“Are there any PMs on the training who might have very strong personalities?”
“Why do you ask?”
I was a bit apprehensive; my answer may lose me the customer.
My personal philosophy on leadership, and for Project Management in particular is that – unless the project has been set up to fail from the start (e.g. contract was under-sold/under-estimated, team and capabilities misrepresented), then any failure is the responsibility of the PM.
It is my responsibility to ensure anticipate issues and risks, to manage the contract, the client, the project, the team, everything.
The Project Manager is responsible for making sure things go well.
Not everyone feels that way though, there are many PMs who disagree with that philosophy, and wil attribute any failure to lack of resources, challenging customers, complex technical delivery etc etc etc.
Sure – we all have those problems, but it is our responsibility to manage it all (isn’t that what the Project Manager title means?)
If there are any PMs the client’s thinking of enrolling in my Consulting Masterclass that doesn’t share the same philosophy – I’d have to think about how I frame my messages to help them instil the right leadership approach to managing great teams.
Luckily I stood my ground, because the client agreed with my philosophy, and that I would not be going against their company values in any way.
*phew*
Sometimes standing up for what you believe in isn’t as easy as it sounds.
But in my case – it was worth it (because he signed up!) 💃🏻
#onthepeiroll
#values
#leadership