Leadership is not an easy task! Especially when you want to employ a value-driven leadership discipline in your activities. It was (and still is) one thing that I had always in my mind when I had to lead a project and especially in my first steps! It was something that I repeated again and again, as my personal mantra, to help me focus on the important issues of the project at hand! And it is something that became a sort of a habit of mine!
In a project sometimes things are going as planned and sometimes are not! It is a common ground, in project management circles, that as much meticulously planning you have ever done, something has never gone to go as supposed to! And this is especially true when you lead a project (i.e. you are responsible for the results and for the resources allocation) and you have to “short-cut” or filter a lot of things in order to do your core tasks.
These tasks for a leader may be (but not restricted to!):
- To plan and steer the project towards achieving its goals and objectives;
- To facilitate the people work in it and the procedures involved;
- To find and employ the best associates and strategic partners to help you implement it;
- To achieve the best results for the client;
- To use creatively and effectively your personnel in a way that it is efficient but not exhausting for them;
- To achieve consensus by all involved parties;
- To be a leader and not a “boss” or a “manager”!
All these (and many more!) are good, well and expected by a good leader (not necessarily by a project manager). But are not enough! No, are far from enough!
A good leader is not just a manager. It is someone who has a set of attributes, suitable for leading a group of people towards the achievement of a common goal (or project).
This set of attributes is something a leader has work on far before the assumption of a project or task! It is something someone should have work on in order to become a truly valuable leader (for himself and for the people influenced by him).
In order someone to be a good leader he/she should (at least) have:
- a vision and a perspective for how the things should be
- a clear (communicated and transparent to all) set of values and principles to set the path he/she should follow in order to achieve his/her objectives
- a particular mindset directed towards bringing cohesion, common understating, and cultivation of new valuable players in all his actions
- a win-win mentality to employ in all his transaction
- a strong opinion on following his/her path directed by his/her beliefs, principles and values
- a bias in developing, cultivating and innovating in his field bringing the best results for all the parties involved
- an attitude of inspiring people for they become better, stronger and agiler on their personal and professional life
- a character and personality directed towards personal development and growth and aiming at better the world around him/her and the people involved
- a fixation in tweaking the systems to serve the people rather the organizations
- a set of procedures aiming at bringing the best results for the people and for the business as well
- an inclination towards achieving balance and developing the better elements of the people, procedures, tools, organization, and companies involved
Well, would you like to be such a person?