What Project Managers really need to know about leadership
This is a guest post by Martin Webster from The Lazy Leader.
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What most have in common is an emphasis on project management accreditation, project planning, risk management, reporting progress, controlling change, managing and escalating issues and suchlike. Now these things are important. They are the requisite skills of the competent project manager.
But they don’t guarantee success!
Project leadership
When I think of the successful project managers I’ve hired, it’s not their qualifications that come to mind. No, it is their ability, attitude and behavior. Each project manager has distinctive leadership qualities. For instance:
- motivation
- enthusiasm
- tenacity
- integrity
- leadership
- communication
- action, and so on.
Here’s why.
Managing projects is tough
Managing projects is tough. And, some things will inevitably go awry … as tensions rise outcomes are questioned and people start behaving unpredictably. Some will pass blame while others put up barriers … no one can be relied on to keep their integrity.
And, the project manager has to hold things together and navigate through the conflict and always focus on a solution. A good project schedule or risk management plan may certainly help, but it is project leadership that brings the team back on track.
Let me explain …
The Balcony and the Dance Floor
The project manager needs to keep in balance the overall project objectives — the complexity of every task and risk — with the organizational context. In other words, the project manager spends time between the balcony and dance floor.
The dance floor metaphor, introduced by Ronald Heifetz in the 1990s, alerts us to get underneath the specific activities of managing projects and to look for patterns and causes affecting project performance.
When facing a particular challenge, the project manager needs to understand why there is a problem before finding a solution. This is the difference between the detailed knowledge of project tasks and risks and an awareness of the project environment and how it changes over time.
For example, think about the team manager holding back performance information. What do you do? If you’re prone to losing your temper or making demands that can’t be met, is it such a surprise that people withhold information for fear of repercussions? Or, when people cut corners to get the job done, what do you do?
If you squabble or pass blame, you are part of the problem when it is your job is to find a solution.
So, step on to the balcony.
Learn to understand what is going on. Projects look different from the balcony. There are ways of dealing with poor results, but not on the dance floor, chastising the communication of poor results.
When the schedule inevitably slips, give direction and support, while understanding what is going on. Project leaders create the right conditions to solve such problems. And, only then draw on their project management skills to plan for the consequence of poor results and delay.
About the Author: Martin Webster is managing solution architect for a large UK public sector organization and has more than 20 years’ experience in project delivery and business change. He works with senior people to solve complex business problems. Martin also writes regularly about project management, leadership teams and business change.
This article first appeared on this website in 2014.
