This is an overview of Leadership skills required for project managers. For more information, please write to radhia.benalia@gmail.com

1. Leadership for Project and Program
Managers
Radhia Benalia, PhDc, PMP
Deputy General Manager , CMCS Lebanon
June 2013
Radhia.benalia@gmail.com

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Session Outline
• Why Leadership?
• What a Project or Program “Manager” is required to do:
• Why Project Leaders?
• The New Triple Constraint
• Demonstrating Value to the C Suite
• Communication for Business Results
• Framework for Decision Making
• Leadership relationship with Change
• Failure and Disappointment Management

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Leadership Defined?
• “Leadership is the professed desire and commitment
to serve others by subordinating personal interests to
the needs of those being led through effectively
demonstrating the character, experience, humility,
wisdom and discernment necessary to create the
trust & influence to cause the right things, to happen
for the right reasons, at the right times.”-Myatt

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Why Leadership?
• We can’t live (and grow) without it.

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Leadership or Else?
• A Lack of Leadership can cause:
• Confusion
• Lack of Innovation
• High Turnover
• Loss of Talent and Resources
• Unethical Behavior
• Guerilla Syndrome
• Lack of Alignment with Company’s vision
• Failed Projects
• Failed Programs

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Given
• As a Project Leader, you are the CEO of a
temporary organization.

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What a Project or Program “Manager” is required
to do:
• Lead a group of people
• Transfer a conflict system into a cooperative one
• Resolve Conflicts
• Facilitate Stages of Team Formation
• Have the Ability to Motivate People
• Give Feedback
• Master the Art of Framing a Message
• Have Active Listening Skills
• Have Coaching and Mentoring Skills

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Why Project Leaders?
The Project Management Institute, Becoming a Business-Focused PM
Leader, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2012.

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The New Triple Constraint- PMI 2012
The Project Management Institute, The Global Project Management
Environment ,Project Management Institute, Inc., 2012.

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The Art and Science of Project Management
The Project Management Institute, Becoming a Business-Focused PM
Leader, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2012.

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The Project Management Institute, Becoming a Business-Focused PM
Leader, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2012.

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Communication for Business Results
• Convey a sense of purpose.
• Rally the project team.
• Act as the proxy for both sides.
• Listen as if your life depended on it.

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Your Team’s Ecosystem
Dilbert.com

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Take and Set the Temperature
• Are your people aligned?
• How is the energy? The dynamics?
• Are you getting consistent feedback?
• Are people developing?
• What is the reputation of your team?
• What will be the legacy?
• Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop
bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped
leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can
help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of
leadership. —Colin Powell

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Keep the Radar on :
• Don’t be oblivious to context.
• Remain Alert.

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Governance

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Governance
• Delegate any decision making others can take.
• Ensure decision making is seen as a
responsibility , not as a privilege in your team.
• Ensure expectations are clear, especially for
Millennials and new team members.

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Framework for Decision Making
• Do I have enough data?
• Did I assess the risks associated with this decision?
• Did I run it by some of my colleagues and genuinely
listened to their feedback?
• Have I evaluated all options?
• Am I making this decision because it’s convenient?
• What if I decide otherwise?

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Accountability
• Drive transparency and accountability in your
team.
• Do not entertain the blame game.
• Promote lessons learned off mistakes.
• Do not let Diplomacy turn into Faceless
Accountability.

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Self- Evaluation
• I ensure Roles and Responsibilities are clear in
my team.
• My team members understand Ownership and its
implications.
• The decision-making structure in my team is clear
for projects.
• We have an iterative process to improve
accountability in our organization.

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Transparency
• Do you articulate your values clearly?
• Is your team clear on what you never negotiate (
e.g., safety).
• They understand what is recommended.
• They understand what is tolerated.
• They understand what is not tolerated.

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Meeting Management
• Are you agile about your meetings?
• Do you have set rules about agenda, MOMs,
behavior during meetings?
• Observe Team dynamics. What does it tell you?
• Is there a general feelings of satisfaction for
something being completed?
• Is accountability/ownership clear for tasks
assigned.

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Leadership relationship with Change
Dilbert.com

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Leadership and Change
• Projects are a byword of change.
• As a project or Program manager, you are either
part of a change endeavor or managing change.
• Change is strategic.
• Change always involves people.

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Be a Powerful Change Agent
• Assess, assess, assess.
• Hold the beacon
• Convey the logic
• Anticipate the conflicts and Risks
• Involve reluctant people in Quality Assurance: Some
delegated power my help smoothen out things.
• Shun Complexity.

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Simplify the Complex
• As a leader, you are bound to be a translator from
complexity into simplicity.
• “Simplicity is the child of Brains and Common
Sense”- Segall

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Knowledge Management
• Knowledge will give you the edge.
• Make development one of the “deliverables” of
your projects and the benefits of your programs.
• Knowledge does not walk on the streets of Beirut.
• Implement a culture of coaching and mentoring.

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Clever(s) Management
• Some of the people who bring the best value are the
most difficult to lead.
• Ensure attitude matches talent.
• You need them and they need you.
• Managing them requires self-effacement.
• They have very low tolerance for boredom.
• Mentoring a talent means being part of a great potential.

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Food for Thought: Do not run for the congeniality
title.
• “Being Responsible sometimes means pissing
people off”- Powell
• Be ready to have people around who do not
support your fan club.
• Let your heart go places, and ensure a sound
mind accompanies it.

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Failure and Disappointment Management
• It’s either the bouncing back and lessons learned
or the commitment to a life of self-pity.

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Zoom Out Moment
• As a leader, always save some time to zoom out
and think strategically about your team and
project or program, and your career.

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Family and Work
• Sit periodically to evaluate yourself as a parent,
spouse, sibling.
• Do not reach the point where neglecting your
family has serious repercussions on your work
and leadership.
• We see to our families and then bring head and
hearts to work.

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References
• The Project Management Institute, Becoming a
Business-Focused PM Leader, Project
Management Institute, Inc., 2012.
• The Project Management Institute, The Global
Project Management Environment ,Project
Management Institute, Inc., 2012.
• Dilbert.com

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Thank You!