The Neal Whitten Group

No-Nonsense Leadership and Project Management

Two new seminars

I am excited to announce that I have added two new seminars to my menu of offerings:

  • Building and Leading High Performance Dream Teams
  • Behaviors that Lead to Exceptional Performance

I created these seminars based on frequent feedback and interest that many of you have shared with me… as well as based on my experiences and observations of seminars that many companies sorely need. Descriptions of these seminars can be found on this web site by going here.

Public appearances…

I rarely mention my many public appearances, but there are two recent events I would like to share.

  1. The PMI chapters that reside across Ontario Canada recently decided to experiment with a special event they dubbed the Ontario Roadshow. I was the first person these chapters selected to test out the concept. The plan was to enlist a proven “named” speaker with multiple seminars from which to choose and have that speaker conduct a road trip across Ontario speaking to one chapter after the other near the end of March. Five chapters chose to participate and I conducted two different seminars and one evening presentation to these five chapters across 5 days. The Roadshow was a lot of fun and, based on feedback from the participants, was highly rated. This is a concept other chapters could possibly learn from. Danelle Peddell, President of the PMI South Western Ontario Chapter, demonstrated admirable leadership in working with the other nearby chapters in pulling this event together.
  2. I recently conducted (first week of April) one of my popular 1-day seminars for the PMI Champlain Valley Chapter in Burlington, VT. The chapter has about 250 members but there was a record-breaking165 attendees for the all-day seminar. Hats off to Allan Cruz, the chapter’s President, and Michael Schmidt, Co-VP of Programs, for leading this successful event. I was honored to have been selected to be the presenter.

See https://nealwhittengroup.com/appearances/ for the date and location of my upcoming public events.

If leadership is so important, then I would expect everyone would clearly understand its importance in a project’s or company’s success. Do you agree?

My experience is that many people—even those in senior leadership positions—still do not comprehend the true importance and impact of effective leadership. I had a noteworthy person in the PM community ask me, “What is the most important issue on projects today?” I have known this person for years and replied that he will likely not agree with me. He said of course he would agree with me. He said he respected my years and history of contributions in the PM community. I told him the Number One issue is the lack of effective leaders. He immediately disagreed. He said that answer is so 20 years ago. He said he thinks the primary issue will be related to other subjects such as tools, process and methodology, certifications, organizational maturity, stakeholder communications or a host of other issues.

I said to him that I have reviewed hundreds of projects in trouble over the years. At the end of a review I always list the top 3-5 problems that the leaders of the project must immediately get under control. In all cases, the top 3-5 problems revealed the lack of effective leadership on the project; otherwise, the problems would not have been such serious issues negatively affecting the project.

So my point is simply: It’s all about leadership; through effective leadership everything else follows.

What is a company’s most important asset?

When I ask this question in my workshops, the most common answer I receive is “people.” I don’t agree; although many companies promote this myth. I hear a bunch of other ideas such as the company’s products and services, brand, shareholders, profit, intellectual property, innovativeness, quality, clients, organizational maturity and marketing—to name a few. But none of these are correct. The answer is its leaders… its leadership. All those items just listed are clearly important but nothing is as important as leadership. For example, if you have a company made up of mediocre leaders, but it has the best employees, it will still be a mediocre force in its industry. However, if your company is led by the best leaders, but it has mediocre employees, it will be a formidable force in its industry. And those mediocre employees? They will become the best because they will rise to the expectations of their leadership. Again, it’s all about leadership. If you are reading this, then you are likely in a position of leadership. You have a great duty to lead well.

Do you believe that it is “better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission”?

Yes, especially in today’s fast-paced, highly competitive world. If you routinely wait for permission to make things happen, you will miss many opportunities. Moreover, if you ask permission and it is declined, you are no longer able to pursue that course of action. If you do, you could be fired for insubordination. Now, I am not saying that you should not ask management for permission—that you should just strike out on your own every time you want to do something. If you sense that you should get permission before moving forward on a task, then act accordingly. If you cannot decide whether to ask for permission, then ask, just to be safe. At the same time, you want to develop a reputation for taking the initiative and making things happen.

Is it good to challenge the authority of higher management?

Maybe.

Yes, if you are constructively and professionally questioning a decision or directive made by a higher-up that does not seem to be in the best business interest of the project, client, or company. Make sure your argument is fact-based and delivered in a respectful manner, offers specific alternatives, and leaves the impression that you want what’s best for the business.

Yes, if the decision or directive appears to be unlawful or unethical.

No, if senior management has concluded the discussion is over and it is time to implement the decision. Your opinion may differ from a higher-up’s, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are right or your superior is wrong.

How is a senior project manager different from a project manager?

I authored a one-page article for PM Network® magazine that briefly addresses this question. The full article, called “Great Expectations,” can be accessed here. I expect a lot from a senior project manager, far more than I expect from a project manager. Extracting information from my article, here is my response to this often asked question.

Although I often hear it said that the main difference between the job description of a project manager and a senior PM is the size and complexity of the project they run or the number of projects they run, there is much more I expect from a senior project manager.

Listed here are 10 expectations that I have of senior project managers. This is not an exhaustive list but, nevertheless, does reflect many of the major differences. Whether you are hopeful to become a senior PM or already are a senior PM, how do you stack up against these expectations?

  1. Mentor less-senior personnel. There is no better way to learn a craft than with assistance from a mentor—especially when you are first starting out. Senior project managers should mentor those around them in aspects of the profession such as leadership, methodology, tools, people skills and navigating politics.
  2. Evaluate performance.  A senior PM has the skills to know what is expected of a PM and should be able to help evaluate that person’s performance—especially since management often seeks their skills, opinions and recommendations.
  3. Identify PM-related training needs. They should be able to evaluate the readiness of a project team or organization and then recommend the related training required to ensure the effective application of project management and leadership principles.
  4. Conduct training. A senior PM must be able to teach many of the skills—both hard and soft—that are required for the successful planning, execution, delivery and support of projects and their products or services. They must also qualify project management training vendors and monitor their delivery and effectiveness.
  5. Perform project reviews. They should have the ability to either individually assess the health of a project or lead a small team in doing so. It is important for the senior PM to be able to net the review findings so that the most important problem areas, as well as most noteworthy areas for praise, are clearly identified.
  6. Turn troubled projects around. Any project manager with satisfactory performance should, for the most part, be able to turn around small and some medium-sized troubled projects. But a senior PM should be able to turn around any-size troubled project in his or her industry.
  7. Help hire or place project managers. A senior PM can significantly contribute in the interview and selection of new project management hires. Moreover, he or she can be called upon to determine the placement of project managers onto specific projects.
  8. Make continuous improvement a priority. They should have a solid grasp of basic and many advanced project management principles, along with having experience in successfully applying and advancing those principles. Continuous improvement is a distinctive characteristic of high-level project managers.
  9. Think like a business person. Project management is mostly about business. A senior PM should understand the business need for each project and make on-going decisions based on what’s best for the organization—even if that means challenging senior stakeholders on critical success factors.
  10. Be a role model for integrity. Integrity is not optional. However, many project managers are shaky in taking the initiative to ensure a project is always being run effectively and with proper governance. Senior project managers should champion the promotion of integrity in all endeavors.

In closing, a senior PM’s performance is viewed by peers, management and other members of a project or organization as continually adding value across an organization—unless that senior PM is exclusively focused on a single major project. Senior PMs are highly valued organizational assets and represent respected leadership positions in any progressive organization.