ON THE MOVE ARATI RANGASWAMY PROMOTED TO DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AT SCA ARCHITECTURE Arati Rangaswamy, a 27-year veteran of the architectural design industry, has been promoted to director of operations at SCA Architecture , a San Diego-based architectural firm, announced frm owner and founder Dennie Smith. In her new role, Rangaswamy oversees, leads, and manages the daily operations of the firm in terms of staffing and workload. She directs risk management measures related to the firm’s project contract obligations, supervises the implementation of operational strategies and goals, and ensures the quality and production standards of the firm are being met for all design and contract documents. Rangaswamy joined SCA Architecture in 2012, initially serving as project manager, then senior project manager. Over the past eight years, she has been pivotal to the firm’s performance and stability and provided oversight of numerous high-profile projects.
Her project involvement at the firm includes having served as senior project manager for Viasat’s 23-acre expansion of its headquarters at Bressi Ranch in Carlsbad; project manager for the 300,000-square-foot Petco National Support Center in Rancho Bernardo, recipient of the 2016 AIA Energy Efficiency award sponsored by SDG&E; project manager for the 270,000-square-foot La Costa Town Square Retail Center; and project manager for the 57,000-square-foot expansion of Mesa Hall at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego. Prior to joining SCA Architecture, Rangaswamy served five years as a project manager for Vasquez Marshall Architects in San Diego, where she managed complex projects for the Department of Defense, from schematic design through construction completion. For the previous seven years, she was principal of his own architecture business. Earlier career experience includes having served as project coordinator for Jeff Katz Architecture in San Diego, as project coordinator for Amann
Group in Raleigh, North Carolina, and as project coordinator for Ramsay Burgin Smith , also in Raleigh. Rangaswamy received her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, a constituent college of Bangalore University in Bangalore, Karnataka, in India. She subsequently earned her master’s degree in environmental design from San Diego State University. She is a California licensed architect; LEED AP BD+C; and an active member of the U.S. Green Building Council, San Diego Chapter. Founded in 1988, SCA Architecture is a full-service planning, architecture and interior design firm. In addition to corporate headquarters and office facilities, the firm has specialized expertise in retail, R&D, life science, medical, manufacturing, and industrial facilities. SCA Architecture is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, with extensive expertise in energy efficiency and sustainable design.
STEPHEN LUCY, from page 9
accessible as a leader and team builder will undermine your firm’s cohesiveness and camaraderie. 9) Lack of diversity in your workforce. Your role as a leader is to ensure that you attract quality, competent personnel who reflect today’s global society. This is an exciting time to engage young women and men in the engineering profession, but to do that, you must recognize the importance of diversity and equity in the workforce. 10) Failure to establish ownership transition. Is your leadership team aging out? No new blood, young blood in your partnership circle? Your exit strategy must be carefully planned with levels of partnership that truly enable a seamless transition and must be clearly articulated. Anything less will not only be haphazard but has the potential to cripple your firm. Although each of these 10 items has a different level of severity, the cumulative impact of multiple failures portends a demise in leadership and ultimately begs the question: Should you be impeached? Are you prepared to redeem yourself? Are you ready to reinvent yourself? Is your leadership team on board and transparent about the values and skills which accompany sound leadership? No doubt, if you remove anyone from firm leadership, there will be fallout, unless that person has been so egregious that your leadership team and staff unanimously agree with the decision. But the failure to act may be even a greater transgression against the firm. In the words of Thomas J. Watson, the founder and first president of IBM, “Failure is a teacher – a harsh one … but the best.” Avoid the downside of failed leadership. Embrace leadership accountability and demonstrate that actions do, indeed, speak as loudly as Watson’s words. STEPHEN LUCY is CEO of JQ with offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio, Texas. Contact him at slucy@ jqeng.com.
incentives can quickly add up and create problems that cause turmoil and turnover. Establishing guidelines and policies that are both fair and equally adhered to by all is a prerequisite for your leadership role. 5) Unwillingness to innovate and take risks. Adapting to the rapid changes in technology, communications, and business development can leave your firm in the dust as our industry transforms itself and new ideas are brought to the table by millennials and Gen Z professionals. Failure to listen, evaluate, and test these ideas only maintains the status quo. 6) Failure to act aggressively when warranted. Being afraid to confront issues, treating behaviors passively when aggression is warranted, avoiding litigation or competition when your firm is being attacked – all spell disastrous leadership. The damage from inaction over time can disadvantage your firm and diminish its success. “Although each of these 10 items has a different level of severity, the cumulative impact of multiple failures portends a demise in leadership and ultimately begs the question: Should you be impeached?” 7) Failure to live your values. If your firm values its culture, then protecting that culture is paramount to your success as a leader. You represent a community of professionals who expect you to follow the firm’s values. Going counter-culture through your actions means devaluing everything that your firm has put in place to succeed. 8) Failure to champion the brand. As you grow in size and geographically, you must continue to engage your team and your staff. Of course, that means facetime which comes at a price when you live on the road, but failure to be visible and
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THE ZWEIG LETTER March 16, 2020, ISSUE 1336
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