Leadership in

Project
Management
PREPARED BY
SARBAJIT ROY CHOUDHURY

1
  Introduction
 Are leaders born or made?
 Leadership Theories
 Project Leadership
 Different Directions
 Soft Skills Activation
 Charismatic Leader Qualities
 Project Leadership Survival Skills
 Conclusion
Content  References

2
Introduction
 All the functions in the project are performed by people
 Good people, well led, always find a way to make things happen and overcomes the many challenges inherent in
the engineering and construction project
 The PM’s ability to led his or her people effectively can have significant impact on the success of the project
 Project leadership is more art than science
 There is substantial difference between project management and project leadership
 Good leaders always knows their strength and weaknesses and they build their team and project organization
accordingly in a way that mitigates their shortcomings and enables them to work to their strengths

3
Are leaders born or made?
 People say – “ He or She is a
natural born leader” – This is
true for some people just as
we hear of natural born
athletes.
 There are very few people
who just have a gift that
encourages people to follow
them
 Leadership skills like athletic
skills seem to follow a normal
distribution curve in our
population
4
 With hard work, coaching
and practice most of us can
become good leaders
 Like any other job function,
leadership proficiency can be
learned
 Just as anyone can improve a
skill with practice, so can
leadership skills can be
learned and improved upon
with practice
 Leadership Theories
 One of challenges facing the leaders today is that there too many leadership theories. A few of them are
mentioned below:
• Situational leadership
• Participative leadership
• Autocratic leadership
• Theory X
• Theory Y

Unlike Newton’s law, Ohm’s

A business leadership or
law or other time-tested
model is worthless
laws of physics, people are
unless it can be applied
difficult to predict with
in real world
100% accuracy

5
 Project Leadership
 Leadership is the process of influencing individuals or groups to accomplish an organizational goal or mission

Key Points: Leadership is a process – it is not a one-time

fire and forget evolution

Leaders need not be perfect but he or she

should always strive to apply sound leadership
principles in their leadership efforts

Leadership involves influencing individuals and

groups
Leaders are good and effective influencers of
others because they know leaders can't do
everything

Effective leadership helps in achieving

organizational goal or mission
It means leading the project team and
managing the project to a high quality, on time
and within budget conclusion with a customer
who is happy with that conclusion

6
Project Leadership
 Project leadership can be conceptualized in the following five distinct headings:

Understanding
the wider
The leader Establishing,
Constructing context in
understanding building and
the project Delivering the which the
themselves developing the
organization outcomes and project is to be
including their project team
from roles and benefits of the delivered and
strengths , with two
responsibilities project by the nuances
weakness, intents:
to the looking at the pitfalls facing
capabilities 1. The
organizational future as the team in
and delivery of
culture with opposed to the wider
touchpoints the project
the intent of managing the environment
and how their 2. The
enabling it to project It is more
experience can creation of
perform well schedule, about guiding
help them to project
and deliver resources and the project
work with their delivery
outcomes and immediate through
team to deliver capability
benefits deliverables difficult,
the project for future
complex and
projects
turbulent
environment

7
Different Directions
 The success of the project depends to a large extent on the elements of project management which cannot be learned
on courses. Methods of managing a team, ways of communication with persons involved in the project (up, down, and
in all other directions) are some of the elements.
Opportunities
Can additional profits be made
Look up Sell a new project
Sponsors
Look outside
They judge you
Clients, users, subcontractors, suppliers
They can help you in difficult situations
Expect the greatest demand being made
They give resources and expect profits
from this direction

Look back
Project Look ahead
Monitoring of progress, quality, risks, cost
Planning – Defining activities and
What can you make out from the Leader resources
experience you gained in the project

Look inside
Look down
You as the leader, manager
Project team
Manage yourself and measure your
Do you reasonably use your resources
effectiveness
to achieve your objectives
Is your management effective ?
Objectives: individual and collective,
Does it have a positive impact on the Risk outer, visible and invisible, close and
project and people? What threatens the project? distant
Do you control the unexpected

8
Soft Skills Activation
 Achieving success in project management particularly meeting deadlines, costs and technical specifications has as
its basic requirement the detention of skills from their stakeholders
 However, based on processes, tools and techniques, hard skills have been over valued at the expense of the soft
skills as a critical success factor in project management
 Multiple studies has lead to the conclusion that it is the lack of integration between the hard and soft skills is the
primary factor for the failure of multiple projects
 Among many other dimensions, to be necessarily present in project management, soft skills such as team building,
flexibility, creativity, leadership, time management, stress management, trustworthiness are also required

9
Soft Skills Activation
 Based on the study, the following table shows the soft skills requirements in project management phases:

Soft Skills Project Management Phases

Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring & Closing
Control
Communication √ √ √
Team building √
Flexibility & Creativity √ √ √
Leadership √ √
Organizational Effectiveness √ √
Stress management √ √
Time management √ √
Change management √ √
Trustworthiness √ √
Conflict management √ √

10
Charismatic Leader Qualities
 The leader should arouse respect, trust and admiration among the subordinates, while on the other, serve as a
highly ethical and moral behaviour.
 He/She should not be afraid of facing risks, yet should avoid abusing authority and power for individual purposes.
 Likely traits of charismatic leader can be the following:

Chic Innovative Cutting edge (Not trendy)

Clear Coherent Say what you mean
Clever Competent Smart Well prepared but not big headed
Creative Inventive Think up innovative solutions
Crisp To the point The first impression is important
Concise Brief Concentrate on the issue , not wordy
Confident Self assured Mean what you say
Consistent Consequent Make your stand clear and stick to it
Controlled Calm Does not panic, knows the issue
Curious Open -minded Be intelligent and never arrogant

11
Project Leadership Survival Skills
 There is substantial difference between project leadership and project management
 Some of the critical attributes of project leadership are mentioned below:
• Anticipating
• Judgement and Decision making
• Seeing it all
• Building credibility and confidence
• Organizationally intelligent
• Learning
• Conflict resolution and collaboration
• Creating the project culture and environment

12
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Anticipating

 Anticipating is an important attribute for a project leader

 Sensing can allow the project leader to spot problems early and so get ahead of the game
 Anticipating comes from two sources:
 Sensing: What is going on in the project with the major stakeholders/What is the feeling in the local
community
 Experience: Knowing from previous projects what happened in the different stages will help/What is going to
hit us next

13
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Judgement and Decision Making

 Project Leadership is about judgement and about future

 Decisions to be based on judgement, intuition and experience
 Project leadership is about keeping the outcome in mind and keeping everyone focused on the outcome
 Critical awareness about the project reporting system limitations is important for a project leader
 In large complex projects, one cannot be a project manager as well as a project leader- Reason- there isn’t the
time for both
 Project leaders have to make the decisions:
• Whether to work in the project – It involves immersion and dealing with day to day issues
• Or work on the project – It is a strategic stance and looking at the project from outside. The project leader
should have the capability to zoom in and out of the detail as necessary

14
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Seeing it All

 Project Leader has the holistic view of the project by virtue of their role
 A project leader needs to know what is going on in a reasonable amount of detail but not so much as to be ‘lost in
the weeds’
 Seeing it all allows two things to happen –
• The project leader can remain slightly aloof from the day to day activities without loosing control
• This allows the shortcomings of the leader to be balanced by other team members who have complementary
strengths
 Seeing it all requires a deep understanding of the project which comes from ‘Emotional Knowledge’ as opposed
to detailed factual knowledge of what is working and what isn’t working delivered by the project team; at the
same time, having a comprehensive view of the stakeholders, the project environment, and changes or threats
which could occur

15
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Building Credibility and Confidence

 Project Leader need to have confidence of two groups – the client and the project team
 Project leader need to have self-belief and leading into the future
 Credibility and confidence is the most important attributes. The role of the project leader is to make people
believe that the project is deliverable when they don’t think it is
 The leader should have the ability to steady the ship, get to the heart of the matter and access additional help or
resources while keeping the existing team focused and motivated is very crucial
 The initial credibility of the project leader comes from their industry experience and previous reputation for
project delivery. But that reputation only goes so far, and the project leader will be judged on how they create the
team, lead the project and deal with any crises as they occur.
 Maintaining confidence is important while not overlooking the factors that will get in the way of delivering a
successful project
 The bottom-line - “would you work for this person [the project leader] again?”. It is a reflection of whether people
wanted to follow them, but also a measure of whether or not the project leader would be able to attract the best
resources to work for them on future projects.

16
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Organizationally Intelligent

 Organisational intelligence is needed to attract and maintain the resource, to understand the wider organisational
landscape and to build political awareness
 A key task for any project leader is to acquire the resources and expertise needed to deliver the project
 A good project leader will build their own team of individuals who work with them on projects, but they will also
build a reputation for being someone people want to work for. In this way the project leader can attract talent
from across the organisation
 Good project leaders need to be sufficiently organisationally connected to be able to use their influence with
those decision-makers allocating the resources
 Operating landscapes change over time, and an astute project leader will read the signs and notice when this is
happening. The longer the project, the more likely this is to be an important factor. Being sufficiently
organisationally connected enables the project leader to reposition or repurpose their project with the least
disruption, rather than becoming the victim of events.

17
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Learning

 Project leaders need to learn who they can and can’t trust and, probably most importantly, when they make a
mistake
 Learning will be in three ways:
• Learning through the project: the project leader needs to learn throughout the project and should have the
ability to sense and anticipate things that are happening inside and outside the project. They also need to
learn who they can and can’t trust and, probably most importantly, when they make a mistake. Mistakes
identified early can be rectified more quickly with lower costs
• Reflecting on the project: They leader need to be open to, and listening for, feedback. They need to ask
themselves “What did I get wrong?”, “How close to the cliff edge did I get?” and “What do I need to do
differently next time?”
• Team learning: Learning should also occur at the team level. Finding people who have done similar projects
and understanding the difficulties and challenges early is important for the leaders. . Developing team
members through the shared experience of the project; for example, having access to new experiences,
learning new technical skills, and having the opportunity to learn new behavioural skills.

18
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Conflict Resolution and Collaboration

 The approach to minimising conflict and creating real collaboration by actively creating the project culture and
environment. This can be an effective way of breaking down silos between planning and delivery or between the
main contractor and subcontractors.
 Conflict can still occur and project leaders need to resolve the conflict without damaging the overall delivery of
the project and, in particular, without “reaching for the contract” and “persecuting the problem, not the person”
 The skills being needed to do this includes effective listening, communicating, negotiating and influencing as well
as the courage to decide to make an informal gesture or agreement that wasn’t in the original contract.
 The more complex the project, the more complex the stakeholder base, and the more diverse the views of why the
project exists and what it is there to deliver.

19
Project Leadership Survival Skills
Creating the Project Culture and Environment

 Culture as “the way we do things around here”

 The leader is responsible for “creating the environment for success” as the leader is the role model for and
promoting behaviours that set the tone for the project culture, since “the way the team behaves is very indicative
of the leader’s style”
 Projects are being temporary organisations, but temporary organisations also need a structure: they need to report
into the parent organisation and interface effectively with the customer
 In normal operations, most leaders are faced with an existing structure with people in the roles and established
reporting lines and responsibilities. In a project, this doesn’t exist at the start, so the project leader has the
opportunity to create this from a blank canvas
 This is a very significant difference between project leadership and general organisation leadership.

20
Conclusion
 Quote – “A superior leader is a person who can bring ordinary people together to achieve extraordinary results”
 Quote Carly Fiorina, HP CEO, who – in her speech at the MIT, June 2, 200012 – remarked:

Leadership in this new landscape is not about controlling decision-making. We don't have time anymore to control
decision-making. It's about creating the right environment. It's about enablement, empowerment. It is about setting
guidelines and boundaries and parameters and then setting people free.

Leadership is not about hierarchy or title or status; it is about having influence and mastering change. Leadership is
not about bragging rights or battles or even the accumulation of wealth; it's about connecting and engaging at
multiple levels. It's about challenging minds and capturing hearts. Leadership in this new era is about empowering
others to decide for themselves. Leadership is about empowering others to reach their full potential. Leaders can no
longer view strategy and execution as abstract concepts but must realize that both elements are ultimately about
people.”

21
References
1. Leadership and its role in success of project management – Bianca Novo, Eric A Landis, Mary Lewis Haley
2. Leadership in project management – Anna Kurzydlowska
3. The impact of leadership styles on project success –Case of a telecommunications company – Tammy Lategan,
Stanley Fore
4. Leadership skills for project managers – Marie Jose Sousa, Isabel Moco, Ana Sofia Saldanha, Ivo Dias
5. Project Leadership: skills, behaviours, know ledge and values – Association for Project Management –October
2018

22
23