Leadership in the World’s Third Oldest Profession: Keynote Speech to the American Society of Civil Engineers Leadership Breakfast, October 19, 2012

Thank you to the American Society of Civil Engineers for the tremendous honor of being selected as the winner of the Parcel-Sverdrup Award for Leadership in Engineering.

The title of my talk this morning is “Leadership in the World’s Third Oldest Profession.” As engineers are naturally competitive, I know you want to know why I say civil engineering is third. Well, there has historically been a debate about the world's oldest profession. Some say it is prostitution and others say politics. Since I am unable to distinguish between the two, I count them as a tie; hence, relegating civil engineering to third.

It is generally accepted that the birth of civil engineering dates from the era when our ancestors evolved from hunter-gatherers to farmers. At that time, the first civil engineer created the first permanent structure, a home, thus laying the foundation for Wall Street to create the home mortgage crisis. You see, civil engineers are leaders in many ways that you never imagined.

Throughout history civil engineers have been the unsung and often silent heroes of the advancement of civilization. We don’t know the names of the engineers who designed the pyramids at Giza, the Apian Way, or the first arch. Who but we civil engineering geeks knows that John Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge or that William Barclay Parsons designed the first New York City subway? Yet millions use these structures and countless others around the world every day go about their lives in a safer, more efficient, and more productive manner because of our work.

When a new bridge opens that cuts a father’s commute by 30 minutes so he can get home in time to help his daughter with homework, we civil engineers are the ones who made it possible for him to sit at the kitchen table, stare at the work sheet, and finally admit: “I’m sorry, honey, I never did understand calculus.”

The GE slogan used to be “We bring good things to life,” but in reality, it is civil engineers who enable good things to come to life.

By providing the basic necessities for civilization to survive and thrive, we are the leaders. We don’t get billboards, and we never see front-page bolded headlines proclaiming, “Engineer Does Great Job.” But we do the job. We provide the basic building blocks on which society is based. And we are, thus, leaders.

I recall attending the formal opening ceremony of the Katy Freeway and I-10 interchange in Houston, Texas, some years ago. If you haven’t seen it, it is a marvel of spaghetti-like flyovers and bridges. It cost some $2.8 billion and took 5 years to build. And as I stood in the blazing sun and humidity, listening to speeches from the governor, the mayor, congressmen, and various other politicians, I couldn’t help but wonder, what about the engineers? There was barely a mention of the engineers or contractors who made it all possible.

But that’s OK because real leadership is not about accolades, it’s not about recognition, it’s not about plaques or awards. It is about the daily endeavor to better humankind. John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” As a civil engineer, you are a leader.

I was the first in my family to go to college, and despite a crippling fear of heights, I decided I wanted to build bridges. The problem was I had no idea who designed and built bridges. In fact, I didn’t even know that designing bridges was separate from building them. OK, so I was naive. By luck or fate, I dated a girl in high school whose father was the county civil engineer and whose older sister was a civil engineering student at Penn State. Thus a career was born.

Over the course of my career, I have been quite fortunate in the experiences I’ve had. I’ve been both a design engineer and a construction engineer. I have negotiated billions of dollars of design and construction contracts. I have tried construction cases in court. I have negotiated settlements that resolved disputes of many millions of dollars. I’ve also led domestic and international engineering and construction organizations. In each of those roles, and many others, I’ve learned about leadership.

Ironically, I’ve learned a great many more leadership lessons from terrible leaders than I have from great leaders. For terrible leaders teach you what doesn’t work, what cannot work, and what will never work. For instance, as a young engineer, I worked in a relatively small office of 30 engineers. One of the most experienced engineers—in fact the most respected technically—thought of himself as a leader. However, he threw tantrums—as well as books—was petty, and believed that he was owed deference and respect owing to his position. From him I learned valuable leadership lessons. Leadership by deeds, by example, is infinitely more effective than leadership by position or power. Perhaps the best and most famous example of this is Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi’s penniless 240-mile salt march protest ignited a country and then the world—and he did it all without power and without position. Title, position, fame, or wealth do not make a leader. Deeds—sometimes simple ones—make a leader.

I’ve also learned that leadership is not about the leaders, but about the led. It has been said that to be a leader, you must have followers; otherwise you are simply taking a lonely walk. It is not about personal headlines but about group success. And despite what some may tell you, it is just as much about how you get there as it is about where you get. For an honorable destination achieved with dishonor is not a destination worthy of the journey.

I have the distinct privilege to lead a remarkable organization. For well more than a century, Parsons Brinckerhoff has been a leader in civil engineering. Whether it’s designing that first New York City subway that I mentioned, advancing third-rail technology, designing the strategic petroleum reserve, or leading the California High Speed Rail program, the people of Parsons Brinckerhoff have been leaders, and this is something I encourage.

When I first took over as CEO [chief executive officer], I gathered my executive team together. I wanted to tell them how I intended to lead, even if I didn’t know just then where I was intending to lead. I told them that I wanted their best advice even when it contradicted my intended course. I told them that I did not want a group of yes-men and women. Let me give you one piece of advice—be careful what you wish for!

We have honest debate at our firm—sometimes passionate debate. At the end, we often agree on a course of action, and when we don’t, I decide a course of action. In either case, everyone feels they have had their say and is ready to support the vision articulated.

I want to mention a word or two about vision. A leader without vision is a manager.

I don’t know of any kid who grows up dreaming of being a manager; they dream of being leaders. So I ask you to think about your vision for your organization, your industry, and yourself. Really decide what it is, develop it, and pursue it—alone or with others—but pursue it. If it is compelling others will follow, and you will see the meaning of leadership in yourself.

I want to conclude with my vision of where we as an industry must go.

Our industry is at a crossroads, and we are standing right in the middle of that intersection. Never before have we seen the confluence of the need for massive infrastructure upgrades and expansion, equally massive budget deficits, and the need to manage and transfer knowledge on an enormous and global scale. We have two options. We can stand in that intersection and get flattened or we can assume control of it.

We are not the first to experience such a challenge. When Apple lost its edge, its market share, and its allure, it faced the very real prospect of becoming an interesting footnote in the history of computing. What was its reaction? It asked its clients and employees to “Think Different.” I am giving this speech holding one of the results of that challenge—an iPad.

We cannot as an industry continue down the path of simply asking for more money to upgrade our infrastructure. It does not work. Remember, as long as elected officials grapple with budget deficits, politicians hold the purse strings, and bridges do not vote, we will not get significantly increased infrastructure spending. We must challenge ourselves and each other to leverage the knowledge and capabilities we have to deliver more efficient and more cost-effective solutions. We must be leaders in a new model for infrastructure delivery that rewards innovation and cost savings throughout a program.

And if we rise to the challenge to deliver more in a faster and more efficient manner, we will see a transformation in our local communities. When we deliver a solution that meets the needs of our community, and saves $10 million, $20 million, or even $50 million, what is the result? The result is more bridges repaired, a new park, more teachers in the local school—in short, a more vibrant community—a community, don’t forget, that we call home. This is as much about us and the legacy we leave for our children as it is about our community—this is about leadership, and it is personal.

So I ask you, individually and collectively, become leaders in your organization and your community. Accept the challenge of limited funding, and despite that develop the delivery models and designs we need. Leverage your own intellectual capital with that of others. In short, as those first civil engineers led the development of a new society through the creation of the first permanent home structure, so, too, can you lead the advancement of society with new, more efficient, and more cost-effective solutions.

As civil engineers, it is not only within our capability, it is our mandate.