Walking and talking sensors : conceptualising restorative leadership to enhance people management education in engineering

The social dynamics interfering with engineering design expose engineers to workplace conflicts, undermining well-being and productivity. This strengthens the case for engineering management competences, and conflict management in particular. This conceptual study deepens understanding of industrial leadership by integrating prior knowledge of successful leadership and effective conflict management. Their parallel analysis shows that conflict management capacity is inherent in successful industrial leadership and that at their crossroads emerges a novel management mode, restorative leadership. It draws on two levels of personal capacity: (1) on the intrapersonal level, qualities promoting self-leadership help minimise the risk of relationship conflict and maximise the probability of constructive dispute resolution; (2) on the interpersonal level, clarity of communication and directness help prevent the risk of disputes and serve as instruments in conflict resolution. The findings are promising for higher engineering educators as the critical components of restorative leadership are learnable and teachable.