![]()
Chapter 1
What is Leadership?
Key Points
- Leadership is situational and personal.
- There are certain behaviors exhibited by good project leaders.
- Project leaders demonstrate specific skills.
- There are some common traits and characteristics in leaders.
Topic 1 Leadership is not One-Size-Fits-All
Leadership is a tricky thing to define. It has been defined as the ability to bring like-minded people together to get remarkable things done. Another definition is that leadership is influencing others to support you in the accomplishment of a common task. Regardless of the definition, leadership requires a leader and one or more followers. In the context of project management, we are going to use the project manager in the role of the leader and the project team in the role of the followers.
As difficult as it is to define leadership, it is equally difficult to define the qualities that make a good leader. As far back as Plato, great minds have attempted to determine what makes a great leader. This inquiry focused on the inherent traits in a person that seemed to equate to successful leadership. The “trait” theory of leadership is not as prevalent now. Most leadership models today depict leadership as being situational. For example, there are some situations that call on leaders to be dynamic and visionary, while others call on leaders to be people oriented and develop strong teams. Still other situations rely on a strong intellect and task focus to develop strategies and tactics to deal with complex situations.
Skill: an ability acquired through deliberate effort, to carry out complex activities or job functions
Behavior: a manner of conducting oneself; a response to an action, environment, person or stimulus
Knowledge: being aware; a familiarity gained through experience or association
For the purposes of this book, we will look at leadership as a competency. A competency is a combination of knowledge, skills and behavior used to improve performance. If a person has leadership competency, they can apply leadership in different situations and contexts. A competent leader will interpret a situation in context and have a repertoire of possible actions. As you develop competence in leadership, you hone your ability to determine the appropriate actions in different situations. In other words, leadership competence improves with experience.
Consistent with the concept of situational leadership, it can also be said that leadership is personal. One size does not fit all. There is no set of behaviors, skills and knowledge that fits all leaders, all followers and all situations. There are no universal leadership characteristics and there is no “recipe for leadership.” However, there are skills and behaviors that many effective project leaders have. This book will focus on those skills and behaviors, as well as some knowledge that you need to have to be an effective project leader.
In 2011, the Project Management Institute (PMI) surveyed over 700 project managers from 66 different countries to determine the skills and behaviors that are most influential in delivering projects successfully. I will describe those skills and behaviors that project managers have identified as being the most important to them in leading a project.
Because leadership is such a broad topic, I have limited the coverage to those skills and behaviors that were in the top five for co-located teams and virtual teams. Interestingly, many of the behaviors were the same for both co-located and virtual teams, but the skills for co-located teams and virtual teams were very different.
As mentioned above, competency also requires knowledge. Of course you need knowledge about the specific industry or technology you work in to lead a project successfully. You also need knowledge about how to manage a project, such as planning, organizing, and controlling within a framework or a plan. I believe there are also some important areas of knowledge that you need in order to successfully lead a project. Therefore, in addition to providing information on the skills and behaviors necessary to lead projects successfully, I will also describe some of the leadership knowledge you need.
Topic 2: Leadership Behaviors
Information from the leadership survey was broken down into four regions:
- North America (NA)
- Asia/Pacific (AP)
- Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA)
- Latin America (LA)
The information presented represents an overall ranking of behaviors from all regions combined. However, where there are significant differences by region, those will be noted in the text. The top five overall leadership behaviors needed to effectively deliver projects, as defined in this survey, are:
- Collaboration. Working together to achieve a goal
- Openness. Transparency and making relevant information available to all stakeholders
- Reliability. The characteristic of keeping your word and having your actions be consistent what you say
- Decisiveness. The willingness to make a decision
- Ethics. The concepts of right and wrong behavior
Some interesting points to note are that collaboration was ranked in the top five for all regions and was ranked number one for all regions except Latin America, where it was ranked third. We will discuss collaboration when we talk about managing your team in chapter 8 and managing conflict effectively in chapter 10.
Openness was also a quality listed in the top five for all regions. We will talk about openness when we discuss being authentic in chapter 3 and communicating in chapter 7.
Reliability was in the top five characteristics for all regions except Latin America. We will touch on reliability when we discuss building trust in the chapter on building your project team.
Decisiveness was in the top five for all regions. Being decisive is an important aspect of decision making which we discuss in chapter 8.
Because ethics vary by industry and geography we will not discuss ethics, except to say that, throughout history, high moral standards and integrity have been considered key traits in effective leaders.
Topic 3: Leadership Skills
Based on the survey, the top five ranked leadership skills are:
- Problem solving. Being able to clearly articulate the problem and work through the issues to achieve a satisfactory solution
- Communicating a vision. Communicating in such a way that the team and other stakeholders want to participate
- Team building. Taking appropriate actions to improve team performance
- Decision-making. Applying an appropriate method to select the best course of action given several possibilities
- Coordinating and balancing conflicting stakeholder interests. Working with multiple stakeholders to achieve an approach and outcome that is acceptable to all
Problem solving was ranked number one for all regions except for Latin America, where it was tied for third. In chapter 8 where we discuss managing your team, we will define a problem-solving process.
Communicating a vision was ranked in the top five for all regions. We will discuss communication in chapter 7.
Team building was ranked either one or two for all regions, except North America where it tied for fourth. We talk about building a project team in chapter 5 and motivating your team members in chapter 6.
Decision making was ranked in the top five for all regions expect North America where it ranked number seven. We will cover decision making in the chapter 8.
Coordinating and balancing conflicting stakeholder interests was ranked as number three in North America, but did not make the top five in any other region. This skill is not covered directly, but the skills needed to effectively coordinate and balance stakeholder interests can be developed by applying the information in the chapter on communication, critical conversations, and managing conflict.
There are several other skills and areas of knowledge that support being able to effectively lead project teams. We will cover these in a chapter on advanced topics which considers power, different modes of thinking, and other subjects.
Topic 4: Leadership Traits and Characteristics
At the beginning of this chapter, I mentioned that the “trait” theory of leadership is not as prevalent as it was in the past. In this context, a trait is defined as a distinguishing quality. However, studies have found that there are certain traits that are prevalent in many leaders. These include:
- Adaptable
- Flexible
- Enthusiastic
- Positive outlook
- Self-aware
- Honest
In addition, there are certain characteristics that many effective leaders share. These include:
- Accountable
- Authentic
- High expectations
- High emotional intelligence
- Clear vision
- Clear communication
- Good decision-maker
- Knows and cares about employees
- Calm in the face of adversity
- Able to inspire and bring out the best in others
- Has self-confidence and self-respect
- Good problem solver
Some of these characteristics and traits were identified when we talked about skills and behaviors needed to effectively manage a project, such as clear communication and good decision-making skills. Others are clearly not skill-based, but are rather personality-based, inherent characteristics found in people. By identifying these traits and characteristics within yourself, you can start to identify where your strengths and weaknesses lie in these areas.
As a leader, you will always be in the spotlight. Your team will look to you to see how to act. If you demonstrate a positive outlook, honesty, and flexibility, you are more likely to see those traits and characteristics reflected back to you from your team members. However, if you talk about those traits, but don't act on them, your team will perceive you as being inauthentic and they will lose their trust and respect for you.
To help you develop self-awareness around your own skills, behaviors, traits and characteristics, we will discuss how to identify your values and other aspects of self-awareness in the next chapter. We will also discuss the importance of authenticity and acting in a manner that is consistent with your values.
In the Workplace
Leading projects and project teams can be challenging. Frequently, you have accountability for the outcomes, but you do not always have the authority you need to select team members, direct how they spend their time, or determine how much time they can give to your project. You can't control team member attitudes or behaviors. However, you can maintain a positive and motivating attitude yourself, even in the face of adversity.
Next time you are in a challenging situation, remember some of the traits and characteristics of effective leaders and adopt them. See how you can become adaptable and flexible in the situation. Try to maintain enthusiasm and a positive outlook regardless of the circumstances. Remember, attitude is infectious. Don't let negativity dampen your enthusiasm or your commitme...
