In December, IEEE-USA eBooks will offer Leading and Managing Engineering & Technology ” Book 3: Building a Culture that Develops Leaders and Managers, written by Gerard H. (Gus) Gaynor.
Gaynor shares that developing an organization that fosters leadership is both simple and complex, depending on what’s involved.
 CALL FOR AUTHORS IEEE-USA EBOOKS seeks authors to write an eBook, or an eBook series, on career guidance and development topics. If you have an idea you think will benefit members in a particular area of expertise, please email your proposal to IEEE-USA Publishing Manager Georgia C. Stelluto at g.stelluto@ieee.org and IEEE-USA eBook Chair Gus Gaynor at g.gaynor@ieee.org. |
Topics included in Book 3 are: The Basic Organizational Culture, where Gaynor discusses the Perspectives on Organizational Culture: past history, principles, traditions, policies and shared values.
In Building a Leadership Culture, Gaynor writes that you cannot build an organization without talent, or talent that can be developed. Managers take on significant personal responsibilities, he says, and they determine the future of all the people in their units. Gaynor notes that his personal management style is wanting to work with people who are willing to learn. In his career with 3M, he spent considerable time grooming those who were under his leadership. Gaynor expresses that he always wanted the best team possible; and he took the time to ensure that his team had what they needed to meet the performance requirements.
Gaynor counsels that in building a culture that develops leaders and managers, an organization’s leaders must offer support for education programs, teamwork, promoting change, fostering innovation, creating a sense of excitement and communication. Gaynor insists that managers need to get up and walk around, engage with their employees, and find out what’s going on in their organization. Reports don’t tell the whole story.
Gaynor also includes a case study in Book 3 on IBM’s Silverlake Project.
The case study provides an example of how an entire culture can be transformed, and what happens when a project manager takes personal initiatives, asks questions, listens to the responses, and builds trust among team members. Gaynor cautions that such a transformation takes hard work and cooperation from many people to make it happen.
From 1 December to 15 January, you can get your free eBook to download by going to the IEEE-USA Shop, logging in with your IEEE Web account, adding the book to your cart and using promo code DECFREE at checkout.
IEEE-USA EBOOKS: https://ieeeusa.org/shop//
Sharon Richardson is IEEE-USA’s Coordinator, Publishing & Communications
