A Systems View of Career Development for Systems Engineering Leadership

Systems engineering leaders' career development journeys are primarily driven by their experiences that shape their capability, qualities, and perspective; however, the pathways that individuals take are not only broad and varied, but also equally affected by personal life decisions and external factors. This paper describes a two-fold study that aimed to: a) provide insight into commonalities in the career journeys of systems engineering leaders, and b) ascertain how key areas affect career development. Five key areas were explored: education, technical experience, soft skills experience, job satisfaction, and work-life balance. A mixed and multi-method approach was taken, gathering data from sixty-one participants through interviews, surveys, and facilitated workshop. The study found that although there was no 'blueprint' that yields successful systems engineering leadership, there were themes/trends that were common. An influence model was developed to highlight these trends in the form of the key areas, factors affecting them, and the interrelationships between them.