Growing from Project Manager to Leader

Project Managers are most often multi-skilled, and multi-talented administrators with people, process, technology skills fit for the kinds of projects they manage. However, the essential skills are not focused primarily on the Project skills but the Leadership skills.  

Mentoring to build both Project and Leadership skills in new project managers is key to their ability to grow into more complex roles.  

These Essentials are the 7 C's - they help to build a Leadership mindset to make Project Managers (and their teams and projects) more successful.

Mentors can help the Leaders of the Future.

If you are coaching a future leader, each of these areas can represent a point to assess:

• Why the skill is needed

• How to develop the needed behaviors and experience

• What outcomes can be expected once the skill is mastered

Focus on what aspect of the skill set your mentorship partner feels:

• They have mastered

• They want to improve

• They want to explore

Using this approach allows mentorship meetings to assess a different skill set as a weekly or monthly assignment. By defining each skill with the criteria above, the new Project Manager can build the capability and add it to their "arsenal" of tools. 

Of course, continuous learning is part of any Project Manager's goals. So, if you are the Mentor, take the opportunity to use the process to hone your own skills and learn from your mentorship partner as well.  

If you are embarking on a mentorship journey, get my free downloadable Mentoring Process Workbook.

So let’s dive into the 7 C’s and review each of these key aspects of Leadership

When you think of a great Leader - what though first comes to mind? Maybe words like Dependable, Calm and Competent. But how about words like Respectful, Thoughtful and Inspiring? What are the most important leadership skills? And how to you build them.

Leaders and Project Managers need to have experience in the project ‘waters’. This requires them to understand the project, the technology and processes, and the project team. Experience is the basis for their work (with their team) to design the project.

However, the Captain is the final project decision-maker (together with the Client and Steering Committee).

The Captain is focused on the strategic objectives, the staff, and goals. They ensure the course aligns with the voyage ahead, the vessel's and crew's capabilities.

They are the chief delegator ensuring that the team is well balanced and all talents are leveraged for the good of the project and ensure work is shared and each team member is given a chance to grow. 

And all Captains should work to delegate. The team should know what is expected and have the resources and information needed to get the work done.  

As team members get more experience, focus on defining outcomes (the why), not processes (the what and how). The delegation of work design and execution will allow the team members to build their skills and become future leaders.

Finally, the Captain sets a role model for the crew. Be that role model by demonstrating effective, efficient, capable and calm leadership. But also take into account respect, encouragement, and an open mind.

The buck stops with the Captain - showing this builds trust.

This role may be aligned with the Navigator. They must 'see' the voyage from start to finish and understand how to navigate known and unknowns.

Championing the vision is more than just navigation for Project Managers. It includes creating a vision for the end state: setting the scene for the journey ahead and discussing potential obstacles and outcomes.  

Most importantly, the Champion of the Vision focuses the team on the end state beyond the project:  

• How will be Customer benefit?

• Who is the end-user, and how will they experience the new product or service?

• What is the future of the team, rewards ahead?

By sharing this vision with the team, the Project Manager sets out the benefit to all involved and creates a shared goal for the entire team.

As with all of these Leadership skills - always be Reasonable

Reasonableness and Realistic are key skills to every communicator. A good PM will know the boundaries. Share a vision that is optimistic to the outcomes but reasonable as to the challenges. This will allow the vision to overcome the natural issues of any project. Balance helps your team knows the vision doesn't die when roadblocks appear. The team can find a way to resolve issues and realize the shared goal.

Similar to the Communications officer. The Chief Motivator addresses the crew regularly. Ensures that the team is ready for the day and keeps up the motivation to complete the work. Addresses team questions around the project mission and related tasks. Connecting the project teams work to the project outcome is critical to keep all grounded in the purpose of each members effort and how they relate to the entire teams success.

You may have the right team, knowledge, and skills, but if the team is not motivated and energized, the project can flounder.  

The Chief Motivator builds skills and abilities:

• Education - understanding the why

• Training - understanding the how

• Roles - understanding the who by defining roles and responsibilities, as well as how teams relate and work together.

And most of all, creating a sense of purpose for the team to drive them to action and celebrating the milestones, marking the personal and team victories.

Setting out the agenda for key dates to make sure there is time for reflection and connection with the efforts of the team and the outcomes achieved.  

Attitude is Everything - Lead by Example.

Creating a unified sense of purpose and celebration for each accomplishment is one of the most overlooked aspects of the 7 C's but can have the biggest impact on team spirit.  Creating the right attitude is everything to showing your team the environment needed to succeed:

• Positive

• Enthusiastic

• Helpful

You need to lead by example if you want your team to mirror these attitudes. And for team members, those who aren't mirroring- call them out in a nice way, but let them know that negativity is not helpful. This is true for words and body language. And, if they don't get the message, discuss it privately, coach them on how attitude is everything for most things in life. Encourage them to help each other: teamwork is the nature of project work.

Check-in with the team from time to time to ensure the motivation and education are fit for the team and the project. If it does not work for them, it does not work for you.

Sometimes, like the Chief Engineer, the Project Manager needs to challenge designs, functional plans, and situational assessments done by the team. The Catalyst to Innovators asks the team to:

• review a specification for flaws

• assess a design against the user experience

• create workflows that better fit the project

  
  

Project Managers who see themselves as administrators may not feel this is their job. However, the best PMs who see themselves as leaders will understand the power of expecting more. Asking a team member to go the extra mile or to reevaluate work may seem daunting. But, it is often in these moments that breakthroughs happen. People often rise to a challenge if it is given at the right time and in the right way.

Leading by example is key here. Project Management Leaders demand more from themselves, question the tried and true, are open to new ideas and experimentation. And will allow for failures. Define your expectations and use good judgement on when to ask for more. Make sure the team is up for the challenge. Show you are open to ideas and are willing to experiment.

This also means you have to expect occasional failures which are part of the work of building something new. Be willing to work iteratively and start with a prototype and refine based on use. To mitigate potential failure risk, set expectations of users and create an incubation space for the work before rolling out to the rest of the project.

Inspiring Innovation is one of the ways a good Project Manager can become a great Project Manager.

If you ask for more from someone, they may surprise themselves by exceeding their expectations (as well as yours).

This gives projects their edge and ability to succeed where others fail.



Projects can get off track easily with too many small problems, one big problems or just much noise. Every project will have problems:

• Breakdowns in communication or technology

• Missed Deadlines

• Unexpected issues with data

• Unplanned staffing gaps

• Changes

Just as every boat has an 'mr fix it,' every Project Manager has to the best approach to address problems - one approach is FAST  - use it to check if you have:

1. Facts: get the data, understand the issues

2. Assessed: review all reasonable options

3. Situational: don't use a tried and true fix for a new situation

4. Timely: make and communicate the decision as quickly as possible

Using the FAST approach, Project Managers can use the calm decision-making capabilities of the "Captain" and the course correction skills of the Champion of the Vision to clear project roadblocks. 

When Roadblocks come up, make sure data is tracked. A simple table with the key details track:

1. problems

2. options

3. solution used

4. approvals (if needed)

5. outcomes (after the fact)

   
   

Tracking this data will assist with questions that come up later. Also, the Project Manager can reflect and create lessons learned from decisions made as the project moves forward. So, create a Log for issue resolution. Track the ones you solve and the ones you don’t. Assess the document when starting a new phase or lessons learned review to ensure you take into account what broke and its impact on the project.

You can take this process further by doing a ‘what if’ assessment on your project once planned. Have your key team members and stakeholders review the plan, play through scenarios in detail to assess it for possible issues and then work to address.

This goes beyond mitigation planning, this ‘what if’ planning to see if you can ‘shoot holes’ in your own plan before you get started. This process can be reviewed against the lessons learned to all be a teaching moment for yourself and others.

Leaders look not just to fix problems, but to see patterns to understand the underlying causes before they become problems.

Not everything that becomes a problem can be fixed or foreseen in advance, but the more time taken to assess and address problems, the less likely the project will be ‘sunk’ by one.

Camaraderie is defined as “a friendship among people who spend a lot of time together”. This is certainly true of most project situations. Projects are generally made up of a diverse group of people expected to be high-performing day in and day out.

To work together under this pressure requires a high level of trust, understanding, and acceptance.

As with the Chief Motivator, this role requires a savvy understanding of the team and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to know what is important to people and include these moments as part of any project's human factor.  

The project team may have a family feeling or a factory feeling. Which do you think will perform better under stress?  

Any large or long term project will have changes that impact staff: new roles, onboarding and off boarding. How you handle these changes are critical to the team culture and satisfaction.

Staffing changes create stress for a team. It should be acknowledged when a long-time team member leaves. The team will note how the PM handles staff good-byes. When someone leaves, how they are treated, talked about, and celebrated (or not) will be remembered long after that person is gone.

New joiners as well as staff with role changes need to be equally addressed, as new roles or personalities can change a team dynamic. Ensure that changes are acknowledge and time to adapt is given.

Team members may also need time away from work to attend family events. Try to accommodate when possible. The best way to plan for this is a ‘staff time off” calendar. This will allow staff to self-manage, preplan and organize time off to minimize project disruption.

Project work is hard, complex, and often stressful. Project Managers need recognize that teams are just people with home life pressures and stresses too. A thoughtful project manager will make sure that life away from work is also acknowledged.

• Fun team moments on the project

• Parties and off site events for team members (and their families when possible)

• Celebration of personal milestones (new marriage, house, baby, etc.) 

• Time away from the project when needed to address family issues

As your project progresses so will the teams knowledge and skills. Keep everyone sharp by Continuous learning moments. Information can be shared quickly and effectively in less than 15 mins a day. If managed as part of a weekly plan, information and changes can be incorporated into a regular topic at team meetings or in other forums. Plan for technical training, site visits, and other opportunities to keep your team’s knowledge fresh.

A family feeling also requires PMs to be aware of and acknowledge when something bad happens. The recent COVID lockdowns put many families under additional strain and hardship. Acting as if things are business as usual at work can break a team.  

From time to time a Project Manager may also have to deal with more difficult issues such as a team members’ personal loss or family emergency. Life happens to all of us, and while issues cannot be planned. Plan for the unplanned and try to ensure you have slack incase of personal emergency. Be ready with a ‘plan B’ incase that person is an important part of the team.

As with all personnel issues, work with HR and follow the corporate rules. But remember to do so in the most human way possible.

Keep in mind, PMs should never pry about personal issues team members want to keep private. And some issues need the assistance of HR or other professionals outside of the Project Team.

Keep your Team Culture high performing by:

• Planning for continuous skill building

• Acknowledging changes to the team

• Building time into the schedule to account for unforeseen life issues within the team

• Being flexible in work schedules and allow the team to self manage time away

• Allowing for personal time when something bad happens

One of the hardest Leadership skills is maintain integrity in difficult situations. Integrity, consistency, and good character are all part of the PM's reputation. The PMs reputation is what allows their goals, decisions, and requests to be accepted by the team. Loss of reputation will make every request more suspect and harder to ask for the dedication and effort from team members. In fact, it can cause a work ‘mutiny’. So take care of your reputation and it will take care of you.    

Your stakeholders and team will respond largely based on their sense of your conscientiousness and character.    

• If you have built trust and reliability.

• If you have told the truth even when it hurts to do so.

• If you play fair with others.

So, when interacting with others, planning work or reviewing problems. Take time to consider the facts and present the data transparently. This is especially important when you:

• Request something from the project Steering Committee

• Ask your team to meet a difficult deadline

• Acknowledge a mistake and correct it

• Address a staffing problem

When it comes time to make a difficult request of those you work with, make sure you keep your reputation for honest, transparency.

So make sure you show integrity and are known as a 'truth teller':

• Confirm data is correct before publishing

• Be honest when you don’t know or aren’t sure about something

• Don’t give in to demands to change facts

• Giving credit to others for their contribution

• Make sure your team has pay and promotion parity

Mentoring for Leadership

An approach to using the 7 C's to refine leadership skills: 

Define - understand the skill set needed

Assess - meet the person where they are now and let them assess their gap to mastery

Practice - discuss past or hypothetical challenges and replay better ways to address the issue. Role- Play future issues, exercise new approaches, and create muscle memory in the field.

Apply -  in real-world situations, ask the person you are coaching to make notes on the issue, their options, the approach used, and the impact. Reassess if a different approach would have been a better fit.

And as with all things - don't go for perfect. A feeling that the only correct answer exists can 'freeze' a PMs Leadership ability. Also perfect is a fallacy. Information is rarely perfect, so decisions cannot be. You can do the best you can with the knowledge, skills, and integrity you have. 

The 7 C's are not a destination, they are the journey of becoming a great leader, and that journey never ends.

So what did you think of the 7'C? Do you have something to add or a different point of view?

 If so, please share in the comments below.  

Thank you!