Leadership

We are all very much aware that how a team feels makes a huge difference to their productivity and to business results.  Many of us have been on A-teams, as well as on D-teams.  It was the same you, in two different teams – with two vastly different results.  If we take that experience and [...]

The other day I had the opportunity to present the opening keynote session at the Lavacon/PMI GNO 2009 Event in New Orleans. I talked a lot about leadership.   Whether you are leading a large program, a small project, or a division staff of 200 – your leadership skills, or lack thereof, will define your success.  [...]

I don’t believe leadership is about your accomplishments or credentials.  It’s about your presence.  It’s what’s inside that makes you stand out.  Leadership is often defined by how others view you.

Technorati Tags: Leadership, leadership-skills

Let’s get out of the dark ages and admit what we know.  Project manager is a misnomer.  We don’t manage projects, we drive change.
Set aside the process and tactics associated with projects and you will easily separate those who manage projects versus those who lead.  Leadership is not about your credentials or accomplishments; it’s about your [...]

My esteemed colleague Natalie Udo’s post a few weeks ago, “What is a Project Manager?” started me thinking about what are the elements which make us successful in the business. And hopefully, I’m reinforcing Kimberly Wiefling’s recent posts on what are the keys to success as a project leader… and not being too redundant – Thanks, [...]

One of the reasons I got into Project Management in the first place is that I’ve always been interested in people – their personalities, where they are from, what makes them tick.
Growing up overseas in Japan, I attended an international school for foreigners, and there were kids from all over the world – kids whose [...]

As I was wracking my brain trying to think of interesting topics to write about for this week’s blogs, it came to me, a subject which is a sore spot and a pet peeve of mine – the fact that people don’t say “thank you” very often on projects, or in everyday business situations much (except [...]

The results delivered by projects depend upon what you negotiate.  A “secret” employed by successful project leaders is that they explore a perspective, principles, tools, and recommendations to achieve better results through the power of negotiations. They avoid being set up for failure by recognizing and developing skills that lead to greater success.
Every day involves [...]

Are you having fun yet?  I have recently been moderating a discussion about management, leadership, and team building in a project and program environment.  Let me share a few of the comments recorded so far.  On the topic of what makes for project success—is fulfilling the triple constraints enough?—I provided a high level summary view [...]

A while back Lisa Winter wrote a terrific blog about what leaders say when they make a mistake . . . “I’m sorry.” Her blog prompted me to explore a question.  What do leaders think when they make a mistake?  When I was a kid I was deathly afraid of making mistakes.  My dad was [...]

In my last blog I mentioned that I recently received a job offer at a new company.  This started me thinking about what is my plan for getting started at the new job, so today I figured I’d share my thoughts and maybe it will help you or maybe you’ll have some feedback for me.

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Recently, like all too many people these days, I found myself in the position of needing to find a new job.  Now before you give up on this blog I promise not to rant on about how bad things are; rather I’ll talk about a topic that came to mind while I was preparing for [...]

In the previous blog I described how the numbers of the Enneagram are the sequence in which humans would naturally solve problems.  As an engineering manager, when I was challenged to address some large structural problems like the type I described in the first blog of this series, I looked to the Enneagram to provide [...]

In the previous blog, I provided you with a link to a blog about a problem-solving tool that I am describing in detail on the SD Forum Engineering Leadership SIG (ELSIG) blog site: http://sdforumelsig.blogspot.com/search?q=matt+schlegel
And, while you will find the steps of that problem-solving approach in the ELSIG blog, I include them here for your reference:
 
 
1. [...]

I am writing a book. I plan to finish writing this book by the end of March 2010, and  plan to publish it by the end of March 2011. Those are my big goals.  The book is about solving problems, and not just any problem, but solving a specific class of problems. It is the [...]

After years of managing online products and projects, you’d think it would become old hat… but never, not for this gal. There’s always something new to learn, and a different twist on old scenarios, if you’re open to them. People and team dynamics are endlessly fascinating, and you never know how it’s going to go [...]

Every program manager has run into the same situation at some point in their career. You put together your program plan with lots of spreadsheets, Gantt charts, requirements documents, resource requirements, risk management plan, etc. You present the plan to management and everything goes reasonably well until you start to talk about risks and how [...]

B. W. Tuckman discovered that teams go through development stages beginning with the forming stage and ending with the adjourning stage. Just after a new team is formed it usually migrates into the “storming” stage where conflict develops over how it is going to reach its team goal, how its members are going to work together efficiently, and [...]

Teams.  It seems like such an obvious part of project life.
Or, is it?
Recently, I’ve been noticing some things about project teams that trouble me.
Here are some descriptions of a team:

A group of two or more people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and approach for which the team holds its members [...]

Inspiration is important, but we can’t depend on it showing up when needed.  It comes and goes, like a ferral cat who roams looking for a bite to eat.  We can feel inspiration waxing and waning within us, and the inspiration from the outside world can’t be counted upon to show up on a regular [...]

Some people in the corporate world still believe that people work for money.  But with a growing number of examples of people doing all kinds of work for free, it’s getting more difficult to adhere to that view.  Take Wikipedia, for example.  According to Wikinomics, by Tapscott & Williams, Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia in [...]