On November 4, 2015, emerging engineering student leaders, industry professionals, and the ILead team gathered in GB202 for ILead’s Inaugural Leadership Conference, “The Leader-Engineer”. The focus of the conference was to create a paradigm shift with respect to the thought of engineers as leaders. Industry professionals from Hatch, ERCO Worldwide, ChemTrade Logistics, IESO, Accenture and Toronto Hydro were present.
The conference provided a thoughtful and useful framework to understand how engineers think about the world, their approach to problem solving, conflict resolution, and organizational culture. The conference opened with an activity called The Top Five Skills and Traits of Leader-Engineers. This was a participatory game to reveal the elephant in leadership’s room. Organizers had each respective group (student, engineers, HR professionals) work together to determine the most important skills and traits of leader-engineers based on a list of 82 pulled from a variety of studies. Some examples of these skills were:
- passion
- effective writing skills
- bravery
- pro-social attitude
- humility
- critical thinking
- ability to apply professional ethics
- technical skills
- self-confidence
- good listening skills
When each group revealed their top skills and traits, people in the room were astounded. There was very little overlap in the skills students thought were important, and the skills the industry professionals thought were important. This revelation was a key finding, driving attendees to introspectively determine the benefits and drawbacks of their own leadership style, how to use their strengths to their advantage, and how to leverage their peers to support their weaknesses. Ultimately, these differences in thought processes between the students and industry professionals were used as a framework to determine the key gaps between school and work, and the transition between the two settings.
“The conference was a great opportunity for me to speak with engineers from the industry and to learn about what students are missing when they first enter the workplace,” said Chemical Engineering student attendee Katie Dritsas (ChemE 1T6). “Speaking with them made me realize the importance of leadership when it comes to being proactive in the workplace, realizing that as students we are important members of the company. Although we don’t know all the ropes, asking questions, and offering our feedback is an integral part to our professional development.”
In addition to determining the key gaps between the industry and workplace, the conference also served as a platform for students to hear the industry professionals’ personal experience on their transition from school to work, how they triumphed and struggled so students could learn from their successors, and be better prepared for their entry into the workplace.
More photos are available for viewing on the ILead Facebook page.
-Michael Sabatini