Project Leadership: Leadership Skills for Project Managers

When you are managing a project, you have a whole constituency of team members, stakeholders, and senior people looking to you to deliver their project.
If that doesn’t demand leadership, I don’t know what does.
But leadership is a topic that is rarely covered in mainstream project management books or courses. Far too often, we’re left to figure it out for ourselves. I know that’s what I had to do.
So, being as easily swayed by ‘round’ numbers as the next person, I wanted to make this, the 10th eBook in this kindle exclusive series, about leadership. It’s a topic that endlessly fascinates me. It’s big, it’s important, and it is crying out for good quality but easy to read advice for new (and not-so-new) project managers.
And here it is. In this eBook, I have collated five meaty chapters.
Get Better Project Results with Personal Leadership
We start off with you and how you conduct yourself as a leader. Personal Leadership is the day-by-day acts of leadership that inspire your team members to follow you.
It’s what motivates them, so they are keen to follow you. Personal leadership raises morale and builds loyalty.
And this is crucial. In a project environment, you often have little or even no formal authority. So, it is personal leadership that creates the basis for authority through influence, trust, and commitment.
Three Project Leadership Challenges for Tough Times
In tough times, managing well is not enough. People are scared and uncertain. It’s leadership that will keep them motivated, confident and effective.
There are two valuable aspects to this chapter. First, I’ll give you my concept of what leadership means, by contrasting ‘Purple Bus Leadership’ with ‘Yellow Bus Leadership’. And second, we’ll look at three of the biggest challenges project leaders face in tough times. What are they and, more important, how can you handle them effectively?
How to Get the Best from Your Project Team with Situational Leadership
The Four Essentials of Project Team Leadership
Leading a team is not hard. What makes it difficult is fitting it in among all the other project priorities that are facing you. You're under pressure to do this and do that. So, you often default to a combination of doing it yourself, telling people what to do, and getting annoyed with a general lack of progress.
So, in this chapter, I want to focus on the four essentials of project team leadership. None of the fancy stuff. Just the four things that make the biggest difference.
LEAD: Your Four Project Leadership Priorities
When you are in a Project Leadership role, people are looking to you for leadership and guidance. But, with so many responsibilities, it can be hard to know what are your leadership priorities?
Often, it is the soft skills that are hardest to practice. Yet they regularly make the biggest difference. There is a well-established acronym, LEAD, that lists four vital skills. For me, it forms a great checklist and reminder of my leadership priorities. And, in this chapter, I want to share it with you. But, as you’ll expect from me, I’ve filled the chapter with tips and tricks along the way.
Summary
Leadership is not negotiable for a project manager. But, if you are new to the role and you’re already working hard to fulfil the core technical aspects of project management, it must all seem rather bewildering. That’s why I have collated these five chapters for you. I do hope you will find them helpful.