It's difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding.Ooh, I like that.Upton Sinclair.In the world of project management, leadership is just not about giving orders or being a dictator or
not providing value, or if you get where I'm going.But a leader is about an aptitude, matter of fact, the attitude to really provide value to your direct reports or value to anyone that you are encountering.
Today's episode is entitled, why is leadership so important for project management?Again, why is leadership so important for project manager?I said project management, for project managers.
If you're new to the channel, I have a seven-point framework, but listen, family, I really been feeling good.I'm looking good today.I'm feeling great.I'm feeling amazing.I'm grateful.I'm thankful.I'm gonna give you nine points today.
Is that okay if I over-deliver?I feel like I should over-deliver today.So because of that is the case, we're gonna get started.By the way, I go by the name of ED, and all you smart and intelligent folks out there, listen, that just simply means Ed.
Here we go, let's work.First point, accountability, listen. You know, when you got a great leader is when they take accountability.What do you mean by that idea?Listen, I have an intelligent audience and I love that.
See, what happens is, is when a mistake happens on the team, they don't say, well, it was that person's fault.They say, hey, that was my fault.I'll take the blame for doing that.That was not that resource.I'll take the blame.
I'll take the accountability.I'll take the responsibility.I know I should have That's why I love Jocko Williams' book Extreme Ownership.See, when you start thinking with that mindset, you don't have the opportunity to point at everybody.
Now you have to point at yourself.But you know, that's the difference between exceptional and amazing leaders.They take full accountability for what maybe their direct report did or maybe their stakeholder did.
And that's very important in this thing that you love, that I love called project management.Let's move on to point number two, influence and vision.
Listen, if you know when you are being led by amazing or exceptional project manager, because they're really their ability to empower the team by influencing them.What does influence look like?
It's the ability to lead, and you know where I'm going to go, not manage the project.By leading in the project, that means you are driving towards a common goal and a common vision.
What I used to do and what I still do, what I like to do from time to time in case the team has forgot, I'll bring back up the scope.We may be all the way
you know close to I mean we're in the executing phase and we're moving along but yet sometimes you need that remembrance you need that reminder you need that that hey I'm gonna go to a jay-z line but you know sometimes we forgot what we came for meaning that sometimes we have to look at why are we doing this you know and a lot of times let's step back family I remember when
I was leading this project and, oh man, should I share this story?Okay, I'm gonna share the story.So I was leading this project and what happened is is that the team just became very disgruntled.
And they were disgruntled because there were so many different changes and we were leveraging a waterfall type methodology, so we weren't leveraging more of your adaptable or Agile or Scrum type framework.
And so I'm leading a project, I'm excited, and you just, You can tell when your team is starting to get burnt out.And I've seen them getting burnt out.
And how I knew they were getting burnt out is that normally I would send an email, especially to this one resource, and I would get it back within 30 minutes or less, even sometimes faster than that.
Or they'll just ping me in Teams and say, hey, let's jump on a call.I can knock that out faster.I'll be like, all right, great. And all of a sudden, the communication started lapsing.The accountability of showing up at the meeting started lapsing.
And finally, I just, you know, because as part of a project manager, as far as being a project manager, you have to lead.And in leading, You can't just always have that assumption attitude.
And because you can't have that assumption attitude, I reached out and I said, hey, you know, this is not like you.So could you tell me what's going on?And he was like, listen, I'm getting pulled by every which direction.
I just feel like I am running on E, I mean, empty, not for ED, but for empty.And I'm like, hey, I understand.How can I support?Oh, is it that leadership?You see, I didn't I didn't judge him.I didn't say, well, you shouldn't feel that way.
No, no, no, no, no.How can I support you as you're moving forward? And that right there has really showed me, and you know that person came back to me after the project ended and said, it was because of you that I stayed.
I said, well, it wasn't because of me.It was because of really you, because you allowed me to ask that probing question and felt comfortable enough and you trusted me enough to share with me what's really going on.
Because sometimes, family, we will go, go, go, go, go, and we'll forget about our team.I may be draining this point, but it's very crucial that we understand that our
We're human, and sometimes you will get pulled in so many different directions, as my grandma would say, you don't know which way is up.Okay, let me move on.Motivation, point number three, motivation and inspiration.
Listen, effective leaders inspire teams to go above and beyond and foster enthusiasm, dedication, and a sense of purpose among their teams.You know the best leaders that I've ever had?They led by example, not by their mouth.
Ooh, did I just say that out loud?I did say that out loud, because I've been around some amazing and exceptional leaders, and I like to call the leaders that get their hands dirty.What does that mean, E.D.?
That means is that if we are back to back in this situation, and I'm here to support you, and basically, I should say, they're there to support me,
and making sure not coddling now, because sometimes we can confuse that, you know, and when I say coddling, meaning baby, no, they're there to really provide the value to move any particular roadblocks, because when you're leading a massive project, sometimes you don't got time to really
to do some of the little small things you used to do, you need support and to feel comfortable and talking with your leaders like, hey, I need a project coordinator or we need to get another project manager on this because of because of the encompass or the size of this particular project.
So when you have an amazing and exceptional leader, they're going to inspire you.They're going to motivate you.They're going to say, hey, listen, I'm really grateful and thankful that you're here today.
And I know, I know, I know a lot of people don't like hearing that talking like, oh, it's all.
But no, sometimes it's not always about money or why someone leaves the organization or why someone decides to walk away from this thing we call project management.It's because they just feel like they're not being valued.
And just a simple thank you, a simple, hey, you know what, instead of today, how about you take the rest of the day off?It's noon.Just go and enjoy the rest of the day with your family. I'll keep moving on, fam.I get excited with that.
Point number four, decision making.I shared this earlier. I learned this from Myra going, it makes sense.You know, there's a difference between a choice and a decision.It's like, it sort of reminds me of how people will say, I'll try.
See, that's the easy way out.Like, you know, as Les Brown said, do you try and sit down?No, when you sit down, you make the decision to sit down.
You don't try and sit down, because you'll hear this a lot when you're leading projects and you schedule a meeting.They're like, oh, I'll try to be there.And I'll ask them, what does that mean? It was like, well, I said I'll try to be there.
Yeah, that's great.But how are you going to try to be there?Either you're going to be there or you won't.And if you're not going to be there, can you send a delegate there that could assist us as we're leading this project and moving it forward?
But also in leadership involves making tough decisions. often with incomplete information.
I remember, and I don't want to state the percentage, but I remember hearing an amazing leader talk about, hey, if I got X amount of information, I'm going to make the decision.And see, when you make a decision, you decide.
When you make a choice, I feel it's like loosey-goosey.You just kind of, you know, let me see.But when you make a decision, It's like when you say, hey, I've decided that we are going to move forward with this project.We're going to make this happen.
We're going to execute.We're going to document properly.We're going to ensure we're aligned with the triple constraints.What are the triple constraints?That's your scope, cost, time and quality.So or we call it the Iron Triangle as well.
But we're going to make sure we address the constraints as well as meeting the project objective.Communication is point number five.Listen, family.
And anything that we do, I don't care if you don't even want to be a project manager or you don't even love this thing that we love called project management, but you're going to have to be able to effectively communicate.
I don't care if it's written.I don't care if it's verbal.I don't care if it's nonverbal.You're going to have to be able to be effective communicator.
And being able to be effective communicator is about identifying a goal, setting expectations, and providing, oh, I love this.Oh, I love this.It's providing updates clearly to everyone so they know we're on the same page.
How many times have you been on a project as a stakeholder and you're like, okay, where are we at in this project?That question should never come up if you are an exceptional project manager, meaning that you should be leading by example.
Sometimes you, as I told you in a couple earlier points, as a project manager, you may have to jump in and get your hands dirty.Yes, I know, I got in trouble before by somebody in the comments, by one of the family members, they said,
Hey, well, if you because I made the comment to say, well, I really don't really like working with people that say that's not my job because I believe in the collaborative approach.
I believe in the teamwork approach because you know, you never know where you may have to jump in and assist. Maybe you could help out in building out an Excel document that really illustrates kind of what the particular resource is looking for.
Basically, what I'm saying, family, is that you have to have the ability to be vulnerable enough to say, man, I may not know everything like you do as an expert, but there's something that I can do to help.Maybe I can
block people from trying to take up your time on your calendar, or you can send them to me for little emails that you know I can handle once you give me the systems and processes to really address that.I'm here to serve you.I'm here to help you.
How can I make you be able to execute better than all these other things, obstacles getting in the way?Okay, I drained that.Let's move on to point number six.Hey, listen. All conflict is not bad.This is point number six conflict resolution.
Listen, you will have to go against conflict.You will have people that may say some things to you that probably shouldn't be said, but how do you handle that?How do you have the emotional intelligence to address that in a professional manner?
Hey, listen, I got this suit on and it's been many times that, you know, I've heard some people say some slick things and you just want to, but that's the thing.Why are you allowing somebody to, as my mom would say, get under your skin?
You know, because if you allow someone to get on your skin, they'll do it over and over again.And then eventually you won't be able to take it and you'll explode and you'll say some things that you'll regret.
You'll do some things you wish you could take back.So to avoid or to eliminate all of that, let's address the conflict head on.When you see it, hey, let's sit down and talk about, hey, what's going on here?This is normally not like you.
Why did you say that?Don't hold that in, family.You need to address that person or that team directly.What I used to do is, I remember I had a team member that every time they got on a call, all they did was complain, complain, complain.
Well, we don't do it that way.We used to do it this way.And finally, I was just like, listen, I'm not going to be that one.And I got the heads up that that particular stakeholder was like that.So I set up a meeting with them directly.
And I said, listen, I'm going to allow you to do that one time.I may even give you a second time. But after the second time, I'm getting you off my project.Because if I can't get you off the project, then maybe I need to leave.
Because what you're doing is you're distracting the team.What you're doing, you're not providing value.You're telling us every reason why something can't happen.But you can't even make a commitment.
Or you can't even take the time out to give us reasons why something can happen. So those type of resources, family, you have to meet director.You have to meet face to face virtually or however, and address it.
Stop doing this surface level problem solving.We got to get to the root.And when I talk to that stakeholder in a professional manner, just as I addressed it, just what I just stated. I got some backstory to what was going on.
They were like, hey, this is the second time we've tried to do this project.And it's just the same thing.And I was just frustrated because I'm like, why do we keep doing this again?And I said, were you involved in the requirements gathering?No.
Were you involved? Oh, I get it.So you weren't part of this, this whole process.I said, you know, we're going to change that.So what if I get you more involved?I said, but you got to leave the attitude outside of Zoom.
You got to leave the attitude outside of teams.But I need you to bring the best version of yourself to these meetings and help help us as we drive this particular project.Point number seven, adaptability family.
To be an exceptional project manager or to be a magnetic project manager, go check out the book family.
To be a magnetic project manager family, you really have to be able to change and adjust, not just based on, I understand, listen, I live by the motto, if you plan to fail, you fail to plan.If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I live by that.
But what happens when your plan is not effective?What happens when you have to make an adjustment?What happens when you have to make the decision to say, you know what, this is not going to work.Are you willing?Do you have the courage?
And I broke courage down on a live yesterday with, I actually got that, our team worked together with my friend and buddy, Phil and Daryl, and we unpacked what courage was, which I love. And we put that in a framework.
But the point is, is that, family, if you are in a situation in which that your plan is no longer working, have the courage to step up and say, hey, we need to rebaseline this.We need to move these impediments out the way.
Because if we keep going the way that we're going, We're not going to get the outcome that we're looking for.What's the outcome that we're looking for?
A project that's on time, a project that's under budget or on budget, and a project that's within scope or on scope, period.Let's move on to point number eight.Listen, this is a failed...
Aspect within projects, especially when the project gets going.
I know in human resources I'm going through my 49 process first first process and when you're looking at executing is acquire project team The second under acquire project team is develop project team.Did I say did I say that out loud?
Let me say acquire project team develop project team And the whole point is we forget about that develop project team.What does development looks like?
Develop looks like to me is fostering a safe environment so we can be very transparent so we can get to the outcome we're looking for.What is developing a team?It's also doing team outings or doing things where it's not always about work, it's about
building that team of trust and or it reminds me of meet the Falkers of building that circle of trust, but it's serious.
I mean, it's true though family because the more your team trust you the more that the team trust each other the further that you guys going to go in and it doesn't doesn't matter what's going on because somebody on a team would be willing to pick up the slack.
they'd be willing to tip their hat in to help and assist to make sure the team is successful.But when you don't develop that trust, when you don't earn that trust, it will be hard.So we forget.
I've been guilty of this many times of, man, we need to do some team development.So we need to focus on ensuring that we are developing our team as we're navigating through the project. And my last and final point, family, is stakeholder management.
Listen, leaders skillfully, and I do mean skillfully, manage the relationship with stakeholders, understanding their needs and concerns to ensure a successful project.
And sometimes, family, I'll be the first one to tell you, I'm always talking to my stakeholders.
I have impromptu calls with my stakeholders just to see, just to check the temperature in the room, just to check the temperature on the virtual call, just to check the temperature.Hey, is everything okay?No, no, no, really.
Don't just tell me everything is okay.No, seriously, are you good? So it's important, family, that when we are leading projects, that we don't forget about the main thing.The main thing, we can't move forward without having stakeholders in place.
I know what you're thinking, maybe AI.Well, we haven't got that far yet.But for now, we need human resources, and we still would need human resources with AI in place.So family, I challenge you today.I hope this really helped you.
There was some value there for you out of these eight or nine points.Why is leadership so important for project manager?I am your boy, E.D.Until next time, I'm out.
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