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The Rev. Dennis Dease, President Emeritus, University of St. Thomas

Thank you for sending me a copy of The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership. I am struck by your ability to extract universal lessons from the study of individuals who exemplified authentic leadership. Your efforts in engaging these extraordinary individuals with the University of St. Thomas have left an indelible mark on our community. Their names remain vivid in my mind, thanks to their remarkable impact in the community and on shaping and inspiring our university. This book is a testament to your own authentic leadership and commitment to excellence. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from your work and these leaders.

John Fechter, Professor, School of Engineering, University of St. Thomas

I’ve known Ron Bennett for over 30 years. He’s got an engineer’s mindset—watching things happening and asking himself “how is that happening? What’s the process?” Once the process is known and understood, he can’t help asking “could it be improved?”

Ron seeks every opportunity to share how a process works with anyone who can benefit by applying that understanding to their own circumstances. He especially wants to share with current leaders and up-and-coming new leaders. Imagine what they—you—can accomplish by learning from these stories without the pain, delay, and effort required to acquire that knowledge through personal experience in the school of hard knocks.

This book is a delight. Real stories, real people.

Circumstances presented these people with an opportunity or the responsibility to make things happen. They took action. They developed and applied their leadership skills out of necessity. Something was awry, progress was waning, someone needed to do something—and they did.

The stories aren’t bragging or posturing or showboating or lecturing. They are stories from real people who acted instead of complaining or being a spectator. Sometimes they made mistakes, but they turned that knowledge into cause-and-effect learning so the mistakes didn’t happen twice. They learned what works and what doesn’t. I know some of the leaders in this book and the people they worked with in their companies. I’ve seen them in action. You’d like them.

These women and men know they’re accomplished. They know they did good things and made a positive impact on people and organizations. But they’re sincere, not self-important. And they listen. Gathering knowledge others share. Noticing people whatever their station in life, listening, then asking, and more listening, to understand people and to learn what needs to be done. They listen for the good and for the not-yet-good that needs improvement.

And they care about their teams, employees, families, customers and investors. Lots of “just get it done” examples. No old war stories of interest only to the teller. Instead, timeless truths and good practices that apply to today’s circumstances as well.

I think you’ll be inspired by what they did, how they did it, and by how practical and useful their leadership lessons are. The stories are inspiring and fun.

Thank you, Ron, for gathering these stories. And thanks to the people interviewed here, for their enthusiasm and candor, sharing their lessons so we can learn from them.

Eugene J. Audette, PhD

The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership, by Bennett and Millam, follows in the 50+ year tradition of the classic but still current career development guide, What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles,* but speaks more directly to the engineer and to others who work in science-technology based organizations by using language and workplace examples that directly resonate with their experiences and outlook. This guide can be just as beneficial to the independent entrepreneur who seeks to be a leader in the technical world. The guide offers proven career self-assessment tools and processes and planning models and then puts the outcomes of those processes squarely within the world milieux in which the technical professional can have crucial positive impact.

By reading the personal experiences and self-testimonies of known leaders gleaned by the authors from focused interviews of these leaders that are strategically sprinkled throughout the text, the user of the guide is offered many opportunities to compare their own aspirations and journey–as well their misgivings and fears–to those of these identified successful leaders. The guide challenges the reader to ask for feedback and reflective information about oneself from trusted others from one’s personal world as well as from one’s work world. The very act of asking others both for objective information and more subjective impressions is itself an act of personal leadership, “leading” the self to take the risk of asking. This challenge may be more difficult for the introverted. Total self-confidence to make “the ask” may not yet be in place for a person willing and committed to self-assessment, so making that request can be a “sweaty palms” sort of experience. But a would-be leader loses only if they don’t take that risk.

“Like all entrepreneurs, you are the sole proprietor of your own career.” In the work setting…“(Y)ou must put yourself in an uncomfortable position and become visible” by seeking out leadership opportunities, especially when others may be reluctant to do so (p. 118). These sentences capture the meta-message underlying this guidebook: to become a leader one must take the initiative to build and guide one’s own leader skill development, have long-term patience and persistence, and recognize that the project must include critical others. And as the late 3M vice president and university faculty member, John Povolny, said in this book, to be aware of and ready for “dumb luck” to come your way offering opportunities that one can seize if they have done the preparatory self-assessment and planning.

The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership also can be used by HR professionals, organizational trainers, career development coaches, I/O and counseling psychologists, and similar social service providers who assist motivated engineering/technical professionals who seek to grow their leadership skill base and potential, both in their identified occupational fields and in their broader personal lives.

*(Bolles himself was trained in the engineering sciences: B.S in chemical engineering, MIT; B.S. in physics, Harvard).

Eugene Audette was or is:

• University professor and associate academic dean, Emeritus, University of St. Thomas (UST), Saint Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Founder and director of career counseling services, and staff psychologist, UST
• Licensed consulting psychologist in private practice (retired)
• Organization career development consultant and trainer for workplace organizations such as American Express Financial Advisors; Thermo King corporation; Barr Engineering; Minnesota Department of Economic Security, division of Occupational Information Services; U.S. Department of Labor, and USAID; UST School of Engineering; Metropolitan Transit Commission; Jewish Vocational Services; SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives); Allina Health Services, among others over the past 40 years.