By Timothy R. Barry
What qualities are most important for a project leader to beeffective? Over the past few years, the people at ESI International, worldleaders in Project Management Training, have looked in to what makes aneffective project leader. With the unique opportunity to ask some of the mosttalented project leaders in the world on their Project Leadership courses ESIhave managed to collect a running tally on their responses. Below are the top10 in rank order according to frequency listed.
An effective project leader is often described as having avision of where to go and the ability to articulate it. Visionaries thrive onchange and being able to draw new boundaries. It was once said that a leader issomeone who "lifts us up, gives us a reason for being and gives the visionand spirit to change." Visionary leaders enable people to feel they have areal stake in the project. They empower people to experience the vision ontheir own. According to Bennis "They offer people opportunities to createtheir own vision, to explore what the vision will mean to their jobs and lives,and to envision their future as part of the vision for the organisation."(Bennis, 1997)
The ability to communicate with people at all levels isalmost always named as the second most important skill by project managers andteam members. Project leadership calls for clear communication about goals,responsibility, performance, expectations and feedback.
There is a great deal of value placed on openness anddirectness. The project leader is also the team's link to the largerorganisation. The leader must have the ability to effectively negotiate and usepersuasion when necessary to ensure the success of the team and project.Through effective communication, project leaders support individual and teamachievements by creating explicit guidelines for accomplishing results and forthe career advancement of team members.
One of the most important things a project leader mustremember is that his or her actions, and not words, set the modus operandi forthe team. Good leadership demands commitment to, and demonstration of, ethicalpractices. Creating standards for ethical behaviour for oneself and living bythese standards, as well as rewarding those who exemplify these practices, areresponsibilities of project leaders. Leadership motivated by self-interest doesnot serve the well being of the team. Leadership based on integrity representsnothing less than a set of values others share, behaviour consistent withvalues and dedication to honesty with self and team members. In other words theleader "walks the talk" and in the process earns trust.
Plain and simple, we don't like leaders who are negative -they bring us down. We want leaders with enthusiasm, with a bounce in theirstep, with a can-do attitude. We want to believe that we are part of aninvigorating journey - we want to feel alive. We tend to follow people with acan-do attitude, not those who give us 200 reasons why something can't be done.Enthusiastic leaders are committed to their goals and express this commitmentthrough optimism. Leadership emerges as someone expresses such confidentcommitment to a project that others want to share his or her optimisticexpectations. Enthusiasm is contagious and effective leaders know it.
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy? Althoughthe words are similar, they are, in fact, mutually exclusive. According toNorman Paul, in sympathy the subject is principally absorbed in his or her ownfeelings as they are projected into the object and has little concern for thereality and validity of the object's special experience. Empathy, on the otherhand, presupposes the existence of the object as a separate individual,entitled to his or her own feelings, ideas and emotional history (Paul, 1970).As one student so eloquently put it, "It's nice when a project leaderacknowledges that we all have a life outside of work."
Simply put, to enlist in another's cause, we must believethat that person knows what he or she is doing. Leadership competence does nothowever necessarily refer to the project leader's technical abilities in thecore technology of the business. As project management continues to berecognised as a field in and of itself, project leaders will be chosen based ontheir ability to successfully lead others rather than on technical expertise,as in the past. Having a winning track record is the surest way to beconsidered competent. Expertise in leadership skills is another dimension incompetence. The ability to challenge, inspire, enable, model and encourage mustbe demonstrated if leaders are to be seen as capable and competent.
Trust is an essential element in the relationship of aproject leader and his or her team. You demonstrate your trust in othersthrough your actions - how much you check and control their work, how much youdelegate and how much you allow people to participate. Individuals who areunable to trust other people often fail as leaders and forever remain littlemore that micro-managers, or end up doing all of the work themselves. As oneproject management student put it, "A good leader is a little lazy."An interesting perspective!
In a perfect world, projects would be delivered on time,under budget and with no major problems or obstacles to overcome. But we don'tlive in a perfect world - projects have problems. A leader with a hardy attitudewill take these problems in stride. When leaders encounter a stressful event,they consider it interesting, they feel they can influence the outcome and theysee it as an opportunity. "Out of the uncertainty and chaos of change,leaders rise up and articulate a new image of the future that pulls the projecttogether." (Bennis 1997) And remember - never let them see you sweat.
A team builder can best be defined as a strong person whoprovides the substance that holds the team together in common purpose towardthe right objective. In order for a team to progress from a group of strangersto a single cohesive unit, the leader must understand the process and dynamicsrequired for this transformation. He or she must also know the appropriateleadership style to use during each stage of team development. The leader mustalso have an understanding of the different team players styles and how tocapitalise on each at the proper time, for the problem at hand.
Although an effective leader is said to share problem-solvingresponsibilities with the team, we expect our project leaders to have excellentproblem-solving skills themselves. They have a "fresh, creative responseto here-and-now opportunities," and not much concern with how others haveperformed them. (Kouzes 1987)
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