Building Bridges
I recently went one on one with Jenn Donahue, a U.S. Navy Captain and the President of JL Donahue Engineering.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Jenn: Adam, thanks for having me. I wear many hats in my life: an engineer, entrepreneur, and Naval officer. Over my 24-year military career, I have built a bridge across the Euphrates river in the midst of the Iraq war, commanded an 800-personnel Battalion in Afghanistan, and constructed combat outposts in the middle of deserts filled with insurgents. I have led earthquake and tsunami reconnaissance missions in places like Samoa and Japan; designed the seismic plans for a bridge over the Panama Canal; and built roads in the coldest climes of Ketchikan. Today I run JL Donahue Engineering, Inc. and lecture at UC Berkeley and UCLA.
I started at Texas A&M as an Ocean Engineer (just think Civil Engineering but add water). After graduating, I joined the Navy as a Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officer and had the opportunity to travel the world. CEC officers work on expeditionary construction for the US Marine Corps, US Army, and other nations. For instance, when I was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, we would drive out to the middle of nowhere, circle up the vehicles and point the guns out. Then we build a basecamp, water well, or even a school in the middle.
After leaving active duty, I remained in the reserves and joined the corporate world before going back to school to earn my master’s and PhD in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering (just think Civil Engineering, but with lots of ground shaking). After working for larger corporations, I struck out on my own and started my company in 2017, specializing in seismic hazard analysis.
But to get where I am today has not been all rainbows and unicorns. Along the way, I have had great opportunities for leading, and often I fell on my face. My first miserable failure was attempting to lead 12 people as a junior officer in my first battalion. I didn’t know how to lead so I looked to the more senior officer. They were yellers, and I thought “oh, this is how you are supposed to lead; you yell at people to make them do what you want.” So, I yelled at my team…and it felt awful. I shattered the trust I had begun to build and had become “one of those officers.” Luckily, I got a second chance. I was assigned to drill and blast a road for the Metlakatlan native American tribe. Here I was, a 26-year-old, in charge of 18 men on a remote island off the coast of Alaska doing something I had never done before. I was excited, but a bit apprehensive after my previous failure. Luckily, they paired me with a seasoned, crusty Chief (the rank of E7). He took me aside and helped me understand not only the principles of leadership, but who I was as a leader. Those 6 months on Annette Island, where my men practiced their craft, was my leadership training grounds. I’ll expound a little more in the following questions.
Adam: How were you able to cultivate relationships with large brand name organizations and turn them into clients? What advice do you have for fellow entrepreneurs on how to win business from large companies?
Jenn: For me, it has always been about organic connections. My first big win was with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, representing 5.2 million households. A friend from graduate school, who worked in their Geosciences Department, mentioned that they were understaffed and needed help. It started small, mainly with projects that they either did not have time for or were not that appealing to them. These were not the glamorous, high-dollar projects, but I saw the opportunity. Meticulously I completed the work on-time and at/under budget. I got to know more members of the staff and understand their requirements and shortfalls.
Over the course of the first six months, the department staff realized I was also capable of assisting them and larger, more technical projects became available. Soon, I was fully engrained in their organization and a trusted member of the staff. They even set up a desk for me. It started small, but they have been my largest client for the past 7 years.
But that’s not where it ends. I developed a reputation with PG&E not only as a technical master, but as a “good person to work with.” All of the major utilities converse on a regular basis and when one of them needs someone for an assignment, my name would come up. I’ve learned that it’s not just about being the best technically—most companies want someone they will enjoy working with.
For fellow entrepreneurs, if you don’t already have a network of friends and allies, begin immediately. One of the best ways to do this is to join and get involved in a professional organization or two. Attend the monthly local meetings, either in person or virtually these days, and start to cultivate relationships. Submitting an abstract and presenting at the yearly conference is a requirement because it shows that you are an expert in your field and are contributing to the profession. Plus, it gets you up in front of 200 people who now know your name. Research which potential clients might attend the conference and go visit their booth. Spend time with the people manning that booth; they will appreciate it and remember you.
And lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. Chances are, you know someone who knows someone at a major corporation. As you grow your network, you will begin to notice how many people want to see you succeed and will assist you where they can. Develop the courage to ask for an introduction.
Adam: More broadly, what are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs?
Jenn:
Find a mentor(s): As entrepreneurs, we have that mindset that we are going out into the world, alone and unafraid. And that’s a great mentality to have, but there is room for mentorship. Find someone who has gone before you. They lived the same trials you will encounter and can help you avoid the pitfalls that may await you.
Have a clear vision: You can’t be everything to everybody. Generalists are typically overlooked because clients already have them in-house. You know your specialty but research the client’s needs and “what keeps them up at night.” If you can make your specialty fit their shortfall…perfect. If not, don’t stretch it to something that it is not just so you can get the job. Clients will see through you and your credibility will suffer.
Cultivate relationships, not impersonal partnerships: The business world is more intimate than you think and the degrees of separation between you and potential clients is small. Ensure you have a good reputation that will proceed you. Create allies that will sponsor and stand by you. And whatever you do, don’t burn bridges.
BONUS: Understand what you can’t do well. For me, I know that I need a good accountant. I tried to do my own business taxes the first year, and let’s just say, it did not go as well as I would have hoped (don’t worry, I’m not being audited). There will be certain aspects of your business that you can’t do or will require too much of your time. Learn when it’s best to subcontract these tasks out to make you more productive or keep you out of jail.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Jenn: Effective leaders have a few traits in common:
The ability to convey intent effectively and clearly. In the military and even in business, intent is everything. It gives the purpose of what you are doing, the essential details, and the end goal. What it does not do is tell your team how to do it. Intent provides your team the ability to be creative and develop their own powerful solutions.
Selflessness: Effective leaders know that in the end, it is not about them. They are there to grow and develop the members of their teams. They understand the needs of the team and facilitate the resources to make them successful.
Decisiveness: Leaders have to make decisions, often without 100% of the information. An effective leader will make the decision based on the available information in the best interest of the client, project, or team. If additional information becomes available, that decision can always be modified. But waiting until all the information is in can lead to paralysis by analysis. Make the decision and move forward.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Jenn: I call it the 3 B’s:
Be Self-Aware: Take an honest assessment of your strengths but also your weaknesses. There are many ways to do this: CliftonStrengths, Myers & Briggs, DiSC Assessments, etc. The one that helped me the most was a 360 Assessment. In a 360, your bosses, colleagues and subordinates provide feedback to you. My subordinates pointed out that I don’t delegate well. I would “hold on to things to make sure they were done timely and to my personal standards.” I wasn’t trusting them and giving them a chance to show me what they were capable of. I had been doing this most of my career, but it took a 360 to bring this to my consciousness. Ask yourself, what can you improve upon, or need to delegate out?
Be Proficient: Never stop learning, both Professionally and Personally. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, but you need to understand what you don’t know. Be vulnerable and find the subject matter expert on an aspect of the project that you don’t understand. Sit down with them to explain it and ask what the most important features are to know. This shows that you are willing to listen and to learn. This is one of the first steps in developing trust within your team.
Be Yourself: Understand your spectrum of leadership and operate within it. Each of your team members might respond to a different type of leadership. For one person, you may need to be overly direct in your instructions. For another, that directness may send them crying to the bathroom. There is no one-size-fits-all characteristic for leadership. As an example, back to Question 1, I know that I am not a yeller. But for some team members, I need to look them directly in the eye, don’t blink, get profoundly serious, and speak with authority in order to get my point across. Although I may not have been comfortable with this in the beginning, I have slowly learned the boundaries in which I feel confident.
Adam: What are the best leadership lessons you learned from your time in the Navy?
Jenn: There are so many lessons I’ve learned from the Navy. Over my 24 years, I seem to learn something new all the time by observing others and finding those who I would want to emulate. They are typically those that inspire, lead by example, have integrity, and are confident yet empathetic. These are all qualities I would like to exhibit myself. I have also come to realize that I am not the bold, powerful, larger-than-life type of leader, and I am wonderfully comfortable with that. The Navy has taught me who I want to be and can be as a leader.
This next lesson might be a bit controversial. I believe you can learn as much from bad leaders as you do from inspiring ones. We have all had bad leaders. Analyze them in different settings and situations and commit to memory their immediate reactions. Study through these situations and plan how you could react differently. One day as a leader, most likely you will be presented with the exact same situation. Your immediate reactions will be what distinguishes you from the bad leaders. It’s happened to me on several occasions where I had to stop myself and think of the destructive way I was about to do or say something and the scary similarities to a bad leader. The preparation stopped me, and I was able to respond in a more constructive way.
Adam: What are the best leadership lessons you learned from your experience as an engineer?
Jenn: I learned a great deal from a man named Rudy Bonaparte. He was the President and CEO of an engineering company I used to work for, and he made it a point to get to know everyone in the company. He did this with a stack of index cards. Everyone in the company had a card. They would start off simply with where you graduated from.
On our first visit, he acknowledged I received my masters and PhD degrees from his alma mater of UC Berkeley. He went on in a friendly conversation asking more questions to get to know me… was I married, have kids, what projects was I working on, etc. What I didn’t realize was that at the end of the day, he would recount these conversations onto the index cards. Months would go by before he would visit the office again. When he did, he would take that stack of cards with him on the plane and put to memory everything he knew about you. Then he would then visit you in your office and start the conversation almost where he had left off last time. He would ask about my husband, Sean. How did that project go? Have you thought about writing a journal article on the findings? It was astounding.
As 1 of 800+ employees, how could the President of the company know and care about me that much?
I didn’t know about the index cards until a few years later. When asked by this practice, he simply stated: “I just want to emphasize that the cards were only a tool I used due to memory limitations. I really did want to get to know everyone because I felt we were a family, and I felt a commitment to the people who had decided to work at our firm. It was never a gimmick and I think it is important to stress that. If you are not sincere and honest, your colleagues will feel it.”
This small act inspires incredible trust and loyalty. When I left the company to start my own business, I had to call Rudy. It broke my heart to have to tell him that I was leaving. I actually cried on the phone because I was afraid that I had let him down.
Isn’t this the type of leader we would all aspire to be?
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to business and civic leaders?
Jenn:
Find a mentor or multiple mentors: There is nothing new under the sun and someone has gone before you. Learn from them. Consider multiple mentors, each having a different specialty. This will give you the widest range of experience to draw from.
Know yourself: This goes back to understanding who you are as a leader. Self-reflect and self-analyze who you are as a leader. The 1400 B.C. Delphic maxim on the Temple of Apollo states “Know Themselves.” If it was important then, it is still important now.
Know your team: Train, guide, and trust your team. Understand not only what their strengths and weaknesses are, but what are their aspirations? Provide the resources they need to be successful and encourage them to exercise initiative.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Jenn: The best piece of advice I ever received was from an entry in my high school yearbook. I know this sounds crazy. Most of the entries from my friends were probably like something you also had: “so glad we were friends, keep in touch,” “have a great time at Texas A&M,” etc. But one entry stood out. It was from someone who wasn’t exactly a close friend, but we had most of our classes together. She wrote, “Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not just to please others.” At the ripe age of 18, I wasn’t sure how to take that. What was she trying to say? Does she think I’m fake or something?
Little did I realize what sage advice this actually was. After all these numerous years, it is still as relevant today as it was at 18. As leaders, we need to understand who we are and not try to be a type of leader others think we should be. Be yourself, or others will see right through you.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Jenn: I am currently writing a book called Cultivating Courage. It is for aspiring leaders who are likely to be thrust into the unexpected, with the pressures and potential fear that come with leadership. It is due out in the spring of 2022.
For my podcast interviews with leading CEOs, founders of household name companies, decorated generals and admirals, and Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, visit Thirty Minute Mentors. For more on Jenn, visit www.jenndonahue.com.