Leadership, the “Softer” Side of Project ManagementLeadership, the “Softer” Side of Project Management

by Irv Stern, PMPby Irv Stern, PMP

In Project management we

rarely get to choose our teams!!

In Project management we

rarely get to choose our teams!!

MAXIMIZING YOUR TEAM

Gallup studied executive teams and found:

Team members were selected or promoted based primarily on knowledge or competence.

When leaders do recruit for strength, they all too often pick people who act, think or behave like themselves.

Israeli President Shimon Peres expressed his views on this topic in an

interview with Gallup:

“What you have to think of is the potential of the person, not his

appearance. And if you can discover hidden potentials, that can make a

great difference to your organization. You have to distinguish between

loyalty and brilliance. Most leaders prefer loyalty over brilliance; they’re

afraid that they’re going to be undercut.

My view is different.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres expressed his views on this topic in an

interview with Gallup:

“What you have to think of is the potential of the person, not his

appearance. And if you can discover hidden potentials, that can make a

great difference to your organization. You have to distinguish between

loyalty and brilliance. Most leaders prefer loyalty over brilliance; they’re

afraid that they’re going to be undercut.

My view is different.”

Keys To Being An Effective Leader

The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths

The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and maximize their team

The most effective leaders understand their followers needs.

Four Domains of Leadership Strength

The best teams have representation of the following four domains of leadership:

Executing

Influencing

Relationship Building

Strategic Thinking

Executing

Leaders who make things happen

Work tiredlessly to get it done

The ability to “catch” an idea and make it a reality

Influencing

Help team reach a broader audience

Selling the team’s ideas inside and outside the organization

Makes sure your group is heard

Relationship Building

Glue that holds team together, group is just a composite of individuals without these people.

Create groups and organizations that are greater than the sum of their parts.

Strategic Thinking

Focused on what could be.

Absorb and analyze information to help team make better decisions.

Stretch our thinking, look towards the future.

Domain mapping to project management knowledge

Integration Management

Strategic, Execute

Scope Management

Influencing??

Time Management

Strategic

Communication Management

Relationship Building, Influence, Execute??

What Strong Teams Have in Common

Conflict doesn’t destroy because they focus on results

Prioritize what’s best for the organization and move forward

Members are as committed to their personal lives as they are to work.

Embrace Diversity.

Magnets for Talent

“A leader is someone who can get things done through other people.

- Warren Buffet

“A leader is someone who can get things done through other people.

- Warren Buffet

Exercise

What leader has had the most positive influence in your daily life?

Take a few minutes to think about this if you need to

Exercise

Now please list three words that best describe what this person contributes to your life.

______________

______________

______________

Followers’ 4 Basic Needs

Trust

Compassion

Stability

Hope

Key Findings of the Study

The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths.

The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team.

The most effective leaders understand their followers needs.

Learn to Listen, Empathize and Relate

Choose to listen

Open the lines of communication

Reflect, or restate the message back to the speaker

“Listening is a rare happening among human beings. You cannot listen to the word another is speaking if you are preoccupied with your appearance, or with impressing the other, or

are trying to decide what you are going to say when the other stops talking, or are debating about whether what is being said is true or relevant or agreeable. Such matters have their place, but only after listening to the

word as the word is being uttered.” - William Stringfellow

“Listening is a rare happening among human beings. You cannot listen to the word another is speaking if you are preoccupied with your appearance, or with impressing the other, or

are trying to decide what you are going to say when the other stops talking, or are debating about whether what is being said is true or relevant or agreeable. Such matters have their place, but only after listening to the

word as the word is being uttered.” - William Stringfellow

All great leaders are master politicians - they appreciate the power of a collective voice and can appeal to interests of others.

Connect to people with influence in a way that makes supporting your agenda support theirs.

Takes conscious and continuous effort.

Only as strong as the connections they make with each person in constituency

BUILD ALLIANCES, FORGE CONSTITUENCIES

Demonstrate Character and Resolve

In face of adversity, true leaders demonstrate character

Team will trust and believe true to his/her word.

The Golden Circle

Purpose, cause or beliefThe Why is your driving motivation for action.

Guiding principlesThe Hows are the specific actions that are taken to realize your Why.

Tangible proof, resultsThe Whats are the tangible ways in which you bring your Why to life.

WhatWhaWha

HowHow

WhWhyy

Simon Sinek, Start With Why- TED.com

What

“Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.

The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just

happen to make great computers”.

“Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.

The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just

happen to make great computers”.

Emphasize the Why

I want to lose 10 lbs and tone my muscles for my spring break trip to Hawaii. Since I only have 3 months to prepare, I will stop eating all junk food immediately, exercise 5 days a week, and drink protein shakes after every workout. This will allow me to have a great time on my vacation! And maybe I’ll keep this up when I get back if I enjoy it!

OR

I believe that a healthy lifestyle is a liberating and

enjoyable way to experience life. I believe in

defining my health and living my life on my own

terms. Hence, I will experiment with various

fitness and nutrition programs until I discover

what I enjoy most and what works best. This will

motivate me to live each day to it’s fullest, and make

each day better than the last.

Creating a Soft Skills Program

• Start Slowly

• Involve Your People from the Start

• Hire Expert Help

• Recognize Individual Achievement

• Discover the Group’s Soft Skill Identity

Obtaining the Best from Project Team Members

Ask for action or behavior in a positive manner...

Instead of “Don’t forget to fill out the change log” try “Remember to complete the change log”

Don’t forget global considerations, keep wording simple

Reduce the technical babble, shorthand, and acronyms

It’s not about checklists, status reports, schedules, and

Gannt charts - it’s about people!

It’s not about checklists, status reports, schedules, and

Gannt charts - it’s about people!

REFERENCES

Back to Basics, Sheilina Somani, PM Network August 2010

Strengths-Based Leadership, Tom Rath, Barry Conchie Gallup Press

Simon Sinek TED talk - ted.com

Essentials of CIO Leadership, Mark Wood, gantthead.com

Questions/Comments???

THANKS!!!Irv Stern, PMP

irvstern@comcast.net

Appendix – List of Strengthsfinder Books

• StrengthsFinder – www.strengthsfinder.com

• Strengthsfinder 2.0 – Tom Rath

• Strengths-Based Leadership – Tom Rath, Barry Conchie

• Now Discover Your Strengths – Marcus Buckingham, Donald Clifton

• First Break All The Rules - what the world's greatest managers do differently – Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman

Appendix – Four domains, 34 Themes

EXECUTING INFLUENCING RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

STRATEGIC THINKING

ACHEIVER ACTIVATOR ADAPTIBILITY ANALYTICAL

ARRANGER COMMAND DEVELOPER CONTEXT

BELIEF COMMUNICATION CONNECTEDNESS FUTURISTIC

CONSISTENCY COMPETITION EMPATHY IDEATION

DELIBERATIVE MAXIMIZER HARMONY INPUT

DISCIPLINE SELF-ASSURANCE INCLUDER INTELLECTION

FOCUS SIGNIFICANCE INDIVIDUALIZATION LEARNER

RESPONSIBILITY WOO POSITIVITY STRATEGIC

RESTORATIVE RELATOR