Sep 4, 2026 · 44 min · 10 segments
Why great engineers struggle as leaders: digital engineering, culture and scaling BIM teams without losing what makes them work. What does it take to move from writing code to leading the people who…
Yeah, and whether you work in the public sector or in the private sector, there is a big aspect, which is culture.
And sometimes people in teams may perceive that that's used as a buzzword rather than meaning actually something for them.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast, right? And so you can have the best strategy in place in an organisation, but if the culture's not leading, you know, the leading side, that strategy's not going to play out.
And so, yeah, to me, when I think about culture, I want people to feel valued.
I want people to feel that they've got a voice and that they really enjoy coming in to do what they're doing.
And they're in a certain inclusive environment where it's exciting, it's fun, it's challenging.
And, you know, it's easy to sort of throw those words out and you're in the cut and thrust of trying to deliver something and you need, like, a lot of action or you've got a non-performer or something like that.
you know, holistically, you kind of need all those things to come together.
And, you know, and I think in the leadership roles, you know, one of the best things you can do is just be consistent,
And that's calming, you know, if you really understand that it's not what version of, my manager or leader is coming into the office today type thing you know
yeah and I think we all worked in places where there was a great culture and places where there was not so great culture but how do you measure the culture you think you built versus the culture that the team is actually experiencing
yeah it's just about everywhere that you work there's sort of like an annual review on that sort of stuff and and I I I kind of cringe at it, to be honest, because it's, you know, trying to get a pulse check through a tick box exercise is a very digitised way of trying to understand something that's so far softer, right, and analogue.
in the weeds, in the ground with people, you know, water call chats, the coffee chats, the, you know, team events, you know, you get a sense very quickly from those sort of activities and the pressure on projects, project delivery, you know, how people are operating is a real testament to what the culture is like, you know, if you've got if you've got people that are under pressure but still calm, not losing it, you know, and people are supporting them within the team, people are there for them.
Yeah, and whether you work in the public sector or in the private sector, there is a big aspect, which is culture.
And sometimes people in teams may perceive that that's used as a buzzword rather than meaning actually something for them.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast, right? And so you can have the best strategy in place in an organisation, but if the culture's not leading, you know, the leading side, that strategy's not going to play out.
And so, yeah, to me, when I think about culture, I want people to feel valued.
I want people to feel that they've got a voice and that they really enjoy coming in to do what they're doing.
And they're in a certain inclusive environment where it's exciting, it's fun, it's challenging.
And, you know, it's easy to sort of throw those words out and you're in the cut and thrust of trying to deliver something and you need, like, a lot of action or you've got a non-performer or something like that.
you know, holistically, you kind of need all those things to come together.
And, you know, and I think in the leadership roles, you know, one of the best things you can do is just be consistent,
And that's calming, you know, if you really understand that it's not what version of, my manager or leader is coming into the office today type thing you know
yeah and I think we all worked in places where there was a great culture and places where there was not so great culture but how do you measure the culture you think you built versus the culture that the team is actually experiencing
yeah it's just about everywhere that you work there's sort of like an annual review on that sort of stuff and and I I I kind of cringe at it, to be honest, because it's, you know, trying to get a pulse check through a tick box exercise is a very digitised way of trying to understand something that's so far softer, right, and analogue.
in the weeds, in the ground with people, you know, water call chats, the coffee chats, the, you know, team events, you know, you get a sense very quickly from those sort of activities and the pressure on projects, project delivery, you know, how people are operating is a real testament to what the culture is like, you know, if you've got if you've got people that are under pressure but still calm, not losing it, you know, and people are supporting them within the team, people are there for them.
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