading.

Leadership Articles, Professional Articles, Uncategorized

Wisdom from a Proven Leader

Sir George Buckley, known internationally for leadership in business and academics, generously provided comments on both our books. He currently serves as chancellor at the University of Huddersfield, where he earned his first degree in engineering. On his return in 2020, he shared some of his views on leadership. Here’s our favorite part.

We’ve got the Sir George Buckley Leadership Center here, which was officially launched last year, and it’ll see the development of our future leaders. What key characteristics do you think make an excellent leader?

“Courage, charisma, knowledge, wisdom, communications capability, that ability to inspire people who are not inspired or get them to lift their performance, it might not necessarily be military, but in all kinds of ways, in all walks of life in industry, leaders are the people that always seem to have that hard to define capability of doing what’s right at the right time and leading is a privilege and a responsibility and an obligation.

So if you have the privilege of leading a group of people, you have the obligation to do your level best to help them in all walks, whether it’s getting resources for them, helping with the objectives. And you have another obligation, which is to come across partly as an oracle. When you have a conversation with someone like the one we’re having today, in all great conversations sometimes you get to be a teacher and sometimes you get to be a student. And they’re the very best interactions you can have with people because again, life, companies, educational institutes, you know, the women’s institutes or whatever it would be, it’s always about people. It’s always about people.”

Watch the whole interview here.

Leadership Personal Development, Uncategorized

Developing Your Own Story

When interviewing the leaders featured in our book and on the website, we wanted to learn how they developed their attitudes and skills. We created a series of questions to help identify their beliefs, behaviors, and experiences. What events, people, and life-changing moments had major impacts on their development? Those questions follow this discussion.

We also believe that you, the reader, can learn more about yourself by identifying your own life experiences. Use these questions as a starting point for knowing yourself better. We encourage you to add questions of your own.

You may choose to do this alone, or to interview others and share your responses. Others often see in us things we do not see in ourselves.What you learn about yourself will provide a solid basis for ongoing reflection, development, and growth.

George Buckley, former CEO of 3M, said “It’s better to have your shadow on results rather than your fingerprints.” While lights shine on a team and its work, that kind of leader stays behind the scenes. These interviews brought some of them into the light to show the knowledge and skills and experiences that made them successful. We hope they will do the same for you.

The questions:

  • There are said to be five major forces that form our beliefs: family, religion, education, friends and media. Which of these has been most influential on your beliefs?
  • What childhood experiences formed your early values and beliefs?
  • How did your education influence your thinking?
  • What early work experiences motivated you to pursue the path you chose?
  • How did you lead your organization(s)? What were the characteristics you demonstrated that made you effective?
  • What did you accomplish? Of what accomplishment are you most proud?
  • How did you enable people to exercise their personal power and leadership?
  • What are your management philosophies?
  • Tell me your views on innovation.
  • What crucial experiences transformed your thinking about yourself and your role in your family? Your professional life? Your role in any organization?
  • Who do you consider examples of great leaders, and what are the characteristics that make them exceptional leaders?
  • Talk about how your thinking has evolved over the years.
  • How do you see the world now compared to when you began your career?
  • Did it evolve gradually so that you hardly noticed, or were there “aha” moments that caused you to change? Describe those incidents and what resulted.
  • How has the work environment today changed from when you began your career?
  • Would those changes affect the way your thinking developed?
  • What one message would you want readers to learn from your experience?

Please feel free to modify these questions, or add others of your own, to more fully develop your own story.