APM 'Project manager to leader' seminar: The what, why and how - Project leadership skills behaviours Sarah Coleman

© 2019 www.businessevolution.co All rights reserved. Helping organizations improve performance Slide: 1
APM SWWE Branch / People SIG
Leadership Conference
27 November 2019
Sarah Coleman MBA ChPP FAPM CMgr FCMI
Director, Business Evolution Ltd
IPA Associate
Visiting Fellow, Cranfield University
Author & Researcher: Project Leadership (Gower, 2015),
Organizational Change Explained (Kogan Page, 2017), Project
Leadership: skills, behaviours, knowledge and values (APM
Publishing, 2018)

• About leadership and project leadership
• About the research: logistics, findings, competency
frameworks
• Implications for you, your organisation and the
professional community
• Reflections about transitioning in your career.

Born to lead?
Source: G7 summit, June 2018

Why this topic?
Four dominant themes:
•Unclear objectives - Inadequate definition - Scope not fully defined
•Wrong leader - Inappropriate team - Inadequate training
•Poor or no planning - Unrealistic timescales - Ineffective controls
•Poor communications - Lack of stakeholder consultation

What’s the difference that makes
the difference?
Kouzes and Posner (2011):
• “what personal values, traits and characteristics do
you look for and admire in a leader, someone whose
direction you would willingly follow?”
• four attributes: honesty, competency, inspiring,
forward-looking.

Leadership literature review …..

What’s the role of a leader today?

Source: Project Delivery Capability Framework – November 2018 (Version 2)

5 private sector partners …..

Positioning questions …..

Findings (1) …..

Findings (2) …..
Project Leadership – the 8 ‘survival skills’
• Anticipating – being prepared for what could knock the project off course next
• Judgement and decision-making – making timely decisions with incomplete information
• Seeing it all – understanding the totality of what is going on inside and outside the project
• Building credibility and confidence – belief in the leadership and the team
• Organisationally intelligent – knowing when and how to engage with the organisation
• Learning – being open-minded; reflecting on and developing own performance and that of the team
• Conflict resolution and collaboration – building a common purpose despite the rules
• Creating the project culture and environment – deliberately defining and creating the culture and
environment to succeed.

Exercise ….. Project
Leadership Survival Skills
1. In your opinion are there any surprises,
omissions, etc in the 8 survival skills?
2. Which are your top three survival skills
choices?

Project leadership survival skills: comparisons
APM Conference, Manchester: 7 November 2018
1. Judgement and decision-making
2. Creating the project culture and environment
3. Building credibility and confidence
MPLA/PLP Alumni event, London: 28 November 2018
3. Anticipating
PLP cohort, Cranfield University: 26 June 2019
2. Anticipating
=3. Creating the project culture and environment
=3. Building credibility and confidence
APM SWWE Branch/People SIG Leadership Conference, Bristol: 27 November 2019
2. Building credibility and confidence

Findings (3)…..

Capability maturity

Exercise ….. Implications
What are the implications:
• For your own career development?
• For your organisation’s P3M
community?
• For P3M professional bodies?

Transition Model: leaving behind the familiar and embracing the new
• Values: on the basis that what you value
is what you focus on, you must change
what you value about your individual
contribution.
• Time: a shift in two dimensions is
needed:
- What you spend your time doing;
- Horizon you are looking over.
• Skills: accept losing familiar skills,
welcome the discomfort of learning new
skills.
New skills
Enhanced
Delegated
Dropped
Existing
Building personal and organisational capability

Q&A …..

APM 'Project manager to leader' seminar: The what, why and how - Project leadership skills behaviours Sarah Coleman

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