10 Leadership Principles Every Project Manager Should Master

Written by: N Nayab Edited by: Ginny Edwards Updated May 24, 2011 Leadership plays a vital role in the success of any project, and the project manager, as the leader of the team need leadership skills. Read on for some key leadership principles that every project manager should master. Establishing a Visionenlarge One the ten principles needed for successful leadership in a changing world and the foremost of the leadership principles is establishing a clear-cut vision for the future. The project development team prepares the project charter and scope, and prepares the deliverables or milestones. The project manager's role as the leader of the team is to sell the project scope to the team through creating an effective vision, inducing the team to provide their best towards meeting the project milestones and deliverables. A good leadership vision aligns the work done with business interests, and still has something in it to inspire the team members. Shared Values The hallmark of an effective team is shared values grounded in ethics. A good leader promotes ethical behavior through trustworthiness, dependability, honesty, and a facilitative nature, and ensures that such traits permeate across the project team. The project manager, besides inculcating and promoting such values, also needs to identify uncooperative, egotistical, irritable, and demanding behavior from team members and to nip such behavior in the bud. Failure to do so invariably results in a dysfunctional team. Proactivity Of the leadership skills for project managers, proactivity, or anticipating and taking charge ranks amongst the most critical. The execution of a project invariably requires resolving challenges, contingencies, and complexities. A project manager who leads from the front and takes a proactive approach to tackle such issues head-on and establishes his or her power through competence inspires and rallies the project team around him or her. Such a proactive nature needs reinforcement by promptness and timeliness, which is to never keep things pending and undertaking what needs doing at the appropriate time. Minor delays compound over time to major lags, throwing project deliverables out of control. Active Involvement A good leader does not confine himself or herself to saying go do it! He or she helps the team members do it. The leaders technical competency allows team members to defer to the leader to resolve complex technical issues, increasing the respect for the leader. A project manager inculcating a positive attitude to lead from the front needs to reinforce such an attitude with technical competency that allows him or her to be involved in the project operations, and adopt a handson approach to intervening and solving problems.

People Based Approach A successful leader invariably adopts a people-based approach, or placing people first over machinery, and other considerations. The project manager applies this most important leadership principle by applying models such as Belbin team role to identify people characteristics, understand the skills and competencies of team members, and assign work based on team members' strengths while helping them to develop their weak areas. Team Learning One important leadership principle for the project manager is to facilitate team learning. Team learning is team members engaging in true dialogue with their assumptions suspended, and in the process, inculcating ground realities about the area of knowledge discussed with one another. Such shared team learning allows team members to develop their knowledge, contribute to execution of the project in a better way, and facilitate the making of a learning organization that creates new opportunities for the team members and makes execution of future projects easy.

A participative approach counts among the major leadership principles that contribute towards the success of a project. Participative leadership is one of the most popular leadership styles in project management and involves the leader allowing or encouraging team members to share inputs or participate in the decision-making process. The project manager needs to balance his or her active involvement with a participative approach that allows team members a say in decision-making, and freedom and autonomy to do their job. Team members value the leaders intervention to provide them with critical job related inputs and insights, and at the same time remain motivated when the team leader allows them ownership of the work through involving them in decision making and structuring of the work. Inspired Delegation Delegation ranks amongst the most important leadership skills for project managers. The successful implementation of a project requires team members doing exactly what they are required to do, working under tight deadlines, and close coordination and synchronization. The project manager needs good communication skills to make team members understand the importance of such requirements, inspire them with the rewards of achievement, and create awareness of the implications of non-compliance. Such an inspired delegation to complete project tasks is another important leadership principle that every project manager needs to master. Establishing Accountability Establishing accountability is another important leadership principle that a project manager establishes for his team. A leader needs to motivate, inspire, facilitate, and lead from the front, but at the same time also needs to crack the whip when the situation so arises. A good leader provides team members with the resources required for the work, the freedom

to do the work, and all conditions necessary to excel, leaving no excuse for non-performance. The leader then makes the team member responsible and accountable for the work. A good leader matches the rewards for success or performance with punishment for incompetence or ineffectiveness. K.I.S.S. The most underestimated of leadership principles is simplicity. The acronym KISS can stand for Keep it simple, stupid, Keep it short and simple, or Keep it simple and straightforward. Most people underestimate the power of simplicity. The project managers role should be to keep the job as simple and straightforward as possible, without getting into unnecessary complexities. This includes simplifying the work design as much as possible, using simple words to communicate with the project team, establishing a direct reward and punishment continuum for performance and non-performance, and all other aspects related to the project. Adopting the above ten principles of successful leadership allows the project manager to become an effective leader.

Careers
People are the most important asset of this alliance. Fomento Resources believes in the immense potential of its highly motivated and achievement oriented employees, providing them with freedom at work, unmatched leadership opportunities and a chance to excel at a rapid pace. This is coupled with a competitive pay structure and on-going training. Integrity, trust, fairness and honesty are the basic principles that guide strategies and behaviour.

The Need for a Self-Correcting Organization: Letting Go of Directive Leadership

Directive leadership, a form of leadership that is mainly associated with the traditional model of leadership has been in existence since time immemorial. It is the basis on which organizations, both large and small were founded on. It has therefore become a core part of our organizational lives, not to mention the role it has played in getting work done efficiently. However, running an organization today using the traditional directive style is a sure way to fail. Though the methods ensure business runs efficiently, they have a few shortcomings. These include: lack of passion, imagination and initiative on the part of employees and, it does not give a company a sense of competitionhence most will stagnate at some point in their growth. To avoid all this, todays management has focused on creating employee autonomy in which they have the freedom to manage their own work. It is easier for a start-up company to give its organization a sense of autonomy, as compared to an already established company. But this is not to say that existing organizations cannot be autonomous. Any organization can move from a directive leadership to a self-correcting. So, how can a company do this without disrupting normal business and creating possible chaos? Outlined below are four strategies that have proven most useful in this venture.

Give voice to lower management (bottom-up reviews) In most organizations, if the entire decision making was left to executives, many things would go wrong and a good percentage of them would be dealt with inefficiently. This is the main reason for having leaders at each business level who know what they are doing, when and how.

Bottom-up reviews are as important as top-bottom reviews. Performance feed-backs regarding the managers leadership skills and management skills create a wholesome feel within the organization. Bottom-up reviews not only aim at increasing the trust levels among leaders and employees, but are also a means of motivating the leaders to improving themselves without the intervention of senior management. Always have back-up plans When we trust those around us to do something, it is always safe to have something to run to in case they dont fulfill. In an organizational setting, when you trust people to manage their work or teams, you must have a plan that will keep everything normal if something heads in the wrong direction. In most organizations, employee opinions are taken once a year- a time when some of the issues have lost relevance. Issues need to be addressed as they arise so as to keep them in check. Keeping tabs on the issues helps identify the strategic or tactical decisions people may have a problem with, creating an auto-correct environment.

Foster creativity FedEx employees usually get the chance to express their creativity on a quarterly basis. This is done by getting them to work on anything that relates to the companys product, and ship it within a day. With such an idea, a culture of innovation is born. Creativity is fostered giving room for radical ideas to get footing. However, creativity can only fully thrive in an environment that has no fear. Therefore, the traditional bureaucratic leadership styles will have to be set aside. Recognize diligence At the workplace, people do not perform the same. Some are usually passionate about their work and drive the business to greater heights, while some, unfortunately the majority, only do what their job descriptions state. These have no sense of creativity and will rarely make any decisions that may help the business. Management must therefore make it their duty to identify those who do their jobs well. This is a sure way of increasing employee morale, making them more productive and creative.

What is the Significance of Dogmas?

Dogma refers to a set of beliefs of a religious nature that is usually accepted as the standard truth without verifying the claims. The teachings may relate to issues of faith and morality propagated by a higher authority of the church. Being dogmatic implies believing in certain values or dogmas without considering other aspects or values. The word dogma is taken from the Greek word meaning opinion .The word dogmata or dogmas are used in the plural form. Dogma arises from faith and a non-believer cannot shake the faith of the believers of a particular religion.

Leadership Styles: Autocratic Leadership

What is it?
In an autocratic leadership style, the person in charge has total authority and control over decision making. By virtue of their position and job responsibilities, they not only control the efforts of the team, but monitor them for completion often under close scrutiny

This style is reminiscent of the earliest tribes and empires. Obviously, our historical movement toward democracy brings a negative connotation to autocracy, but in some situations, it is the most appropriate type of leadership. That, of course, doesnt mean a blank check to ignore the wellbeing of his subordinate.

When is it used?
The autocratic leadership style is best used in situations where control is necessary, often where there is little margin for error. When conditions are dangerous, rigid rules can keep people out of harms way. Many times, the subordinate staff is inexperienced or unfamiliar with the type of work and heavy oversight is necessary. Rigid organizations often use this style. It has been known to be very paternalistic, and in highly-professional, independent minded teams, it can lead to resentment and strained morale.

Good fits for Autocratic Leadership:

Military Manufacturing Construction

How to be effective with this position:

Its easy to see the immediate goal of this type of leadership: use your expertise to get the job done. Make sure that everyone is exactly where they need to be and doing their job, while the important tasks are handled quickly and correctly. In many ways this is the oldest leadership style, dating back to the early empires. Its very intuitive to tell people what needs to be done by when. It is difficult balancing the use of authority with the morale of the team. Too much direct scrutiny will make your subordinates miserable, and being too heavy handed will squelch all group input. Being an effective autocratic leader means being very intentional about when and how demands are made of the team. Here are some things to keep in mind to be an effective when acting as an autocratic leader:

Respect your Subordinates: Its easy to end up as rigid as the rules you are trying to enforce. Its important that you stay fair and acknowledge that everyone brings something to the table, even if they dont call the shots. Making subordinates realize they are respected keeps moral up and resentment low; every functional team is built on a foundation of mutual respect. Explain the rules: Your people know they have to follow procedure, but it helps them do a better job if they know why. Be consistent: If your role in the team is to enforce the company line, you have to make sure you do so consistently and fairly. Its easy to respect someone objective, but hard to trust someone who applies policy differently in similar circumstances. Educate before you enforce: Having everyone understand your expectations up front will mean less surprises down the road. Being above board from the outset prevents a lot of miscommunications and misunderstandings. Listen, even if you dont change: We all want to feel like our opinions are appreciated, even if they arent going to lead to immediate change and being a leader means that your team will want to bring their opinions to you. Its important to be clear that they are heard, no matter the outcome.

Locus of control

This is a key concept in all kinds of coaching, including strengths coaching. The locus of control is a term coined by Julian Rotter in the 1950s. This denotes the degree to which a person believes they can shape their future. It can be helpful for them to develop their inner strength and feel more in control of their life and work. * Internal locus of control. People with an internal locus of control are more likely to believe they can shape their destiny. They say things like: I will take responsibility I can make things happen I can recover from setbacks. * External locus of control.
People with an external locus of control feel they are swept along by events. They often use victim language and believe that things happen to them. They believe that life has treated them roughly and the world is wrong. Coaching programmes only work when a person is willing to begin taking responsibility for shaping their future. They often need to develop their internal locus of control. The links below show some ways of making this happen.

Pragmatic
Definition: 1. [adj] concerned with practical matters; "a matterof-fact (or pragmatic) approach to the problem"; "a matter-of-fact account of the trip" 2. [adj] guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics" 1.3. [adj] of or concerning the theory of pragmatism

PRAGMATIC is a 9 letter word that starts with P.

Synonyms:

hardheaded, hard-nosed, matter-offact, practical, pragmatical, pragmatical, realistic