Awakening Tip # 9 | Accepting your own mistakes- being a leader does not prevent you from making mistakes. Sometimes because leaders are not involved in the details of a task, they can overlook challenges. If you have made a mistake the best way to approach is by being honest with your employees.  Make it a positive situation by discussing lessons learned. What will you accomplish? Focus on the real issue, establishing a root-cause mentality, open communication.  Go for it! –The Awakened Engineer

Awakening Tip #8 | Sharing information and sharing knowledge. It is true that information gives you power. As a leader, you need to share the information with your staff. Many times you hear leaders complain why employees do not show ownership, but if the communication stays at the top, employees feel that their purpose is just to work. If you want to promote ownership, innovation, and team morale, start sharing your knowledge! Go for it! –The Awakened Engineer

Awakening Tip #7 |Who are the experts? Your employees! Leaders think strategically. They jump from idea to idea, and those ideas are usually exciting and innovative.  Companies need that vision to move up to the next level. However, we cannot miss the staff perspective. They are the ‘doers’ and know what it takes to make things happen. As a leader, it is good to challenge the status quo, but it is important to acknowledge the journey to makes them happen. Never forget the ‘doers.' Ideas will never become a reality without them. Go for it! –The Awakened  Engineer 

Awakening Tip #6 | Keep it simple! Logistics is about the end goal, not the plan itself. Planning to accomplish an established goal should be a simple, straightforward, and attainable process. If you develop a plan that is too complicated to understand, to put in place, or to follow, that plan will never be reliable.  Keep it simple and communicate consistently.  Revisit the plan once in a while, assess progress, and modify as needed. What will you accomplish? Your end goal! Go for it! –The Awakened Engineer

Awakening Tip #5 | Setting up goals for your team? Goals should be stimulating but reasonable. When you set a standard that can’t be accomplished, people start creating shortcuts that deviate from the process. Sometimes those shortcuts can put safety, quality, and even compliance at risk. When setting up a standard, study the process thoroughly, discuss the challenges with your staff and make a final decision based on actual data. Assess progress and adjust accordingly. What will you accomplish?  Sense of ownership, teamwork, and excitement.  Go for it! –The Awakened Engineer

Awakening Tip #4 | Quiet leadership exists. For those quiet leaders out there, do not feel ashamed by it. Look for ways to make contributions at work. Write down your ideas and meet with your supervisor to discuss them. Identify a mentor. Join a ToastMaster chapter, not to become outspoken, but to learn how to process those ideas in an assertive way. What will you accomplish? A sense of continuous improvement, professional and personal growth, and confidence. Go for it! –The Awakened Engineer

Awakening Tip #3 | There’s no weakness in being grateful. As a leader you want your team to know how grateful you are for everyone's daily contributions. Take a day a month to meet with your staff and go one by one thanking them for something they did well. What will you accomplish? Happiness at work, sense of recognition, grateful employees. Go for it! –The Awakened Engineer

Awakening Tip #2 | Having a diverse team is a plus. High-performance teams can lack innovation. When you have teams with different levels of performance, do not get frustrated. Embrace those differences and mitigate low-performance with training and lots of motivation. A motivated employee can achieve wonders. What will you accomplish? Loyalty, increase in energy, and better end results. Go for it! –The Awakened Engineer

Awakening Tip #1 | We all want our processes to be lean, robust, and reliable. Constant communication and cross-training are two ways to improve your work systems easily. When you share information with your staff and cross-train them, you are accomplishing the following: promoting ownership, establishing redundancy to avoid idle time, and increasing knowledge.  Go for it!--The Awakened Engineer