What happens when you’re a successful engineer but lack the leadership skills to take your career to the next level? Jeremy Doran joins Jerry Dugan on Beyond the Rut to discuss the power of delegation, brainstorming, and seeing things from different perspectives.
But what happens when communication styles clash and finding compromises seems impossible? Tune in to find out and be left on the edge of your seat.
“The higher you go and the leadership ranks, the less detailed you’ve got to be.” – Jeremy Doran
Table of Contents
Unlocking Solutions: How to Avoid Leadership Ruts Through Brainstorming
Leaders in engineering and technology who want to empower their team, have you heard these three myths about the importance of considering different perspectives for effective solutions?
Myth #1: Having diverse perspectives slows down the decision-making process.
Myth #2: Only experts in the field can provide valuable insights.
Myth #3: Hiring a diverse team is just a box to check off.
The truth is, considering different perspectives is crucial for innovation and problem-solving. Jeremy Doran will share how to leverage diverse perspectives to drive success.
This is Jeremy Doran’s story:
Fueled by his passion for psychology, Jeremy Doran actively pursued ways to help other engineers develop the necessary skill set to excel in leadership positions. His journey led him to explore the power of brainstorming and how it can bring about innovative ideas, while also fostering a sense of unity among team members.
By encouraging open communication and cultivating an environment where diverse opinions were welcomed, Jeremy’s approach has empowered many engineering leaders to break free from their limitations and confidently steer their teams toward success.
In this episode, you will be able to:
- Delve into the benefits of diverse opinions for crafting success-driven solutions.
- Unearth the connection between delegation and the augmentation of leadership skills and team empowerment.
- Develop exceptional communication, active listening, and personality analysis skills for fruitful interactions.
- Ascertain key priorities for time management and workload balance among leaders.
- Acknowledge the potential in empowering teammates to further their growth opportunities.
Lessons from The Little Kids Book
Valuable life lessons can often be found in surprising and seemingly insignificant places. The Little Kids: Lessons Learned from Our Perspective, which Doran co-wrote, shares the perspectives of a large family and has proven to be an essential resource for leadership coaching lessons.
By exploring personal stories and experiences, valuable insights can be drawn and applied to various professional situations. Jeremy Doran discusses how the stories from The Little Kids directly correlate with valuable leadership and communication lessons.
The book serves as a reminder of the significance of considering different perspectives when working with diverse teams, which helps foster an inclusive environment, leading to better solutions and improved team dynamics.
Doran’s experiences with his family bring a unique and personal touch to the conversation with Jerry Dugan, emphasizing the importance of perspective in leadership.
Impact of Personality Types on Communication
Understanding different personality types is vital for leaders who aim to communicate effectively with their teams. By acknowledging various communication styles and preferences, leaders can cater to individuals and create an inclusive environment that promotes collaboration.
In the podcast, Jeremy Doran talks about the importance of recognizing different personality types and how they can impact communication in a group setting. He suggests using models such as DISC to assess and understand different communication styles.
Doran also provides examples of how to facilitate meetings with diverse groups, emphasizing the value of including everyone in the conversation.
By understanding the impact of personality types on communication, leaders can create effective communication strategies, improve team cohesion, and foster a more inclusive work environment.
Power of Delegation
Delegation is crucial for effective time management and empowering team members. By delegating tasks, leaders can free up time to focus on strategy and big-picture goals while giving their team the opportunity to grow and develop new skills.
This not only allows leaders to manage their workloads more efficiently but also contributes to a more engaged and empowered workforce.
Jeremy Doran speaks about the importance of delegation in leadership, particularly in transitioning from an individual contributor to a leadership role. He advises that leaders should prioritize essential tasks and help their team achieve success by delegating responsibilities, rather than taking on every assignment themselves.
By emphasizing the power of delegation, Doran advocates for investing time and effort into empowering employees, and cultivating a strong and supportive work environment in the process.
Jeremy Doran
With degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Psychology, Jeremy Doran brings a unique perspective to leadership development. Jeremy’s diverse background and storytelling ability, allow him to engage, enlighten and entertain while he teaches.
His work experience includes Process Re-engineering at Pratt & Whitney, Global strategy for APC (now Schneider Electric), owning a franchise business, and helping hundreds of business people on their journey to becoming great leaders.
Recently published a book, Little Kids: Lessons Leared from Our Perspective, about growing up as the youngest of 10 silbings, and the lessons learned.
He is a business, leadership and retirement coach.
Continuous learning comes from school, work, family, improv and challenging himself to expand his limits. Figuring out how those lessons can be applied to business life is something he prides himself on.
Chapter Summaries:
00:02:05 – Psychology for Engineers,
Engineers are typically data and logic-based, and their EQ skills are perceived to be lower. Psychology helps them deal with people on emotional topics and those who are more emotional. Coaching engineers who become leaders on how to interact with people at different levels is essential.
00:05:40 – Lessons from The Little Kids Book,
The Little Kids book has 13 stories that help individuals learn valuable interpersonal communication skills. The book creates a contextual connection point for the reader, and the lessons learned from the book can be applied in an individual’s career or business.
00:07:57 – Brainstorming from Different Perspectives,
Brainstorming is crucial to trigger thought processes that lead to unique solutions. Looking at a project or problem from six different perspectives and thinking outside the box helps come up with fresh ideas. Perspectives like profit per unit, total profit, sales volume, and ease of manufacture or delivery are essential.
00:12:58 – Personality Types and Brainstorming,
Some people like to talk and share their ideas, while others may be shy and quiet. It is crucial to pay attention to everyone’s contributions equally and create structures to help everyone contribute to brainstorming sessions.
00:14:06 – Controlled Chaos in Meetings,
Jeremy shares his approach to managing group meetings through controlled chaos. He allows outspoken individuals to share their ideas and then recognizes individuals who have not spoken. Jeremy invites them to share their thoughts by giving them the floor and inviting them into the conversation.
00:16:39 – Impact of Personality Types on Communication,
Jeremy and Jerry discuss how different personality types can impact communication styles. The conversation can become problematic when people who are black and white in how they see the world are in a conversation with people who see everything as situational. Jeremy suggests structuring the conversation and extending an olive branch to bridge the communication gap.
00:23:55 – Time Management for Leaders,
Jerry asks Jeremy how he guides engineering leaders during their first 100 days of transitioning from being an engineer to a leader. Jeremy emphasizes the importance of prioritizing what’s most important and helping others on the team achieve their tasks. Delegation is key to making yourself obsolete and developing your team.
00:26:00 – Power of Delegation,
Jerry and Jeremy discuss the power of delegation and how it helps leaders train their team while saving time. Jeremy shares how he learned to delegate by asking his team what they would do if he wasn’t there. Every leader’s goal should be to make themselves obsolete by delegating and training their team.
00:28:12 – Building Trust Through Delegation,
The importance of delegation is discussed, and how it can lead to greater trust between leaders and their team. Jeremy emphasizes starting slowly and giving team members a bit of “leash” to run with their ideas. Over time, the leash can get longer until there’s no leash at all. Leaders can struggle with delegation due to the belief that no one can do things as well as they can, or that it’s faster to do things themselves.
00:29:46 – Legacy Through Leadership,
Jeremy highlights the idea that a leader’s legacy is really about how they impacted others and helped them grow. He talks about celebrating wins with his team, and how taking time off can actually lead to more innovation and fresh ideas when returning to work.
00:32:39 – Active Listening,
Jeremy’s final words of wisdom focus on active listening and paying attention to what people actually mean when they speak. He believes that active listening can go a long way in dealing with potentially difficult conversations.
Resources
Subscribe on your favorite podcast player.
Book Jeremy Doran to speak at your company or organization at www.jeremydoranspeaks.com.
You can also follow Jeremy Doran on Facebook and Linkedin.
Other episodes and articles you’ll enjoy:
Eight Characteristics of Effective Teams
7 Pillars of Servant Leadership: How to Lead with Empowerment, Compassion and Integrity
The Emotelligent Leader Kingsley Grant Building Effective Teams – BtR 213
Connect with me:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/beyondtherut
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beyondtherut
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beyondtherut
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrydugan/
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Transcript
