FROM THE PUBLISHER
The new year is almost here as I write this, and for most of us it is a time of self-reflection and thoughts about how we can do things better or improve ourselves in the year ahead. As civil and structural engineering leaders, there’s a lot to be said for looking and acting the part if you want to be recognized as such. Here are some examples: Attire — Dress appropriately. That varies by client or work environment. If everyone else is wearing jeans and golf shirts, you should not wear a suit. Conversely, if your clients and peers always wear suits and dress formally and you only wear jeans, that may not be right. Ditto with ties. Don’t show up wearing a tie to an office where none of the male employees do so. And women, cocktail dresses are never appropriate for work. “Appropriate” is the word when it comes to dress. Email — Return them promptly, and with no spelling errors. Your employees need to have the idea that if someone responds to their request, they should say, “Thank you.” An email response should not get dead air. And use “we” versus “I” in most cases. We all work for organizations that have more than one person — at least most of us do. That’s one of my pet peeves. Office space — Keep it clean. Keep the lights on. Keep the bathrooms and kitchens clean. Keep the trashcans from overflowing. Keep the magazines in the lobby fresh. Don’t let stuff pile up on the reception counter. Don’t let your conference room turn into a lunch room. Have some art on the walls. Keep the place well-painted. It shows pride in the workplace. Don’t let anyone make their individual work space a dump. Music — If you have music playing in the building, make it appropriate. Rap, heavy metal — No. Loud anything is not good. And letting everyone wear headphones and not interact with others isn’t good either. Entertaining/interviewing —Most of your clients (if you work in consulting) or potential employment candidates for any organization really don’t want to go to Burger King or even Applebee’s. Take them somewhere nice, or somewhere local in flavor with some character. Education — It’s important for you to keep learning about your profession so you don’t become obsolete. In addition tomandatory continuing education tomaintainyour registration, you also need to stay well-informed. Be sure to read and stay up with developments in your field. Start with reading Civil + Structural Engineer magazine every month from cover- to-cover! Any other hints on looking and seeming more like a leader and professional that you want to share with your fellow readers? Send them to me at mzweig@zweiggroup.com. And meanwhile, enjoy our January issue of Civil + Structural Engineer magazine!
2018 resolutions Improving leadership roles and professional appearances.
MARK C. ZWEIG mzweig@zweiggroup.com
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csengineermag.com
January 2018
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