Posts Tagged ‘Leadership’

President Harry Truman said, "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

Last week I came across an article written by Esther Derby for Agile Zone, Empowering Leadership. She suggests, "Some pundits proclaim that leadership rests on charisma, the ability to create a vision, or ‘presence.’ Teams do need a vision and a compelling goal. But do teams need one charismatic leader? No. Teams need leaders of a different sort. Teams need leaders who don’t need to be out in front, who are able to work quietly, creating an environment where everyone on the team is empowered. Such leaders—empowering leaders—may not get the glory. They do help teams get work done, invite creativity, and build capacity. How do they work? Not by rousing speeches, through followers or by exuding some magical stuff. Empowering leaders create an environment where everyone is empowered. They act on observation, not gut feel or random action."

I agree. Empowering leaders don’t believe the stick or the carrot are long-term solutions to motivating people. Sure, they may work for a while, but they are ineffective over time. To be successful, it’s important for us to empower the team—which means we need to become empowering leaders.

"Empowering leaders learn to observe the team and discern patterns of behavior on the group level that effect the ability of the group to get work done," says Derby. "They notice who offers ideas, who challenges ideas. They notice when one person consistently interrupts another team member. Leaders hone their ability to notice the roles people take in group discussions, and pick up on non-verbal cues. This is the information that allows them to determine what is happening, and what (if anything) is needed to adjust the environment so everyone is empowered and able to work. Empowering leaders notice how the physical arrangements affect work, how information is flowing (or not), and when the constraints on the team are too few or too many.

In other words, time spent out of the office working with the project team gives project leaders a critical view into how the team is working together and whether or not they need to adjust the work environment to help everyone work together more successfully. Henry Ford once said, "If everyone is moving forward together, then success will take care of itself."

Derby also suggests that "…empowering leaders pay attention to the context, the world the team works in. How does work flow into the team? What are the relationships with other parts of the organization? Are their policies and procedures that are hindering the team?"

Of course, we might not be able to eliminate all the negative factors impacting the project team, but according to Derby, an empowered project leader "…knows how to modify the team environment to lessen harm, and to influence out side the team to achieve change."

As project leaders, if we are aware of the environment the team is working in and how the team is reacting to it, we are better able to impact that environment for the good of the team. I’m convinced that we will find our greatest success facilitating an environment where team members can find success.
Strategic Project Management

Whether you are a project leader or the CEO, leadership is more about what you do than what you say. I witnessed this first hand yesterday, and have to admit I was pretty surprised by what I saw.

Our department is moving into another building on campus and noticed a rather hostile sign on the exterior door.

At first, I thought it had to be a joke. But after further investigation, I realized I was wrong.

Curious about the savvy tech business-leader who would put such a poor example of leadership and hubris up for public display, I stumbled upon his twitter post celebrating this example of leadership acumen.

It blows my mind that anyone could think this was cool. If you copy and paste the link, it will take you to the above sign.

We’ve recently been talking about how we Lead by Example or Not at All, and I wonder what type of organization is lead by the author of the pithy message to the parking log anarchists. Regardless of how many polite interactions may have taken place before this point, I have to wonder if this is really the best way to encourage someone to stop parking in his "reserved" spot.

Here’s some of what the company website says about Mr. Hanks, it makes me wonder if this is the same guy.

@font-face {
font-family: “Cambria”;
}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } "Jeremy Hanks is an entrepreneur and leader with a successful track record in bringing ideas to market. As a co-founder of Doba, he has been instrumental in shaping the company’s direction. Today, as Chairman & President, Jeremy leads the company’s strategic vision."
In my opinion, this arrogant and self-indulged approach to dealing with people is a great example of what’s wrong with the leadership of some organizations. Mr. Hanks as well as his company should be embarrassed by this display of immaturity and sense of entitlement. The reason I mention it here is because his reply to one of his Twitter followers assured me that his personal brand was strong enough that reporting on his childish stunt wouldn’t have a negative impact. And besides, if he’s not embarrassed by it, why should I be embarrassed to report on it?

I’d like to contrast his parking space preferences to a recent action by our corporate leadership. Every quarter there are a number of people recognized as MVPs within their individual departments. With this quarter’s announcement, our executives have relinquished their parking spots as a reward for these folks. Basically, the best employees get to park next to the entrance of our building and the execs park wherever they can find a spot with the rest of us.

You lead by example or not at all.

Thanks Jeremy for a great example of what NOT to do.

Strategic Project Management

In a recent blog post, Actions Speak Louder than Words, I talked about the need for leaders to not only "talk the talk," but the need to "walk the walk." I think this is important as we work to promote project management as a leadership discipline. In the book, The Truth About Leadership, by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, they write, "’Actions speak louder than words’ is wise counsel to live by. Quite often the greatest distance that leaders have to travel is the distance from their mouths to their feet. Taking that step toward fulfilling a promise, putting the resources behind a pledge, and acting on a verbal commitment may require great courage. But it’s the very thing that demonstrates the courage of your convictions."

Of course, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Leading by example has been a long accepted leadership practice in cultures all over the world for thousands of years. What’s more, according to Kouses and Posner, research substantiates its importance. "Cornell professor Tony Simons has investigated the ‘behavioral integrity’—his term for doing what you say you will do—of managers and has found that organizations ‘where employees strongly believe [that] their managers followed through on promises and demonstrated the values they preached were substantially more profitable than those whose managers score average or lower’ on being role models," they write. "Similarly, UCLA professor Donna McNeese-Smith found in her research studies that ‘If good managers want productive employees, they must set a good example and practice what they preach.’"

In organizations where project leaders move from project to project, your reputation as someone who "walks the walk" could make the difference between a project team that rallies behind you and the initiative, and a team that marginalizes and ignores you. Building that reputation might just be a little more difficult than it is for those of us who tend to work with the same team project after project. That being said, word gets around.

The fact of the matter is simple, you either lead by example or you don’t lead at all. As far as project teams are concerned, seeing is believing. "Your statements and actions are visible reminders to others about what is or is not important," write the authors. "Admitting your mistakes and shortcomings goes a long way toward building up people’s confidence in your integrity. It gives them one more important reason to put their trust in you."

What are you doing to lead by example? Can your project team see your values demonstrated not only in what you say, but in what you do?

Strategic Project Management

Dwight Eisenhower said, "You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership."

Over the course of my career I’ve had the opportunity to witness first hand many different leadership styles—and, some are more successful than others. Nobody likes to get hit over the head and most people respond well to a little freedom regarding how they manage and approach their work. Within project teams (where collaboration is critical) autonomy among team members is very important. Eisenhower also said, "Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg." I think that’s true of project teams too.

I’ll admit that what I’m about to say is probably easier said than done, but is worth the effort. I have had the opportunity to work as a team member or project leader on many teams over the years, and believe that fundamentally people "step up" when given the opportunity. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone will. In those instances, it’s important to step back and evaluate whether or not that particular team member should remain on the team. That being said, I recognize that not all project managers have the luxury of picking who’s on their teams in the real world. However, depending on the organization, they probably have a lot of influence. For any project team to be successful, it’s critical to jettison the dead weight that refuses to contribute to the team or doesn’t add value. The burden of doing more with less includes doing it with the right people, or projects are doomed from the start.

Beating people over the head is not a long term solution to motivating anyone. Fear is only a motivator for a short period of time, but is ultimately a credibility destroyer and eventually team members tire of being threatened or insulted, and leave—or worse, they leave mentally but stay physically.

As a general rule, I believe that people are really driven by a desire to contribute to something bigger than themselves. Let’s face it, most of us don’t spend our time changing the world, curing cancer or building bridges to world peace, but there is value to what all of us do. Team members who are allowed to share in the greater vision of what they’re doing and understand how their efforts contribute to the success of a worthwhile endeavor tend to be engaged and motivated.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers, these are simply some of my observations and opinions. That being said, I am a firm believer in people’s desire to do good work. I’ve worked with very few people who didn’t want to excel. Please feel free to contribute to the conversation and share your thoughts and ideas.

Strategic Project Management

The origination of the phrase, "The best defense is a good offense," seems to be apocryphal, although it was originally attributed to the classic military strategist Carl von Clausewitz. In later years, Mao Zedong was quoted as saying, "The only real defense is active defense." Both are of similar meaning and imply that a proactive approach often achieves the best results. As a boy in the schoolyard, the adage simply meant that if you can run up more points offensively, you have accomplished the same thing as a focus on defense (And, scoring points is always more fun than blocking and tackling anyway, right?).

I have come to believe that the same is true for leading projects.

As many organizations turn to project-based work to improve productivity and get more work done, companies and departments that wouldn’t traditionally have turned to projects are doing so. For the most part, I believe that this is a good thing, and the project management tools that have been successfully used for years have the potential to be very successfully adopted to other types of project work. What’s more, I believe that skilled project leaders have real opportunities to not only impact the success of individual projects, but the chance to positively influence the profitability of their organizations by directing how projects are done as well as the types of projects that get executed.

With that in mind, let’s consider the adage, "The best defense is a good offense" in terms of project-based work.

In my opinion, project leaders need to take a more proactive role in defining project success. I say this because many organizations don’t know what they really need in terms of a successfully completed project. In fact, I believe this is one of the reasons so many project-based groups struggle with governance and scope issues. If the organization can’t identify what they expect from a potential initiative, how can the project team be expected to hit the ambiguous target.

What’s more, I predict that the need for proactive project leaders will only continue to increase, while those project professionals content to manage process alone will find their roles diminish. I say diminish because I believe that the foundational elements of strong project management are not going away any time soon, but the need for real project leadership is so apparent that organizations are looking for proactive people, willing to take a leadership role in how projects are chosen, how they are executed and how success is measured.

So, how does someone differentiate themself from the crowd?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Speak Up: Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion. As an experienced project leader, your opinion has a lot of potential value. Don’t be afraid to share your knowledge and experience if it will help drive successful outcomes. Don’t confuse this with a mandate to become a nay-say-er—that, is never productive.
2. Don’t simply identify the problems, offer solutions: Over the years I’ve worked with many people who were able to identify what the problems were. "Ty, this is working…or Ty, that procedure is broken." They were some of the most annoying colleagues I’ve every had to work with. Identifying problems isn’t a problem, unless that’s all you do. "Ty, I’ve been thinking about ‘this’ particular issue, and suggest that ‘this’ could be a viable solution," takes you from the role of whiner to the role of problem-solver, which is where organizations look for leaders.
3. Don’t be afraid to mentor: Over the years I’ve worked with many senior members of the team who were willing to take me under their wing and mentor me. Most of them weren’t my boss and didn’t formally identify themselves as "mentors," they just offered me critical bits of information at crucial times in my career. Don’t be afraid to be that person to younger and less experienced members of the team.

In the context of our discussion, I am convinced that a proactive approach to project leadership will do nothing but increase your value to the team, to the organization and elevate your role. Of course, there are organizations that won’t respond to this type of proactive project leadership. If that’s the case, it might be time to "offensively" look for one that does.
Strategic Project Management

I have to admit, one of the most rewarding parts of writing this blog is the opportunity to interact with so many smart and dedicated people. We all face many of the same challenges every day and I am blown away by the willingness of everyone I speak with to share ideas, experiences and best practices. Among many of the topics we discuss, the difference between project management and project leadership is a hot topic. Recently I have noticed a recurring theme in some of the questions I get asked, including:

1. How can I actually trust the project team to self-direct their work?
2. What is the best way to keep members of the project team motivated?

Trust the Team

I’ll admit that what I’m about to say is probably easier said than done, but worth the effort. I have had the opportunity to work as a team member or a project leader on many teams over the years, and believe that fundamentally people "step up" when given the opportunity. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone will. In those instances, I think it’s important to step back and evaluate whether or not that particular team member should remain on the team. That being said, I recognize that not all project teams have the luxury of picking who’s on their teams in the real world, but depending on the organization, they probably have a lot of influence. For any project team to be successful, it’s critical to jettison the dead weight that refuses to contribute to the team or doesn’t add value. The burden of doing more with less includes doing it with the right people, or projects are doomed from the start.

Motivating Teams

I don’t think the argument between the carrot and the stick applies to project teams. Of course, the stick is not a long term solution to motivating anyone. Fear is only a motivator for a short period of time, but is ultimately a credibility destroyer and eventually team members tire of being threatened or insulted, and leave—or worse, they leave mentally but stay physically.

There’s also been a lot of discussion in leadership circles about whether or not the carrot really works. I don’t think anyone would argue that better compensation is always appreciated, but I know some very well compensated people who are still unhappy in their work.

As a general rule, I believe that people are really driven by a desire to contribute to something bigger than themselves. Let’s face it, most of us don’t spend our time changing the world, curing cancer or fostering world peace, but there is value to what all of us do. Team members who are allowed to share in the vision and understand how their role contributes to the success of a worthwhile endeavor tend to be engaged and motivated. (And a good compensation package doesn’t hurt.)

I don’t pretend to have all the answers, these are just my observations and opinions. I am a firm believer in people’s desire to do good work. I’ve worked with very few people who didn’t want to be good employees and team members. Please feel free to contribute to the conversation and share your thoughts and ideas.

Strategic Project Management