"People cannot be managed. Inventories can be managed, but people must be led."
H. Ross Perot

Let's assume that at some point in your engineering career you would like to become a manager of some sort, whether along the technical track (project or department manager) or along the management track. It is very important for you to understand that management and leadership are distinctly different concepts.

Management is the practice of making things happen according to generally accepted rules and policies within a firm. It is working toward producing a design or a set of plans for the construction or manufacturing of a product. It is the task of managing people, technology, and equipment to obtain the objective.

Leadership is the ability to motivate and inspire a group to achieve collective and individual goals. Leadership skills relate to motivating people.

There is no better time to think about leadership skills than at this very moment. Although it is common to hear that there are "born leaders," the truth is that the most effective road to leadership is to study its principles and to practice them all the time. Effective leaders never stop pursuing improvement of their leadership skills. In fact, there is an entire industry of professionals writing books on leadership, conducting...