How often have you looked around your workplace and noticed the blow-in Project Manager that seem to float around with the best of everything? You know who I’m talking about! I mean, come on…it’s SO unfair. You work hard and follow the company line, do the right thing, hit your targets…yet these guys just seem to fly in, stay a while, make a lot of noise and take all the glory. How the heck to they do it?
Whose darn pocket are THEY in?
Image source: Leadership Insights
Now stop right there. Let’s turn the question around and ask ourselves something a little different.
Why are they so good at their job? What do they do better than you? What killer attributes do they bring to the table that we can adopt for ourselves?
Why Jim Was a 5-Star Leader and I Was…Not
I once worked with a Project Manager called “Jim” who, quite honestly, irritated the heck out of me…loud, boisterous and with appalling dress sense; I mean, who wears a panama hat to work in summer? This guy was on another planet! If you asked me back then, I would have said that he was one of those “favored few” who seem to survive and prosper without actually DOING anything. I just could not see what it was about him that made him so popular with the company, whilst being so darned annoying, to me at least.
It was only when I bumped into Jim again a few years later and was able to spend more time with him, that I realized he really was a 5-Star Leader with his own style – and that the problem had not been with him but rather, with my inexperience and lack of leadership maturity. Truth be told, Jim is now one of my closest mentors and confidantes, one of the first guys that I turn to when I need advice – for a very simple reason.
For almost 20 years, Jim has continued to prosper and ply his trade without changing his personal style one iota – all the while building a formidable track record of success. Why? Because he has 4 killer attributes in spades. He does these four things better than most Project Managers I have ever met…and his clients love him for it:
- Align results to a Business strategy
- Be agile and adaptive
- Contribute innovative value
- Think in terms of Benefits realization
4 Killer Leadership Attributes
Let’s look at each of these attributes and see how we can take ownership and use them ourselves.
- Align Results – Make sure that everything your project or team produces is aligned to a Business strategy. Money is scarce and no effort or spending should be wasted – everything that your team does should add value to an identified Business driver and conversely, you should do nothing that is not aligned in this way.
Everything that your team works on has a purpose, every dollar that you spend needs to add value to the Business.
Jim wore this attribute with pride – while we might fluff around on redundant tasks and produce documents that really did not make a blind bit of difference, Jim would narrow in on what the Sponsor was seeking and focus his efforts solely on meeting that need. He did not waste any effort. He ensured that he delivered consistently, on time and budget and to a specified Business need.
- Agile and Adaptive – Give the customer confidence that you are across your brief and creating value – never, ever underestimate the confidence that this can give your stakeholders. Look for quick wins or low-hanging fruit – early benefits that let the customer see a rapid return on investment.
Create this confidence by setting early ground rules for how you plan to run your team. Look at the ways your company currently operates – what processes and templates do you have at your disposal? Check them over and look for opportunities to streamline, identify redundant processes or roadblocks and be assertive in stating how you intend to deal with them. Use your authority to make these adaptations early. Use them to drive early outcomes, add value and motivate your team and stakeholders.
Jim was terrific at this – he would spend a few hours reviewing a work plan, drink coffee and draw pictures, then return with a very clear picture of:
- What he needed to achieve,
- How he would achieve it, and
- What process/template adaptations he would make
Jim’s secret was to be firm, authoritative and consistent. He was invariably correct but that’s beside the point – he projected confidence and in turn, received the support of his stakeholders.
- Innovative Value – We work in a global environment characterized by limited capital and a heightened reluctance to invest. How often are our projects given less than necessary funding and then we are encouraged to find ways to deal with it? Sure we all complain about being placed in handcuffs (“How the heck do they think I can deliver this with ½ a team?”), but I like the contrarian position that this sort of environment gives us a great opportunity to add innovative value.
Companies are looking for new ways to resolve old problems; innovative, creative ways of dealing with large changes. We need to get to market rapidly, our products become redundant overnight, our competitors are nipping at our heels…the old way of delivering changes just doesn’t cut it anymore.
How do we give our customer the quickest path to market whilst also balancing the stability and value for money? We need to look at different ways of doing things. Different approaches, different techniques.
Jim was the master of coffee consulting. He was able to bring his stakeholders on board by engaging with them one-to-one…and really understand what they needed from his team to meet their goals.
Jim was the master of coffee consulting. He was able to bring his stakeholders on board by engaging with them one-to-one, generally in the downstairs café…and really understand what they needed from his team to meet their goals. Once he knew this, he had an insight into their appetite for innovation and risk/reward. Why did this matter? Because it allowed him to break down the project objectives and pick out the most valuable deliverables in the eyes of the stakeholders. This gave him the trigger to look for creative, innovative ways to deliver the things that mattered most.
We can do the same thing. Tap into your networks, meet with vendors, talk to your mentors or throw a question to an online community. Speak to your stakeholders over coffee; find out what REALLY drives them, what MATTERS to their Business and most importantly, what difference you can make to help them achieve their objectives. Understand what they want and then focus on ways to deliver that. Be bold. Don’t be shy.
- Benefits realization – We can make an enormous, enduring difference to our customers where we think beyond the usual Scope/Time/Cost indicators and look at ways to deliver measurable benefits. Think of the time honoured argument – we can deliver the best quality product, on time and under budget, but the real measure of our success is how well the Business engages with it and how much measurable value it adds to the bottom line.
Work with your Business to build a strong, dynamic benefits realization process that tracks outcomes and progress along the journey. If you say that the solution will increase revenue, then check that it does. Measure the outcomes.
Make sure that every deliverable and outcome traces to a benefit driver – map them out and question every activity that does not contribute to a bottom line boost.
Jim understood that what mattered most was delivering a solution that met his customers’ needs and helped them grow their business. His whole approach was based on that premise – that everything he did should target a measurable benefit outcome. Nothing extra, nothing wasted.
Don’t Be A Leadership Shmuck
Jim has been a wonderful beacon on my leadership journey for years now, one of my closest friends and a genuine, gold plated confidante and mentor. If only I had appreciated his lessons all those years earlier, I would have avoided being a leadership shmuck and kick-started my own growth that much sooner. Still, I now drum these same lessons into my team and my mentees at every opportunity.
Take a moment to think about these killer attributes – can you use them in your own environment? Can they help your leadership growth? I love the idea of stripping the superfluous away and focussing on what matters most to the customer; of looking for innovative ways to create real, measurable customer value; of being bold and daring to using quick-wins to drive early benefits value.
Jim’s lessons have affected me profoundly and I hope they flick a light switch for you too. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please share your story; I would love to share it with our readers.
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