{"id":7725,"date":"2012-01-24T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2012-01-24T14:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=7725"},"modified":"2012-01-24T08:55:14","modified_gmt":"2012-01-24T15:55:14","slug":"project-managers-are-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=7725","title":{"rendered":"Project Managers are Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last time, we talked about how it is important to wear many hats as a Project Manager. \u00a0Today, we’re going to talk about the Leadership Hat.<\/p>\n

Think about a person that you would follow regardless of where they were going. \u00a0What makes them a leader worth following?\u00a0 Without pulling up a\u00a0dictionary<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0article on the word ‘leader’, I can tell you that a leader is someone that is followed. \u00a0In terms of the business world, a leader doesn’t necessarily make decisions, and a leader doesn’t necessarily have the highest ranking title.\u00a0 A true leader is someone that has earned the trust and respect of their team; and as a result, that team will follow that person in whatever direction they take.\u00a0\u00a0 In my view, good leaders:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
via Flickr by Jonas Hansel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speak honestly about what’s going on.<\/strong>\u00a0 There are few things worse than a leader that sugar coats the facts. \u00a0When things are going well, it’s easy to praise and share accomplishments. \u00a0When obstacles come up, it’s much more difficult to speak up. \u00a0As a leader, it is important to make sure that your team is aware of what’s going on; what to expect; and what your plan is to get to better days ahead. \u00a0If a leader does not acknowledge any issues, they will lose the confidence of the team – and find that they are a follower-less leader.<\/p>\n

Respect the team.<\/strong>\u00a0 Project Managers can find themselves leading people in every level of the management hierarchy. \u00a0From entry-level interns to executives, a Project Manager must learn the roles and responsibilities of everyone on their team. \u00a0Each and every role \u00a0is important, and the Project Manager should treat every team member as such. \u00a0Remember, every person has unique skills and talents, and one of a leader’s most important roles is to help cultivate those skills. \u00a0 Moreover, a leader respects the knowledge of their team members. \u00a0When a question is asked in a meeting, a leader should allow the appropriate person to share their expertise, rather than attempting to speak to something that is not their specialty. \u00a0If a leader doesn’t allow people to share their knowledge, experience, and expertise; they show that they do not have much faith in them, and may lose the respect of their team in turn.<\/p>\n

Are compassionate regarding the well being of their team. \u00a0<\/strong>It is difficult to follow someone that clearly does not give any credence to the well being of their team. \u00a0Why would you follow someone that didn’t have your interests in mind? \u00a0Project Managers have to balance both the customers as well as their own teams to make sure that the customers are getting what they want, and the team is getting what they need. \u00a0Leaders must know how walk the fine line between taking too much out of their team to make the customers happy; and losing customers for the sake of the well-being of the team. \u00a0It can seem impossible to come to an equilibrium, and the best leaders are the ones who can do it almost seamlessly.<\/p>\n

Have a vision, direction, or idea of where to go and\/or what to do.<\/strong>\u00a0 At the beginning of a project, when the Charter is drafted, and the Plan is falling into place, it is easy to follow almost anyone. \u00a0The true test is when things start to go wrong, obstacles take over, and success is nowhere in sight. \u00a0When this happens, people look to their leader for what to do next. \u00a0Many times, the leader can be just as lost as everyone else, but needs to project a sense of confidence that people can lean on in order to keep moving forward. \u00a0 \u00a0Simply being the person to say ‘we’ll get past this’ can be the difference between a true leader, and a person who is stuck with nowhere to go as their project spirals out of control.<\/p>\n

Solve problems quickly and decisively.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 As projects move forward, it can be very easy to get stuck in ‘paralysis of analysis’ when faced with an issue. \u00a0With as many variables that can touch a project, it is impossible to always make the right decision; and your decisions can affect the outcome of the project. \u00a0However, *not* making a decision can turn out to be just as detrimental. \u00a0One of the best quotes I’ve heard is\u00a0Every decision you make is wrong. \u00a0What is important is that you make the decision quickly, and adapt as necessary<\/em>. \u00a0Leaders need to know the difference between decisions that require weeks to think through, and decisions that must be made quickly and decisively.<\/p>\n

Stand up for their team.<\/strong>\u00a0 Nobody is perfect. \u00a0People make mistakes. \u00a0There will come a time when someone on your team makes a mistake that becomes widely known. \u00a0Good leaders don’t allow a single mistake to ruin a person’s career – they ‘stand in front of the bus’, take the beating for the mistake, and work on a solution as required. \u00a0Later, they will work with the person that made the mistake to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. \u00a0When your team knows that you will defend them, they tend to work harder to not make your defense necessary.<\/p>\n

Know when to lead, as well as when to follow.<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, leaders must also be followers sometimes. \u00a0Leaders take direction from people just like everyone else. \u00a0When following a particular direction isn’t easy for the majority of people on a team, the leader of that team needs to know when to stand up, get in line, and keep the team going. \u00a0Insisting on being the person in charge, no matter what, can turn out to be detrimental to the overall success of a project. \u00a0Being a dynamic leader that knows when to lead, as well as when to follow may turn out to be the difference between project success and failure.<\/p>\n

Leadership is difficult, and it is not something that can be forced. \u00a0Some people are natural leaders that make it look easy. \u00a0Others need to practice, learn from their mistakes, and keep moving forward. \u00a0If you are going to take on the mantle of Project Manager, you need to be prepared to be a Leader, and continue to help yourself and your team grow as you go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Think about a person that you would follow regardless of where they were going. What makes them a leader worth following? In terms of the business world, a leader doesn’t necessarily make decisions, and a leader doesn’t necessarily have the highest ranking title. A true leader is someone that has earned the trust and respect of their team; and as a result, that team will follow that person in whatever direction they take. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1526,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[849],"tags":[231,83,33,64,110,97,1370,84,31,131,38,275,211,37,54,3,193,46],"class_list":["post-7725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-team-leadership","tag-career","tag-commitment","tag-common-sense","tag-communication","tag-getting-things-done","tag-leaderhip","tag-leadership","tag-management","tag-motivation","tag-people","tag-project-management","tag-project-manager","tag-project-manager-role","tag-real-world","tag-soft-skills","tag-team-building","tag-teams","tag-teamwork"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1526"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7725"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8517,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7725\/revisions\/8517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}