Things I Wish I Knew about Leading as a Project Manager 20 Years Ago (Part 1)

There are always times when we look back and say, "If only I'd known that, I would have done it differently, or I would have moved a lot quicker…"   

Every now and then I've written down things that I have found particularly impactful to me careerwise. They've pretty much become my 10 leadership rules of project management. From my experience, which I fully understand may not be your experience. But maybe they might remind you that there is no textbook answer to what you are doing at work and that no one is coming up with a better idea. What you are doing is right. Keep building relationships and moving forward.

1. You Must Create Movement, Preferably Forward

For me, project management is roughly 50% process and 50% 'soft skills'. It's a leadership role. You can expect plenty of technical skills from team members and stakeholder involvement. However, in my experience, only the project manager is focused on keeping the effort moving forward.   

When there are issues happening in a project, teams tend to slow or pause efforts. Discussion and debate ensue. The leadership role here is to assign resources to review and address issues or changes, but also to look to keep the project moving forward. Not of course when there is a serious or safety issue. However, the majority of delays on a project are likely to be very controllable or actionable. Keep moving the team into next week.  

Here's a small example of communication. Your team tells you something in the product or service being designed is failing. There is no root cause established yet. But you know you are not getting units built or services confirmed. There's a Project Steering Committee update at 5 pm – 2 slides PowerPoint. What are the three things you need to say as a project manager to keep management engaged, stop them from needing more discussion, but also keep the work moving?

1. We have an issue, but we don't have a root cause. Then, describe any aspects you are aware of or understand (only one slide—keep it high-level).
2. We are doing the following right now (list what is being done) and plan to do additional tasks (list anything to start within 48 hours—one slide only).
3. We will return to you in 24 hours with an update (or 48 hours if that is the right timing).  

Do not offer anything else. Then, work with the team to progress the investigation and return to your next update with what you know at that point. You don't own the issue. It isn't your fault. You and your team are the reason the recovery is going to happen. Help the team organise to overcome and achieve.

2. To Really Be a Leader, You Must Create a Leader Behind or Next to You

If you were asked to step up to the level above where you are now, would you be able to say, "I have this person on my team who is ready to step into my role right now and be successful". Why would we not work to always be able to achieve this scenario? Simple, because it's hard and we're doing other stuff to ensure we are seen as successful in the workplace.  

My first boss used to say, "If you want to put something into your day, you need to take something out". We are so busy doing things to advance our project work or our career that prioritising building someone else as a leader might not be one of our top 3 priorities. It takes a great leader to be able to ensure enough time is given consistently to building leaders behind them. So, whilst you are working every day to be a successful project manager, is some of that time being spent ensuring someone on the team is learning what you are doing?  

3. Every Problem Is an Opportunity

It's always been good advice for any role, and it's true for project management careers, too. If you are given a tough project, a project in trouble, or a project that everyone is trying to avoid, remember what all salespeople know: every problem is an opportunity. Any positives, any wins, any successes will be yours and the teams. There's a lot more celebration and recognition of talent when serious problems are overcome. Problems within a project are an opportunity for you to show your leadership skills and your ability to connect with people, remain calm and work on the problem.  

Even in a well-set-up and well-managed project, there will be a setback or a proposed change that you need to lead successfully.

4. You Don’t Need to ‘Fake It ‘Till You Make It’ Just You Right Now Is Fine

This one took me years to learn, and if I'd known it and believed it in my twenties, I could have saved myself years of anxiety. If you are in a project, update your manager or a group of senior management or ministers, and you are asked a question. Do you try to think of what the group would expect a good project manager to reply, and then answer using whatever words you can think of that sound like what you've heard that good project manager say? This might work once in a while, but mostly, you will confuse your manager. They've likely put you in this role based on what they've seen as potential. They expect you to use your skill sets to lead this team and project and to use your thoughts, phrasing, and ideas to give them possible options on how to proceed.  

How is trying to be something you are not going to work? It's not. You are the sum of your experiences: your upbringing to be a decent, respectful person, your schooling and possibly college education to build a skill set, early training and your work experiences to date to allow you to expand on your skills as a project manager and leader. Say what you actually think about answering the question. Okay, it's possible someone will add to the information. Don't worry about that. Take notes, learn. Keep doing better.  

I wasn't confident enough to do what I've written above until I was in my late 30s. So, do I think I would have been able to answer those questions if I had thought to myself just to be myself and say what I really think? Yes, I would have had an answer I believed, and perhaps a few times, I might have been wrong. But it's okay to be at the competence point you are at. Competence is a journey. I can work and develop and be authentically me. If I were in my early 20s trying to be a 'wunderkind' of project management, that would have been pretty stressful. I would have been prepping and dodging constantly so as not to be 'found out' as an 'imposter'. Fortunately, I wasn't trying to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Maybe it's just impressive.  

Just be the authentic you right now. It's what they are looking for, even if you don't believe it. You don't need to rush your life through several decades in six months. Work isn't supposed to be super difficult. Challenging, yes; difficult, no.  

5. It’s Okay to Be a Little Bit Selfish

Perhaps you've been told or recognised that your career development is entirely your responsibility. That is correct. It's great at times when our manager or a senior sponsor helps us and guides us in development and training. But that won't always happen. Ultimately, it's up to us.   

My experience is I never devoted regular lengths of time to this or even short pieces of time. I kept giving time away to achieving projects and guiding others. Even if it's a basic outline of where we think we want to be in a few years and a rough guide to a direction, we need to remember it's okay to be a little selfish and to take some time to ensure our own development path and skills training. Also, to spend time building relationships with stakeholders and regional people who might be able to help our future efforts. Otherwise, we will find ourselves on whatever road we wandered onto, unplanned.  

A wonderful HR Business Partner I was lucky enough to work with told me once (about applying for an internal position), "They can't be asking who you are at the interview. They need to have known about you somehow. And hopefully, they have heard about you from others before."  

Think of it like the San peoples in the Kalahari, one of the oldest hunter-gatherer cultures of Southern Africa. When hunting, they trail the running antelope for miles, often over days. At certain points, they stop and bury water-filled ostrich eggs, marking the buried position with twigs. On their return to the tribe, they have water at required points for survival.   

Of course, our career development may not be quite so dramatic, but regular planning is a help.