Fast-Tracking Your Career: Soft Skills for Engineering and IT Professionals

180 Pages·2013·3.061 MB·English

by  Wushow Chou

Fast-Tracking Your Career
IEEE Press
445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08854
IEEE Press Editorial Board 2013
John Anderson, Editor in Chief
Linda Shafer Saeid Nahavandi George Zobrist
George W. Arnold David Jacobson Tariq Samad
Ekram Hossain Mary Lanzerotti Dmitry Goldgof
Om P. Malik
Kenneth Moore, Director of IEEE Book and Information Services (BIS)
Fast-Tracking
Your Career
SOFT SKILLS FOR
ENGINEERING AND
IT PROFESSIONALS
Wushow “Bill” Chou
Hard Skills Help Us Qualify for a Job;
Soft Skills Dictate Our Career Growth
Copyright © 2013 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Chou, Wushow.
Fast-tracking your career : Soft Skills for Engineering and IT Professionals / Wushow “Bill” Chou.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-118-52178-6 (pbk.)
1. Engineering–Vocational guidance. 2. Information technology–Vocational guidance.
3. Soft skills. I. Title.
TA157.C477 2013
620.0023–dc23
2013002854
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Fundamental Soft Skill Principle:
CULTIVATING GAIN-GAIN PERSPECTIVES
The fundamental principle behind any soft skill is
to cultivate the perception in other people ’ s minds
that they can gain and benefi t by engaging with us.
(Author ’ s special note: Many examples used in the book to
illustrate this fundamental principle are based on people in
high positions, such as CEOs, CIOs, and VPs, and/or on
people working in the engineering and IT fi elds. However, the
principle behind these examples is equally applicable to any
position and to any professional fi eld.)

DEDICATION
This book is a collection of my observations on the importance of soft skills
throughout my career. I dedicate this book to my wife, Lena, as recognition for
her support and encouragement at various stages during my career.

Contents
Foreword xiii
by Dr. Sorel Reisman
Guest Introduction i xv
by Dr. Simon Y. Liu
Guest Introduction ii xvii
by Dr. Arnold “Jay” Bragg
Guest Introduction iii xix
by Frank E. Ferrante
Preface xxi
Acknowledgments xxiii
About the Author xxv
Introduction and Summary 1
Engineers Are Potentially Better Positioned as Executives, 1
Categorization of Smart Soft Skills, 2
Rules for Mastering Smart Soft Skills, 3
Relationships among the Soft Skills, 8

PART ONE
Communications: The Absolutely Necessary
Chapter 1 Communications Smart 13
Rule 1: Being always ready for elevator pitches/speeches, 14
Rule 2: Mastering a presentation by mastering the onset, 16
Rule 3: Using three diagrams to simplify complexity, 18
Rule 4: Sizing up and resonating with the audience, 20
Rule 5: Being careful of careless comments, 23
Rule 6: Using plain language, 24
Rule 7: Using jokes and self-deprecating humor, 26
ix
x Contents

PART TWO
Dealing with People: The Essential
Chapter 2 People Smart 31
Rule 1: Getting accepted by accepting others fi rst, 32
Rule 2: Winning by understanding both ourselves and our
counterparts, 34
Rule 3: Being aggressive by being nonaggressive, 36
Rule 4: Gaining by giving, 38
Rule 5: Successful networking by networking less, 41
Rule 6: Being heard by listening, 46
Chapter 3 Marketing Smart 49
Rule 1: Sizing up and resonating with our “customers”, 51
Rule 2: Putting a positive spin on our “product”, 53
Rule 3: Making a convincing presentation with a well-crafted
presentation, 53
Rule 4: Inciting enthusiasm with enthusiasm, 54
A Marketing Role Model: Steve Jobs (and His Embodiment, Apple), 55

PART THREE
Dealing with the Self: The Basic
Chapter 4 Work Smart 59
Rule 1: Achieving outstanding results by not seeking perfection, 60
Rule 2: Avoiding blunders of overconfi dence, 62
Rule 3: Focusing on self-examination, not on blaming others, when
things gone awry, 63
Chapter 5 Time Smart 65
Rule 1: Investing time with the same zeal as venture capitalists
investing money, 66
Rule 2: Killing two birds with one stone, 68
Rule 3: Minding ROI, 70
Rule 4: Making nonproductive time productive, 71
Rule 5: Turning spare time into opportunities, 73
Rule 6: Keeping the mind sharp by taking catnaps, 74
Chapter 6 Career Smart 77
Rule 1: Opting to be a big fi sh in a small pond, 78
Rule 2: Hopping to a more opportune pond at opportune moments, 80