Leadership

As discussed before, you have to consider two main subjects in leadership:

• How can I empower the hidden leaders in the project?
• How can I improve my own leadership skills?

Create a list of leadership skills (motivation, problem solving, conflict resolution, negotiation, facilitation, etc.) and plan how you want to improve yourself in each of those using the existing resources and practice in the real world. It’s also a good idea to expand this training to team leaders and other people who contribute to, or have the potential to contribute to the management of the project.

For example, let’s say there’s a young engineer in the project who seems to be interested in becoming a project manager in the future. As a project manager, you’re responsible for providing them with the opportunity. So, if you’re not great at facilitation and there’s not been enough time to learn and practice it yet, maybe you could ask that engineer if they’d like to become responsible for that. Then send them to training courses to grow as a facilitator, and whenever there’s a workshop, ask them to play the role. They would be happy to grow on the path they like and play an important role in the project, and you’d be happy to have someone to help you in an area you’re not great in. A true win-win situation!

Speaking of win-win situations, it may be helpful to point out a general rule in negotiation and problem solving: Some people think they are great when they win everything in a negotiation. That may be a short-term win, but it would cause problems in the long term, and that’s why the rule is to seek win-win situations in all negotiations and problem-solving attempts, as it’s the only sustainable way. Would you like to learn more about this topic? Then it’s a good idea to pick a good resource about negotiations and benefit from this great skill.