Patty’s Perspective: Take Me to Your Leader

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

“You cannot lead where you do not go.” – Good Earth teabag, author unknown

We must have touched a real hot button when we decided to do this issue on leadership. When we sent out our survey on the topic, we received a lot of responses, which we’ll review in a separate article, plus many of our regular columnists were inspired to write on the subject.

So if you are looking to become a leader in your company or even a better manager, or even just a better person, this month’s issue is definitely for you. You have the opportunity to benefit from the wealth of experiences of our contributors, as nearly everyone offers up real life examples—and no two are the same.

Or if you are a tried and true techie with no such desire to “move on up,” read on anyhow— you will still learn plenty and not just about being a leader or manager. Our features contain plenty of opportunities to lead that do not involve your day job. Most, if not all, of this issue applies to every aspect of work and play (think teams and coaching), plus there are plenty of life lessons in here too.

We have quite the line-up for you, plus a few technical columns at the end to keep everyone happy. First, about that survey… I-Connect007’s Research Team presents and analyzes the results. It’s amazing the things you learn from open-ended questions. We throw in quite a few quotes from you, our readers, as you really do say it best.

Our first article is by Yash Sutariya of Saturn Electronics/Saturn Flex and he is writing on lessons in leadership he learned from his father Nagji, who recently passed away. It is both instructive and poignant—I just wish that in my earlier sales travels I had had the opportunity to get to Saturn and meet Nagji.

Next, Dave Dibble of Dibble Leaders discusses the results of the 10-question Biz Brain IQ survey that has been in our magazines for the past few months. The results, and Dave’s analysis, include the “correct” responses and how the scoring process. Missed it? Then check out the test page and take it before reading his article.

It’s not always easy for busy people to find time to author a column or article for us, even when you just know they are the right person for it. But IPC President John Mitchell was pleased to provide us with six totally practical lessons in leadership from his experiences in the electronics industry. Something to take to the bank, so to speak. And they are definitely for everyone. John is also going to be our newest columnist, so we can all look forward to more wisdom from him.

Next, I am very pleased to have our Brazilian columnist Renato Peres of Circuibras center his column around the 2016 Summer Olympics and lessons he learned about leadership from a few of the outstanding athletes. Como apropriado!

Regular columnist Todd Kolmodin of Gardien Services USA departed from his usual testing topics to write on the basic differences between leaders and managers. His perspective is interesting and thought-provoking.

Sam Sangani of PNC Inc. talks about the people element—your most valuable resource—of leadership. He explores three valuable aspects of good leadership centered on one’s employees. Next, Steve Williams of The Right Approach Consulting shares three personal experien ces that helped him transition from manager to leader. He alludes to more lessons learned, so perhaps we can tease some of those out of him over the next few months.

Happy Holden has contributed a column from his Essential Skills series, a 10-step business plan process for use by engineers or others wishing to present a new idea or product to management. Happy used the process himself during his tenure at HP.

And now to some good technical info to round out this issue. Mike Carano of RBP Technology discusses troubleshooting roughness or nodules found after copper electroplating. I hope you are all collecting Mike’s articles into a nice guide for your plating department.

Engineers, and I suppose others, feel a great need to solve problems, often on their own—it’s a sort of challenge to them. But in his column, Keith Sellers with NTS-Baltimore exhorts us to make use of the extensive knowledge already out there. In particular, he cites IPC conferences and meetings, as well as IPC’s Validation Services and the Defense Logistics Agency as sources of knowledgeable people.

We’re making it a tradition to wrap up each issue with marketing guru Barry Lee Cohen of Launch Communications. This month, BLC discusses trade shows as a part of your marketing plan. Very appropriate, as the season is almost upon us.

Next month it’s back to technical when we focus on all things vias. You think you know  all about them?  Think again! Don’t miss out— subscribe now and you will have it in your  virtual mailbox the day it publishes.

Patricia Goldman is a 30+ year veteran of the PCB industry, with experience in a variety of areas, including R&D of imaging technologies, wet process engineering, and sales and marketing of PWB chemistry. Active with IPC since 1981, Goldman has chaired numerous committees and served as TAEC chairman, and is also the coauthor of numerous technical papers. To contact Goldman, click here.