PM Network
Make sure that each day begins with an empowered mindset. Check your readiness to satisfactorily take on each day’s adventures with the following T/F statements.
Far-Sighted
PM Network
Virtual teams are commonplace today. Here are some actions to take that are especially important when working with remote team members.
Reality Check
PM Network
As disheartening as it might be to admit, weak leadership is far more pervasive than strong leadership. This article examines some common myths about what it takes to be an effective leader.
7 Ways to Stay on Top
PM Network
Innovation is essential for any organization to remain competitive. Here are seven ways project managers can advance innovation within their organizations, with only minimal involvement from management.
Three Snaps of the Fingers
PM Network
Here’s the real reason why projects fail. For me, it comes down to how quickly you can answer one question: What are your project’s top three problems …and are you working them with the appropriate sense of urgency?
Fringe Benefits
PM Network
There are plenty of reasons to love being a leader. Here are 10 of them.
Nothing Personal
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The most successful leaders don’t make things personal or take things personally. Instead, they know it’s just business and behave accordingly. This article addresses the importance of keeping a business focus about you.
Get Over It
PM Network
Everyone makes mistakes—especially those striving to move their teams, organizations and careers forward. The most effective leaders learn to move on. This article reveals four primary actions necessary to deal with a mistake.
Leaders Are Teachers, Too
PM Network
There is no better method for a person to learn and perfect a craft than by having a mentor guide them along the way. This article encourages you to add mentoring to your toolbox of skills. Listed are some of the more noteworthy benefits in becoming a mentor.
It’s About Time
PM Network
The subject of working overtime is a common, and often emotional, topic. Here are some thoughts that can serve as a baseline for consideration and discussion of this important topic in your organization.
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Process Paralysis
PM Network®
Project management methodologies can be an emotional topic among project stakeholders. Here are some common causes of process paralysis—and ways to fix them.
Make It Happen
PM Network
The most effective leaders do not subscribe to destiny. You won’t hear them saying things like, “It was meant to be.” They know successful projects happen because you make them happen. This article identifies negative behavior as well as actions you can adopt to “make things happen.”
On Your Best Behavior
PM Network
We’re always searching for those attributes that make the difference between a good leader and a great one. Here’s a starter list of the behaviors and actions that set the leaders that you admire most apart from the pack.
In Hindsight
PM Network
There is no better way for an organization to consistently improve itself and become more competitive than to perform routine post-project reviews and to apply the lessons learned going forward. This article presents a 12-step process to help you and your organization improve its review process.
Work It Out
PM Network
Members of a project team or organization cannot be expected to perform according to a specific preferred set of expectations or culture unless that culture is well defined. This article introduces the tool of Performance Expectation (PX) workshops to help define these expectations so they can be discussed and addressed across an organization.
Sole Control
PM Network
Sharing power rarely works well and almost always harms people, projects and outcomes. This article shares eight reasons that sharing power should be avoided. By making one person accountable—in charge and driving the endeavor—we are more in control over our destiny and far more motivated to excel.
Allied Forces
PM Network
Leadership involves creating a more productive work environment. By adopting project analysts in performing a major support role for project managers, organizations can free up project managers to take on more projects and perform more effectively. This article reveals the more significant duties of the project analyst.
Integrity Is Not an Option
Don’t cut corners when it comes to your character.
by Neal Whitten, PMP, Contributing Editor
More than ever, the business world needs leaders who routinely practice integrity. By integrity, I mean knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing the right action.
All of us, as leaders, must be role models for integrity. Most of us have a great internal mechanism that helps us immediately recognize the difference between right and wrong. A problem can occur, however, as we find ourselves looking for that competitive edge to help us, our products and our companies be as successful as possible. What may begin as a slight shaving of the edges of right and wrong can turn into a wholesale belief that integrity is for others to practice and no longer applies to this situation. Wrong! Integrity applies to all of us all of the time.
Collateral Damage
What should you do if you encounter illegal or unethical behavior? First of all, never support someone who engages in it. If you do, expect to go down as part of the collateral damage. If you think the person will protect you, think again. People who commit illegal or unethical activities are notorious for selling out those loyal to them.
You have several choices: do nothing, distance yourself from the behavior or be a whistle-blower.
If you choose to do nothing, the danger is that you seem to support and condone the behavior. This can set you up for being an accomplice. Moreover, you could end up constantly looking over your shoulder. Fear can eat at you day and night—not a good way to live a happy and quality life.
Choosing to leave the organization or company is, of course, not always easy. There may not be another job for you in another organization. You might have to relocate. A job search also can be a great hardship. While clearly an option, distancing yourself can be a mighty high price to pay.
To many people, being a whistle-blower could be considered the high road. You are exposing illegal or unethical behavior and working within the system to make it a better place for all to work. Unfortunately, not everyone holds whistle-blowers in such high esteem, particularly those who have condoned or supported the poor behavior—or have friends that are being exposed for it. This can be a lonely road, albeit one where your conscience is clear. Because illegal and unethical behavior can take a long time to uncover and reach closure, you may have to continue to work around the very people you have exposed—and some may never be punished.
You say you don’t like your options? Nobody does. There is no simple answer. However, confiding in a trusted third party and talking through the options can help. Most of us will likely come across illegal or unethical behavior at some time in our careers. Again, whatever you do, do not become a part of it, or you will surely go down with it.
Speak Up For Yourself
What if your boss directs you to do something that’s not illegal or unethical but with which you disagree? Should you do it anyway? Yes. You can read an organizational chart. But first discuss the issue with your boss to make your perspective clear. This is integrity, too—have the courage to speak up for your own strongly held opinions.
If you do what your boss says, but later other people of equal or higher authority tell you that they disagree with your actions, is it okay to say that you were only following orders? In general, avoid being overtly transparent. You want to support your boss. However, in a case where your actions could harm your reputation or career, I would recommend not taking the blame for a decision that was thrust upon you—provided you had been clear in presenting your position. If you did not bother to offer a counter position, then you are just as much at fault as your boss.
Your integrity represents a window into your character. As a leader, you must use it to build your success and the success of those you lead.
Do You Really “Get” Your Job?
“Good enough” leadership shouldn’t be the norm.
by Neal Whitten, PMP, Contributing Editor
My experience is that most “leaders” don’t understand their jobs, roles and responsibilities. They think they do. They mean well. But they don’t quite “get it.”
And because so many leaders truly don’t understand what is expected of them, they fail to consistently achieve the level of success possible, the one that is increasingly required. Instead, they eke by with marginal leadership:
- Providing just enough to get by
- Working mostly on those problems within reach, the ones that are the least complicated and easiest to solve
- Taking the paths of least resistance
- Relying on others—often blindly—to perform their perceived duties
- Avoiding the toughest battles, even though they may be the most important and urgent for the overall success of the project, organization or mission.
How can marginal leadership be so pervasive with so many successful products and companies in the world? Because it is often the norm. It’s viewed as “good enough” leadership. It gets the job done—albeit marginally.
Relying on marginal leadership is not good enough anymore. The global competitive environment we all find ourselves tied to demands the bar for effective leadership be raised.
Let’s look at some common examples of marginal leadership:
- A project manager who doesn’t visit problem vendors to ensure that schedules are met and quality processes adhered to so that the project comes in on time, within budget and is of high quality
- A business analyst who believes that her job is to give the client what they want, instead of what they need
- A team member who doesn’t understand the burden of tracking dependencies doesn’t just rest on the project manager, but is also the responsibility of the person dependent on the deliverable
- A quality assurance manager who believes that the mission is only to deliver product to requirements, rather than to ensure that the development organization builds and delivers a product of acceptable quality into the test phase
- A human resource manager who sees his primary role as providing skilled resources to the project managers and does not continuously work with employees to help them reach their potential in the company
- A project sponsor who, while working with project managers, does not practice two very important tenets of leadership: Define what you expect from others and routinely inspect what you expect from others.
These people all think that they “get it,” that they are operating within an acceptable level but they all fall far short of the leadership required to be truly effective.
As a leader, you have the duty to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of those who work under your direction and within your domain of responsibility. But you have the same responsibility to those who work alongside and above you. You must define your own roles and responsibilities and negotiate expectations with your boss.
People will perform to your expectations only if they know what those expectations are. Don’t assume that people understand their jobs—even if they’ve been in their positions for years. People do not know how to be held accountable for something that they fundamentally do not understand.
Demonstrating marginal leadership, up to now, has often been sufficient. But tolerance for marginal leadership is declining—and rightfully so. The best leaders define the jobs of those that can affect their domains of responsibility. Then they work alongside them to coach them to greatness.
Jaw-Dropping Resumes
To make a difference in your current position, think about how your next employer would view your accomplishments.
by Neal Whitten, PMP, Contributing Editor
You have a challenging job. You have a lot of responsibility. You work hard—often longer hours than you would like. There’s a lot riding on your leadership to make things happen. At the end of the day, when the dust has settled and you reflect on your decisions, actions and their impacts, ask yourself these questions: What have I achieved—or am I achieving—that is truly noteworthy? What is my impact to the project, organization or company? In other words, do your actions foreshadow a great resume? Are you making the difference you want to make or need to make?
I have reviewed countless resumes over the years. Most of these resumes had one thing in common: They were void of truly noteworthy accomplishments. They did not inspire or make my jaw drop in awe. They begged the question: How can a person work so hard for so many years, yet have achieved so little that is truly noteworthy? But it happens to most people, to most “leaders.”
Leadership is not about the ability of those around you to lead; it’s about your ability to lead despite what is happening around you. Your resume should show how you consistently have a major positive impact on your projects and organizations.
Answer this list of questions to find tangible accomplishments to build a really jaw-dropping resume:
- Do you make your clients look good?
- Do you make your organization money or boost profit margins?
- Do you mentor others to achieve noteworthy accomplishments?
- Do you make your bosses look good?
- Do you accomplish the near impossible?
- Are you consistently reliable in achieving the challenging objectives handed to you?
- Do you change the landscape for those who follow after you?
- Do you save or create jobs?
- Do you go after and secure new opportunities?
- Do you win awards for saving your organization’s proverbial butt?
- Have you established processes that are now standard operating procedures?
- Would your absence be seen as a notable loss to the organization or company?
- How has your presence and involvement made a difference to the bottom line?
Now take your answers, step back and ask yourself, would I be eager to hire this person? If not, why not? In other words, what’s wrong with this picture that you would like to change?
This exercise can be quite telling and perhaps not necessarily a story you want to hear or confront. But your reaction to this reality check can have a profound impact on the rest of your career. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re looking for a job or even a promotion. You need to decide whether you want to really make a difference.
There are two major groups of people in an organization or company. There are the sustainers—the 95 percent of people who maintain the current momentum. And there are the trailblazers—the remaining 5 percent who are moving the organization forward, pushing needed change and making a difference on a larger scale. These scouts arrive first and clear a path for others to follow.
Sustainers are not bad for a company, quite the opposite. They represent the foundation, the core, for implementing the products, services and results that sustain the company. But without the trailblazers—the visionary risk takers—the sustainers could find themselves out of a job.
Your new resume should show which group you belong to. It should enable you to see what you’re leading and how well you’re leading it.