Inside Shive-Hattery's Leadership Development Program | Jennifer Bennett

Jennifer Bennett didn't think she had what it took to be a leader. As a structural engineer coming up at Shive-Hattery, she assumed leadership required a natural charisma she didn't have. In 2007 she was invited to participate in the firm's Leadership Development Program and changed her mind. Today she's President and CEO of the 750-person, 18-office architecture and engineering firm, and she runs the program herself. In this episode of the Smarter by Design podcast, Jennifer takes us inside how Shive-Hattery’s Leadership Development Program actually works: the cohort structure, the Socratic teaching method, the five curriculum pillars (business acumen, negotiation, high-performance teams, culture and values, emotional and social competence), and the real strategic projects each cohort tackles over their 15-18 months together. She also shares how she builds the trust a cohort needs to succeed and how the program itself is evolving as she brings her executive team in to teach modules so the firm can double how many future leaders it reaches each year. At its core, Shive-Hattery’s Leadership Development Program isn't just about developing individual leaders — it's about teaching people to lead change in a way that's consistent with Shive-Hattery's culture and to carry that culture forward as they rise. That's part of a bigger act of stewardship. Shive-Hattery is a firm with more than 125 years of history and Jennifer sees investing in future leaders as central to how the firm sustains, evolves, and grows for decades to come. Past leaders invested in her generation; now it's her generation’s turn to pay forward. If you lead an AEC firm or are thinking about what it takes to build a leadership culture and an enduring firm, this episode is for you. ## **Guests** Jennifer Bennett, President and CEO, Shive-Hattery As President/CEO of Shive-Hattery, Jennifer Bennett is responsible for the overall leadership, strategic planning, culture, vision and direction of current and future operations. Bennett joined the employee-owned design firm in 2003 and has 25+ years of experience of client service, talent development and market growth. She has a structural engineering background and previously served as the Vice President and Office Director of Shive-Hattery’s Quad Cities location. ## Episode Resources The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business — Patrick Lencioni The Leadership Pipeline: Developing Leaders in the Digital Age — Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, James L. Noel, and Kent Jonasen First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group of Professionals — Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ — Daniel Goleman What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative — Jim Collins Another Way: Building Companies That Last — Dave Whorton with Bo Burlingham ## Credits Host: Christopher Parsons Executive Producers: Denise Parsons, Christopher Parsons Editor: Coe Hoeksema Theme Song: “We Took the BART” — Written and Performed by The Parents ## **Chapters** (00:00) Welcome and Episode Introduction (02:46) Firm Overview and Jennifer's Path to Leadership (09:10) What Good Leadership Looks Like (12:00) Inside the Leadership Development Program (15:58) The Socratic Method and the First Team Concept (20:55) Culture, Onboarding, and Cohort Selection (28:22) Business Acumen, Financials, and Negotiation (37:05) Building High-Performance Teams (41:13) Culture, Values, and Mentorship (56:22) The ESCI 360 Assessment (01:08:03) What's Next: Scaling the Program (01:15:52) Building a Long-Term Sustainable Company and Culture