- Leadership Reflections from the PM perspective. What is our leadership calling as Project Managers? Are there leadership boundaries we should observe in order to perform our jobs best? Must we sacrifice leadership for the good of the project? What is leadership in the project context anyway? More to come...
- Distinctions of Leadership and Management. What are the elements distinguishing a project leader from a project manager? Is a distinction even necessary -- the PMBOK implies that true professionals function dynamically between both roles. More coming...
- Situational Techniques. I'd like to invite some dialogue around problems such as: questions from management ("How certain are you that you'll hit this date, and I want a percentage!"), running a project with key team members assigned to higher priority efforts, team members not meeting commitments, and other common scenarios...
- Project Management rantings. Pet peeves, cliches, 'the right answer', cynicism, and many others...
- Healing and Growth. Leaders take bullets by design, but in order to function well and remain healthy we need occasional healing. How does one heal from inevitable injuries? There seem to be some paradoxes in this area...
Let's start with Healing and Growth. How can we managers support each other when our job description is to function separately as the designated leaders of teams? Is such a community practical in this or other management fields?
This area is one of my biggest challenges. I find that while I have experienced occasional get-togethers, it simply hasn't been practical to expect that several of us can align our schedules sufficiently to create the supportive environment we need in order to adequately heal and grow. Instead, these times can wind up being gripe sessions and we justify ourselves or others' actions and don't necessarily have the time to establish trust and honesty to deal with actual issues.
The answer may be that we have to find that support from those outside the field, such as with our mates, other family, or friends who do have time and interest to spend with us. We can also rehearse the successes from earlier days and recite our professional identities to ourselves -- to stay grounded on the truth we do know about ourselves and others.
Other thoughts or ideas? How do you keep your eye on the goal and maintain sure footing when the ground is moving underneath you?
