Companies Are Grooming More Women for the Corner Office

Published May 7, 2012 leadership Leave a Comment
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“Companies are grooming more women for the corner office.”

So says the Wall Street Journal in a recent article about the success and the future of women CEOs here in the US. That’s great news for women in leadership roles today or young women aspiring to lead a company of any size on the road to success. Women in leadership and executive positions are on the rise like never before. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if my granddaughter decides that her career goal is to be CEO of a Fortune 100 company. The great news is that goal is achievable, whether she wants to start her own company or rise to a senior leadership role in a larger, established business.

I remember when I got my first “real job” as a software engineer during my senior year of college. About 30 or so years ago, I was an intern in the software engineering department of a major defense contracting firm. I learned to write microcode for chips that controlled signal processing in a seriously complicated radar system. Back then, both the technical and business aspects of the company were very much a man’s world. That is not the case anymore.

There are a number of role models out there for women who want to reach their full potential as a leader in today’s business environment. The article points out that nearly 73% of Fortune 500 companies now have at least one female executive officer and the pipeline of female candidates for executive officer roles is promising. The knowledge, experience and strategies of these successful women executives are something every woman needs to take a look at and consider integrating into her own leadership skills.

As Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont Co. points out, “The next wave of women who will command major U.S. corporations likely are senior managers today.” She goes on to point out that “some phenomenally well-qualified women” hold top operational jobs. Perhaps one of them is or will be you or your daughter. Let’s make sure that the current and future generations of women business leaders have the tools and techniques to get the job done.

Consider signing up for Learning Tree’s new course, Transformational Leadership for Women. This roundtable-style event empowers women to contribute their unique qualities to meet the challenges in today’s evolving work environment. The course targets experienced women managers who have been or expect to be promoted to the executive level. I think this course is a great jump-start to help you acquire the characteristics of exceptional women leaders and tap into your full potential as a leader in your workplace.

Many years ago, Barbara Bush, our former First Lady, made an interesting statement in her speech to the graduating class at Wellesley College. “Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the President’s spouse. I wish him well!” For today’s women leaders, anything is possible!

Susan Weese

Project Leadership Training is Not a Luxury

Published May 1, 2012 leadership , motivation , project management , Training and Development 2 Comments
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I believe that “homegrown” is better when it comes to hiring project leaders.  I do not believe it is effective to hire from “without” when you can hire from “within.”

Over the years, I’ve seen many project leaders hired. They are expected to be a bright shining star from Day One. Guess what? It doesn’t happen!

The hiring people have forgotten the idea that you have to invest a lot of time and energy to develop project leaders who “fit in.” You’ve seen it before–the new project leader possesses all the basics: an MSTM degree, right personality for the company, proven work ethic, and appropriate years of experience in the field.  Here comes the big problem:  you have to train and mentor them with the specific skills required for your company’s and project’s unique and special needs.

During the Global Economic Crisis of 2008-2010, training budgets were either significantly reduced, or done away with altogether. Every organization tightened their belts; staff positions were reduced and the team members who were left behind had to do the work of what previously required two or more team members (doing more with less). Project leaders learned by doing because they had to.

It is time to stop the madness. You are not going to find the perfect project leader from outside your company. It is a falsehood to believe that companies don’t have time to train new project leaders from within. In fact, I believe you don’t have time not to. Time has come today; we can’t put it off any other way.

The quest for the perfect project leader from outside is like battling windmills.  Workloads keep piling up, existing project teams approach burnout, due dates are not met, and customers give up and go elsewhere. Why not pick the best project team member you have and spend the training dollars to get them to be the bight, shining star? If they are at the 85% level now, then why not train them to gain the remaining 15% of the job, while they are contributing NOW, on the job?

Stop looking outside. Companies are being negatively impacted every week that ticks by and that perfect project leader has not been hired.  Bypassing excellent project team members, who have the ability to contribute now, just doesn’t make good economic sense.  Here is the answer:  training.

It is time to bring training back. Send the best and brightest team members to project leadership/project management training–in a classroom, away from work–for at least a week. Successful project leaders are not born–they are made… one training class at a time.

Stop looking for perfection from “without” and find the find the brightest from “within”–and then train them!

James L. Haner

Learning Tree offers a range of project management and leadership courses. Consider starting with Project Management: Skills for Success or Project Team Leadership for a solid foundation in project management.

Looking for a Program Management Method? Consider MSP®.

Published April 30, 2012 PRINCE2® , project management , Risk Management Leave a Comment
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For folks looking for a program management approach that successfully navigates them through the program life cycle while focusing on the program manager’s role in delivering measurable benefits to the business, let me recommend Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®).  MSP is a structured, non-proprietary program management method.  Based upon proven principles, MSP provides a road map for effective program management in any organization and for programs of many types.  This enables organizations to integrate the MSP method with their particular types of programs to build a flexible framework for successfully performing program work and gaining measurable benefits from business change.  MSP consists of three core concepts: principles, governance themes and processes. Let’s take a look at each area in more detail.

MSP is based upon a set of common-sense principles guiding the program manager and the business as they define and implement their programs to effect business change and realize business benefits from that change.  The 7 principles guiding the use of MSP are:

  1. Remaining aligned with corporate strategy
  2. Learning from experience
  3. Designing and delivering a coherent capability
  4. Adding value
  5. Focusing on benefits and threats to them
  6. Envisioning and communicating a better future
  7. Leading change

MSP uses nine governance themes to describe critical aspects of program management that must be addressed continuously and in parallel during your program. They address how programs are defined, measured and controlled in your organization.  Each theme focuses on a key part of the program management discipline.  Defining and managing all seven themes across the program life cycle is critical to achieving a successful outcome that delivers benefits and changes to the business.   The governance themes of MSP are:

  1. Vision
  2. Organization
  3. Quality Management
  4. Business Case
  5. Risks and Issue Management
  6. Planning and Control
  7. Blueprint Design and Delivery
  8. Benefits Realization Management
  9. Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement

MSP uses its transformational flow to define the generic program lifecycle in an organization.  This flow provides the program manager with a step-wise progression through the program life cycle from a controlled start through a controlled middle and on to a controlled end.   Each step in this flow comes complete with recommended activities, products and the related responsibilities for “who does what when”. The 5 processes found in this flow are:

  1. Identifying a Program
  2. Defining a Program
  3. Delivering the Capability
  4. Realizing the Benefits
  5. Closing a Program

A copy of the MSP method is required reference material in any program manager’s bookshelf!  The method is documented in the publication “Managing Successful Programmes” which is officially published by The Stationary Office, or TSO.

Serious program managers seeking to enhance their knowledge, skills and professional credibility target should consider MSP certification.  Learning Tree offers two excellent certification courses for folks interested in becoming a certified practitioner of MSP . I am preparing to sit this certification myself in the very near future and enjoying my climb on the learning curve.  I think this will be an excellent complement to my PgMP certification from PMI.

Stay tuned as we take a more detailed look at the “nuts and bolts” of MSP in subsequent posts!

Susan Weese

*MSP® is a registered trade mark of the Cabinet Office.

Five Project Leadership Ideas Worth Learning

Published April 30, 2012 leadership , motivation , project management , Training and Development Leave a Comment
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Here are some ideas about the kind of culture project leaders need to create–the internally generated project team values that can help projects succeed.

#1. Make the decision-making process more transparent. Have a weekly meeting with the project team where all of the issues of the project are discussed.  Have an open staff meeting once a month where stakeholders worldwide can listen in and share information.

The idea is to share with the project management team as much information as you can, reducing the level of secrecy within the project team and thereby reducing the degree to which secrecy could breed politics.

On project teams it works like this: “What I know and you don’t know makes me more powerful than you.” Project politics comes from secrecy. The project leader, who has all the information, has the power to change that. It’s the project leader who can tell all the team members everything, and by so doing, take the secrecy away–and take away the politics.

#2. It all comes down to trust. “The trust you give is the trust you get.”  Yes, I can admit that sometimes you will be stabbed in the back or shot down. The value gained of trusting first is greater than the cost of being betrayed sometimes.

#3. At the root of effective project leadership is the ability to create a project team culture that enables the team members to excel. Culture allows to attract the best and the brightest staff and create an project environment where they can use their intelligence and judgment to act autonomously.

So how does a project leader go about cultivating a winning project culture? You need management skills, authenticity, self-awareness and listening skills–really listen to what others have to say. Your values must be expressed every day in the way you make decisions.

#4. Be authentic, real, and genuine. Make authenticity the heart of the project’s culture. You must say what you mean and mean what you say–and believe it. Be real when you build a culture of collaboration based on the belief that all team members have a voice.  Be genuine when you embrace curiosity. Spend a lot of time in front of a whiteboard.

#5. Create a hiring system that weeds out people who don’t want to be team players and who don’t treat fellow team members with respect.  When you have hired really bright project members, you need to get out of their way and let them knock your socks off. Hire attitude, breed commitment, and reward achievement.

Part of the work of project leadership is sitting quietly and thinking critically about the things talked about in this blog. Becoming an effective, successful, wise project leader is a journey of discovery. Let the discovery begin.

James L. Haner

The Seven Qualities Most in Demand for Project Members

Published April 26, 2012 leadership , motivation , project management , Training and Development Leave a Comment
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Every project leader has needs that are not yet satisfied. Every project leader has problems that are not yet solved. Every project represents an opportunity for you to be a successful project team member. In many cases, project leaders will actually create a position for a project member who can help satisfy needs and solve problems.

Every project leader has had a certain amount of experience with both good and bad project members. For this reason every project leader has a pretty good idea of what he or she wants more of. Here are the big seven:

1. The first quality that project leaders look for is intelligence. In every study, it has been found that fully 76 percent of the productivity and contribution of a project member will be determined by his or her level of intelligence. Intelligence in this sense means the ability to plan, to organize, to set priorities, to solve problems, and to get the job done. Intelligence refers to your level of common sense and your practical ability to deal with the day-to-day challenges of the job. The key to demonstrating your intelligence is for you to ask intelligent questions. One of the hallmarks of intelligence that is immediately evident is curiosity. The more you ask good questions and listen to the answers, the smarter you appear.

2. The second quality sought by project leaders is leadership ability. Leadership is the willingness and the desire to accept responsibility for results. It’s the ability to take charge, to volunteer for assignments, and to accept accountability for achieving the required results of those assignments.

The mark of the leader is that he or she does not make excuses. You demonstrate your willingness to be a leader in the organization by offering to take charge of achieving company goals and then committing yourself to performing at high levels.

3. Integrity is the third quality sought by project leaders. It’s probably the most important single quality for success on a project team. Integrity begins by being true to yourself. This means that you are perfectly honest with yourself and in your relationships with others. You are willing to admit your strengths and limitations. You are willing to admit where you have made mistakes in the past. Especially, you demonstrate loyalty. You never say anything negative about a previous employer or a person whom you have worked with or for.

4. The fourth quality that project leaders look for is likability. Project leaders like team members who are warm, friendly, easygoing, and cooperative with others. Project leaders are looking for team members who can join the team and be part of the project family.

Teamwork is the key to project success. Your experience in working as part of a team in the past and your willingness to work as part of a team in the future can be among the most attractive things about you in becoming a successful project team member.

5. Competence is the fifth quality sought by project leaders. Competence is terribly important to your success. It is really the foundation of everything that happens to you on your project and in your career.

In its simplest terms, competence is the ability to get the job done. It is the ability to set priorities, to separate the relevant from the irrelevant tasks, and then to concentrate single-mindedly until the job is complete.

6. Courage is the sixth quality that project leaders look for. This is the willingness to take risks. Courage also means the willingness to accept challenges, the willingness to take on big jobs or even new jobs where there is a high degree of uncertainty and the possibility of failure.

Courage also means the willingness to speak up and say exactly what you think and feel in a difficult situation. Project leaders admire team mates who are not afraid to speak their minds. And you demonstrate this in project meetings when you ask frank and direct questions about the project, your role, and the future that you might have with the project team.

7. The final quality project leaders look for is inner strength. Inner strength means that you have the determination and the ability to persevere in the face of adversity. Inner strength means that you have the quality of persistence when the going gets rough. You demonstrate inner strength when you remain calm, cool, and relaxed during system testing time.

Above all, it is your character, which is the sum total of all your positive qualities, that will have the greatest impact on whether you are successful on the project team. You can continue working on your character by practicing the behaviors of top project leaders.

This blog is adapted from an excerpt from the book Earn What You’re Really Worth: Maximize Your Income at Any Time in Any Market by Brian Tracy.

James L. Haner

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