Articles

Start Date:	Thursday, November 11, 2010
Start Time:	06:00 PM
End Date:	Thursday, November 11, 2010
End Time:	09:00 PM
Location:	URI - Providence Campus
Members:	USD 20.00
Non-Members:	USD 20.00
Early Bird Discount:	USD 0.00
Early Bird End Date:
Presenter:	Dr. Jerry Brightman

PROJECT MANAGERS ARE EXTRAORDINARY LEADERS – THEY JUST DON’T QUITE KNOW IT YET!

Over the past 12 years I have realized that Project Managers are terrific people and terrific leaders. Getting to know them over this time has confirmed for me that they are the salt of the earth, they are people for whom the term “nine-to-five” has absolutely no meaning, and they are wonderfully creative and innovative in their work of bringing even the most difficult projects to successful conclusions. However, when asked if they are extraordinary leaders, they usually tell me they’re not.

So, either they are inherently modest people or I have not evaluated them correctly. Actually neither of these is true. I have heard many PMs tell the stories of their successes, often in great sweeping detail, so, modesty seems not to be a reason.

And, in fact, I have had the opportunity to evaluate hundreds of PMs - in a very analytical way – using the results of their 360-degree leadership assessments that I use in my leadership development work.

The 360s I use have a numeric rating system of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest score, 1 being the lowest). Although I have no concrete research data (I’m not a scientist nor researcher – just a humble facilitator), it appears that a very high majority of Project Managers typically rate themselves, on average, a 3, whereas their raters (bosses, peers and direct reports) often tend to score them about a 4.3. A 1.3-point differential on a five-point scale is a significant number and should be examined and analyzed to see why Project Managers don’t see themselves as others do.

My after dinner presentation will look at the reasons why PMs typically underscore themselves and what tactics and strategies they can embrace that will allow themselves to see themselves as their bosses, peers and direct reports see them. I will provide practical examples of how PMs can immediately start to become deeply more self-aware and how this new capacity will make them see, perhaps for the very first time, what extraordinary leaders they truly are!