Are you generally so excited to get to work every day that occasionally you show up wearing one brown and one black sock? Do you find it difficult to stop thinking about the exciting things you’re working on, even after you’ve left the office? When you talk to people about what you do and the projects you’re designing, do you go on and on, your eyes sparkling? Or, are you mostly glad to get away from it all, leaving your work behind you at day’s end and not feeling eager to get back to it the next day?

When you’re in an introspective mood, have you ever sat back and wondered, "Was my choice of engineering a calling or just a career selection—an avocation or a job?" Perhaps it was a decision you arrived at through a process of elimination: You didn’t like blood, so medicine was out; you didn’t like to argue, so law was out; you didn’t like being closed up in laboratories, so pure science was out; and so forth.

People who become engineers are usually pragmatic and smart, especially regarding mathematics and the physical sciences. Because of that, they can go into any occupation they want, with the exception of those requiring attributes such as superior athletic or musical skills. When these attributes are present, would-be engineers usually pursue them instead of engineering. For example, Frank Sinatra, as a youth, had plans to be an engineer, but singing and acting— and the lure of Hollywood-type fame and fortune—got in his way.

Any number of celebrities such as "Old Blue Eyes" could be added to the list of potential engineers who were sidetracked. And it can be debated how good an engineer they would have been had their core passion not been engineering.

However, it would be pointless.

It is what it is. More concentration and praise needs to be paid to those who followed through with their plans and became engineering icons. Indeed, the many great structural engineers who have made our profession significant and noble could well sing one of Sinatra’s theme songs, "My Way." Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to meet a good number of such engineering superstars— visionaries who passionately believed that being a top engineer requires embracing the profession as a vocation. Just being around, or working with, these types of leaders is inspiring, uplifting, and career-affirming. If you’re like me, you can’t help but be motivated to become the best you can be—within engineering and beyond.

We can learn life-altering lessons, not only about engineering but about ourselves, from the structural greats who pursued engineering as a serious vocation. The late T.Y. Lin, for instance, taught us to never give up on our dreams. He kept alive one of his dreams his entire life—to build a great bridge spanning the Bering Strait. Discussing it with people such as President Ronald Reagan always brought a twinkle to his eyes, even when he was in his 90s.

The legendary educator Hardy Cross, of "moment distribution" fame, consistently pushed his students and disciples to ask and command, "Why, why, why? Dig until the problem is clearly defined." Under his tutelage, leading educators and the founders of some of America’s most prominent engineering firms, including CH2MHill, developed their great love for engineering.

In a recent presentation to the American Engineering Alliance (AEA) in New York City, Frank Lombardi (chief engineer for the New York Port Authority and an ardent "engineering-is-a-calling" advocate) electrified his audience with his passion. He explained why and when engineers should be societal leaders, how to lead, and what good things happen when they do.

In addition to honing their talents to take on big-picture leadership roles, Lombardi reaffirmed that engineers need to maintain a passion for solving complex technical problems, dealing with scientific equations, and coming up with creative structural designs day after day. As he also pointed out, such demanding skills can be maximized only if engineers treat their profession as a calling, because each skill requires extreme dedication to excellence.

Succeeding at business, making money, or receiving industry accolades drives many structural engineers. No problem with that. However, to stay grounded and ethical, both in business practices and in delivering the most value to our clients on the projects we design, suggests a need to approach what we do as more than a job.

As you contemplate your work, now and in the future, it would behoove you to ask, "Is mine a passionate calling, or am I an engineer just because it’s a job?"

Richard Weingardt, P.E., is CEO and chairman of Richard Weingardt Consultants, Inc., a Denver-based structural engineering firm. He can be reached via e-mail at rweingardt@gostructural.com.