Professional Excellence

The training path for engineers focuses intensely on scientific and technical knowledge. Yet, our professional and personal satisfaction and success also depend on other traits that make us more effective and productive. In this thought-provoking book, Alan Rossiter provides practical guidance in developing the skills to become more effective in your work, while also balancing your life. It is invaluable reading for graduating college students and young professionals as well as seasoned practitioners who find that work is becoming all-consuming.

FOREWORD ix

PREFACE xi

PROLOGUE: POSING A QUESTION xiii

I THE WORLD OF WORK 1

Chapter 1 Motivated to Work 3

Chapter 2 Life and Work 13

Chapter 3 Ethics at Work 19

II ELEMENTS OF PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE 27

Chapter 4 Communicating Effectively 29

Chapter 5 Fulfilling Commitments 43

Chapter 6 Recognizing and Expanding Your Professional Limits 57

Chapter 7 Investing in Your Profession and in Your Community 63

Chapter 8 Affirming Your Coworkers 71

Chapter 9 Celebrating Your Work 77

Chapter 10 Protecting Your Personal Life 81

EPILOGUE: NOTHING LASTS FOREVER 95

APPENDIX: TEXT OF THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH 101

REFERENCES 103

INDEX 107

Alan Rossiter, PHD, is President of Rossiter & Associates, an industrial process improvement consulting company working primarily in the field of energy efficiency. In addition to consulting projects for companies such as ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and BP, he provides training courses in pinch analysis and energy management. He also runs a separate series of courses in communication skills, engineering ethics, and professional excellence. Dr. Rossiter has more than twenty-five years of process engineering and management experience, and authored more than fifty publications, including numerous book chapters and refereed journal articles. He is a chartered engineer, a registered professional engineer (Texas), and a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK).

"What, apart from your technical competence, is important in your career?"
—From the Preface

The training path for engineers focuses intensely on scientific and technical knowledge. Yet, our professional and personal satisfaction and success also depend on othertraits that make us more effective and productive. In this thought-provoking book, author Alan Rossiter provides practical guidance in developing these skills.

Professional Excellence: Beyond Technical Competence:

• Provides tools and tips to help you become more effective in your work, while also balancing your life

• Defines seven key elements or characteristics

• Includes anecdotes from Rossiter's own vast experience

• Features inspiring quotations from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Socrates, Confucius, Will Rogers, John F. Kennedy, the Bible, and more

• Covers topics and disciplines including ethics, psychology, philosophy, communication, time management, and more

• Includes questions after each chapter that can be used for group discussion or personal reflection

A perfect gift for graduating college students or young professionals, this is also an enlightening book for the seasoned practitioner who finds that work is becoming all-consuming. It's a simple read for time-pressured professionals and business people who want to enhance their professional excellence.