4 Keys for Successful Project Leadership
We always talk about project management but rarely discuss project leadership. There’s a difference.
Leaders play a critical role in setting the conditions for a team to successfully manage a project. If you focus on the following four key roles you can play on a project as the project leader you’ll dramatically improve the odds of project success. More important, you’ll create a culture where your team members trust you and know you’re doing everything you can to help them succeed.
In creating the right culture, you’ll boost morale, reduce turnover, improve productivity, and generally have a team that wins more often (and not in the Charlie Sheen “winning” way…). So here goes – here are four things you need to focus on as a leader to create an environment for project success.
Define Success
It’s abundantly clear leaders must be involved in defining a project’s scope. They’re the ones who need to be saying “here is the box we are going to operate in, and here are the metrics I am going to define success on.” If it’s not measurable, you are just wasting your time.
We all know measurements must be specific, but we pay lip service to that notion and we put softer measures in. As a leader, you have to draw that line and say “here’s what I am going to judge success by.” Leaders have to set that direction and set the bar. Failing to do so guarantees project failure because there’s no way to measure success.
Procure Resources
Leaders must be involved in the negotiation for resources. It’s kind of unfair to say to your team “Here is a project and we want you to go improve this process. I know you don’t have resources you need so go find them on your own.” Fail. Procuring those resources is your job as the leader.
It’s your job to give your team everything they need to be successful, and sometimes that means you are going out and arguing for budget. Sometimes you are negotiating with other business units for people on their team or folks who would participate part-time on the project.
Your job is to procure those resources. To do so effectively, you have to listen to your team when they tell you what they need because they are going to be closer to the reality of what’s needed. Your job is simply to go get them everything they need to be successful.
Dress up like a Fire Fighter
Once a project is underway, a leader’s job includes firefighting and change management. Invariably as people are working on a project, they are going to start drawing conclusions about what’s “broken” or they are going to be making recommendations that will be controversial. The leader’s job is to be there and be present to help your team advocate for those changes or recommendations (of course only once you are comfortable with them and the team as explained them to you).
It’s unfair to send your team into the VP of a different business unit where they’re making a recommendation on why that VP’s process is busted or recommending big changes in that VP’s area. Imagine you tell your team “just go make your big difficult recommendations to that VP” but you aren’t personally there to support them. That’s completely unfair because they are going to get blown out of the water or ripped apart when that VP realizes the magnitude of the change your team might be recommending.
When you as a leader fail to fight fires shoulder to shoulder with your team, you put the project at risk and you make your people look bad. You have got to be there to back their play.
Sing their Praises
When the project ends, your job as a leader is to be there when they are successful and make sure people know about it. Ensure key stakeholders in the organization know the people on your team have been successful. Note – I did not say make sure stakeholders know you are successful. Let your work speak for itself but you have to speak for your team. It’s a nuanced difference but it matters.
When you let the rest of the organization know about the success and impact your team has had, you’re building that trust with the members of your team. They know you’ve got their back. They know their hard work is recognized, valued, and rewarded. They know you’ll do everything you can to help them be successful. Honestly, if you’re doing all those things as a leader, there’s not much more they can ask for.
– As usual, if you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to grab yourself a copy of One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership. There are plenty of suggestions in there for how you can lead your teams more effectively. CLICK HERE to get your copy.
– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
Photo: Set of Keys by Images Money
Loved the write up; specific and to the point. My life lesson from leading major projects for many years is exactly that; leadership. The way I would express it is that project management is a collection of tools and processes that can only be used effectively by well led people. Leaders share their vision and clear goals, align teams behind the goals, motivate them to succeed and just as importantly listen to the realistic feedback. Teams and individuals can be managed when the leadership has been well executed.
Thanks for reading Bob and for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks, Mike. This couldn’t of come at a better time. I’m the project manager for implementating a new ERP system and these 4 keys for success are very helpful for leading the team.
Good luck! ERP can be scary stuff. I hope it goes well.
Mike, this was an excellent post. I have been on the receiving end of poor project management as part of a team or just as an individual and what I notice is that many times the manager, while not doing it deliberately, sets me or the team up to fail. By that I mean they don’t lay the needed groundwork for the project to succeed. Just recently I was told to go over to our Communications and IT Departments and have them change something on the website that our director thought was inaccurate information. So of course when I do that, their response was “Who are you to tell us what to do with what is our domain?” My manager had never called the director of those departments to let them know I would be contacting them and over what issues. She just sent me off to basically do her work. That’s okay but it did not lead to the probability of success. So what happened is that it took me a week to even find the right person to talk to since I was told to “just contact someone in IT.” Then after I found the person it was another week of going back and forth between them and my manager over what they would and would not do. So after a while it appeared as if I was not getting it done, which I was not, so she was displeased. When I attempted to point out that she really set me up to fail, it went right over her head. Maybe I should give her your article. But thanks for this. In the things I lead, I will keep these principles in mind. Many times one knows what has been mismanaged but one cannot put into words how it should be done. This article puts into words how a leader should manage a project so that it has a successful outcome.
Thanks for the thoughts Mike. Sorry to hear about all the trouble but glad the article addresses many of the challenges you face. Good luck going forward!
Hi Mike,
That’s an excellent post on project leadership that I’m sure will interest many project managers out there.
I would like to republish it on PM Hut, where many project managers will be able to read it and benefit from it. Please either email me or contact me through the contact us form on the PM Hut website in case you’re OK with this.
Great article. Unfortunately this point is often lost on many people. I’ve seen plenty of freshly minted PMP’s fail miserably on projects because they just don’t understand the leadership aspect. Or they are incapable of leading.
BTW – I’d love to subscribe to the blog, but the link (under “Announcements”) seems to be broken.