Don鈥檛 expect your engineering credentials to impress many people at your landfill. Be ready to earn their respect the old-fashioned way.
Adam Jochelson, P. E., MOLO
鈥�Frat-Boy Engineer!鈥� That鈥檚 what they called me for the first couple months. And I probably don鈥檛 have to tell you that it wasn鈥檛 meant as a compliment. I didn鈥檛 join a fraternity at Duke, but aside from the fact that the label was inaccurate, I can hardly blame them for the sentiment. I had documents and plaques attesting to my understanding of the engineering principles of the facility, but that meant little to guys who had spent more years than I鈥檇 been alive operating landfill equipment.
It was clear from the start that if I wanted respect from my landfill operators, I was going to have to earn it and I was okay with that. It was plainly obvious to me who were the most important people at the facility, and that I wasn鈥檛 looking at one of them in the mirror. Keep in mind that my first day at McCommas Bluff, was in fact my first day at a landfill.
听
Respect Begets Respect
Respect and appreciation doesn鈥檛 come easily at a landfill. It takes hard work to earn your stripes, but the effort is well worth the reward. Remember that completion of any project at your facility will require a team effort. So you need to make sure everyone at your facility is on your team. The best way to earn the respect you need for this is to give it in equal measure. Take the time to learn your operators鈥� experiences and work together with them to implement new policies and practices. Ask them to teach you what they know about operating equipment, pushing and packing waste, managing storm water flow, etc.
By making them stakeholders in the process, you鈥檒l engender confidence in the ultimate solution you want. Plus, you鈥檒l break down barriers to implementation. But you must be sincere in your inclusion of their input. Most people can tell if you鈥檙e giving their thoughts serious consideration before proceeding. If it鈥檚 obvious that you always end up going forward with your own original plans, you lose any of the benefits reaped by asking them in the first place. You may even end up in a worse place than when you started, because your operators won鈥檛 trust your intentions.
听
Trust Me! I鈥檓 an Engineer
Ultimately, the teams that perform best are the ones that trust each other to do what needs to be done to put the group in the best position to win. You plan and prepare together so your execution in the field is as good as you can manage. This requires recognition of the fact that, at any given time, some of the players won鈥檛 be in the game, and that sometimes you鈥檒l have let your ideas take a back seat to some of your operators. Some days you鈥檒l be the captain, leading your team toward success. Other days you鈥檒l be pushing from the rear while someone with more experience in a particular skill takes the helm. Still other days, you鈥檒l be on the sideline cheering your guys (and gals) on.
Being good at recognizing the right time to fill each role is a characteristic of quality leadership. If you want a strong team that performs confidently at all times, you must build bonds of trust amongst the group. The best way to do that is to make sure everyone knows that his or her contribution is important, and that their voices are heard and considered in the planning stages. It takes time and effort to reach that goal, but the benefits pretty much always outweigh the costs. And once you鈥檙e there, it鈥檚 like a gift that keeps on giving.
听
Long-Term Loyalty
I had to overcome a lot of skepticism when I first arrived at McCommas Bluff Landfill. My education and degree didn鈥檛 garner automatic respect from the equipment operators. To overcome their reservations, I spent several years asking them to teach me what they knew, show me how to do it myself, and let me prove that I could do it too. Because of that, when the time came that I needed them to help me complete important projects, they were ready to go to bat for me. That kind of loyalty doesn鈥檛 come easy, and it doesn鈥檛 die quickly either.
I left my position at the City of Dallas on my birthday in 2011. I鈥檝e been gone over four years now, but the guys I worked with there still stop me for a chat whenever I鈥檓 back onsite (I visit pretty regularly) or if I see them out and about. They let me know how the place is running, and ask me when I鈥檓 coming back to work there. There have definitely been times that I鈥檝e considered the idea of returning to McCommas Bluff鈥擨鈥檝e yet to act on that impulse. But it鈥檚 nice to know that I had a positive impact on the place and that I鈥檓 missed.
听
Adam Jochelson, P. E., MOLO, is a Landfill Engineer and Facility Specialist working for GeoShack, Inc. (Dallas, TX), where he promotes the application of cutting edge technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of landfill operations. Adam built his knowledge and techniques over a nine-year period as the onsite engineer at McCommas Bluff Landfill in Dallas, TX. His unique experiences in engineering and other fields have combined to create an exceptional understanding of the various challenges inherent in landfill planning, design, and operations. Adam can be reached at (972) 342-3055 or via e-mail at [email protected].