To Lead or Not to Lead? A Skilled Project Manager Weighs In

Our complex, fast-moving business world relies heavily on project management to tackle major bodies of work. In tech firms, many leaders are specifically titled as project managers – and this title is rapidly expanding to other market sectors. The Project Management Institute *estimates that among seven specified US industries the number of these roles will increase by 15.7 million within this decade.

A growing number of leaders are managing projects in addition to their “day jobs.” As businesses increasingly rely on both titled and untitled project managers, leaders may find themselves in a temporary role for which they are unprepared. Successful projects increase visibility and promotability. However, these “opportunities” may bring myriad risk factors and problems.

If nominated to serve as a project manager for an important initiative, whether (and how) you accept the role will likely make or break your near-term success.

A valued client, Mauro Piloni –  Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of EXEVER S.r.l. – offers project management wisdom. In a previous role, Mauro successfully led a number of technical projects, but experienced an entirely new set of dynamics when tapped to take on an assignment vital to that company’s long-term market leadership. His advice to guide your decision process:

Understand the “why me.” Why were you given this opportunity? There are at least three possible reasons:

• You’re viewed as a high performer whose upward mobility may be temporarily blocked. For you it’s job enrichment, and for the company it’s a way to drive needed results while retaining valued top talent.
• You might be seen as a "blocker" for the succession of a high-value colleague, and the company is moving you aside to create a growth opportunity for that person. In essence, the company is placing you one step closer to the exit door.
• You truly are the strongest candidate, and the company intends to advance your career.

Develop a clear understanding of where the project emanates from. Is this your boss’s pet project, or a mandate from the CEO? Clearly, there is “more in it” for you if the project is broadly understood and supported.

• Who will you report to? Think through the matrix, as well as what could happen if your primary boss leaves, loses power, or makes this project a lower priority.
• Set a plan to confirm broad support by meeting with all high-level stakeholders and matrix bosses. If you hear as many descriptions of the project (and related expectations) as there are people, it may foreshadow the project’s doom.

Gauge the organizational climate’s ability to sustain support throughout the lifecycle of the project. Expect that many variables will change during the project, particularly if it is multi-year.

• Once you start the project, you’re committed for its life. Make sure you gain excellent clarity of the scope and expected outcomes.
• Understand the forces that drive the need for this project. You may find that others’ definition of the problem differs dramatically from yours. Align those perspectives before embarking. If alignment isn’t possible, suggest an alternative solution to the one envisioned by the company.

“Show me the money” – the project funding, not your salary increase. If you cannot verify that resources are in place to support the lifespan of the project, your risk of failure rises dramatically.

• Does the project appear on the company’s spending plan? For the right number of years?
• Are you prepared to adjust your approach and scope as funding waxes and wanes? Who will support your efforts through the project’s anticipated ups and downs?

Make the right decision and move forward. Either you unconditionally accept the project and all it brings (both good and bad), or you decline the offer (while expressing gratitude).

• If circumstances cannot support success, don’t start the journey.
• If conditions are right, throw yourself into the project, and focus on achieving your goals while remaining resilient and adaptable. Only full dedication will do.

To learn more about this remarkable leader’s experience and philosophy,
click here. And good luck to you in your decision process (and, hopefully, project)!
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*Source: Project Management Talent Gap Report, March 2013, Project Management Institute

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Why Do We Perpetuate the Myth of New Leader "Fit"?

We frequently hear clients talk about how they want Newly-placed Leaders to "fit" their organizational culture. And if those same New Leaders who originally were seen as the best choice later derail, it is often then attributed to a "poor fit." But, rather than using "fit" as a throwaway explanation for derailment, doesn't it make sense to better understand what is happening with these leader transitions, and then do something about it?

Certainly there are situations where an individual turns out to be the wrong choice for an organization or role (lack of qualifications, violating important cultural norms from the start, etc.). And those scenarios usually end with a parting of the ways. But how does an organization address concerns about a capable and strong leader who is struggling to find a place in the organizational culture and role?
We’ve noticed that organizations seem to define fit in their own way. This is an important conversation to engage in for a variety of reasons:

1. To some fit could mean, "be just like us." And for most companies who want to perform better, that approach may present significant risk. Too many similar people = too many people who think the same way. Too many people who think the same way = under-representation of new ideas -- or a failure to challenge existing ideas. This carbon-copy culture can also imply something unpleasant for those who are somehow perceived as different -- that people with unique work styles, experience bases, genders, or ethnicities could find their contributions marginalized or even completely ignored.
2. To others, fit is more about New Leaders behaving in ways that are acceptable and relevant to their new peers and colleagues. If Leaders demonstrate respect for their new colleagues and their ways of doing things, perhaps they will be more valued by others, allowed to voice opinions sooner, and as a result, become more influential. This view suggests a more dynamic, situational way of thinking about leader transition.
3. Or, you could adopt our perspective (in addition to #2 above) that it's also the responsibility of the organization to engineer the fit of the Newly-placed Leader. If you accept the notion that companies do a pretty good job of hiring people with the "potential to fit," why wouldn't employers want to seal the deal by ensuring their new hires are truly set up for success?

If we can view failure to “fit” as a failure of an organization to cause the fit 0f the New Leader, wouldn't everyone win? Yes, the New Leader has a responsibility to engage in a way that will increase their own success. But when an organization takes mutual ownership of the transition and provides onboarding support, then positive changes are bound to happen.
With a systemic approach to onboarding support:

1. Companies retain valued leaders.
2. Hiring Managers have new team members who deliver in a way that is effective and sustainable.
3. New Leaders not only keep their jobs, but also ramp up faster and less painfully.
4. Employees have more-effective bosses.
5. HR people can attend to what they truly want to do: develop and retain talent who will contribute to the success of the organization.

Knowing the above, why would anyone leave leader onboarding to chance?
To help New Leaders engineer their success in the culture and role, Hiring Managers should focus on establishing and maintaining role clarity, and encourage them to spend their early days learning about (and respecting) the people and the organization. You might also consider deferring any major changes until your New Leader has both a thorough understanding of the context and an opportunity to build needed support for change.

Communicate to New Leaders that relationships should be a first priority, which will make knowledge acquisition that much faster and more effective. Finally, every New Leader needs to take the initiative to obtain and act on feedback, ensuring that their decisions and actions are meeting the needs and expectations of those around them.

We’d appreciate your insight, and will post a follow-up to incorporate your perspectives. If you have any questions about onboarding best practices, contact us at info@leaderonboarding.com.

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Starting the Journey: A New Project Manager’s Guide to Implementation

By Mauro Piloni

If you read my previous post, you may have already passed through the checkpoints I recommended, and you have the answers you need to accept your project management opportunity.

Now you are a project leader -- congratulations!

You agreed to take the role because you confirmed that you are the most skilled person to lead this project (from now on your project). The business conditions, and how your project fits inside them, are clear. You’ve obtained all the financial resources to move forward without worrying about shortfalls before arriving at the end.

All Clear, All Set. Your Journey Starts!

Your first step as a project manager will be akin to organizing yourself for a long journey. You take your car, buy gasoline, pack your luggage, input the route into a navigation device, and then start the trip. It’s amazing what happens immediately after. Though well prepared, you soon realize you no longer have control of the journey anymore. The journey is taking control over you. There are accidents on the way, so you change your direction. Rather than managing a linear and structured plan, your decisions are now a result of what is happening around you.

In the majority of cases, project managers have the ambition to own the projects they lead. In reality, it is exactly the other way around. This is what happens when you start leading a project. You do not own the journey anymore. However, you can control your response to unexpected issues.

The sooner you realize the project does not belong to you, but that you belong to the project, the better off you will be.

Project Management: More Than Making Plans

One of the first actions to take when leading a project is building up a macro plan. If you are extremely skilled in project management you create multiple macro plans, assuming that some activities can go wrong or may have a different outcome than expected. You spend an unbelievable amount of time doing this. You speak with people, gain their confidence, double check their input, and use the results of previous projects as reference points. Great job, right? Unfortunately, everything you have just done is probably not relevant to you.

Leading a project encompasses a variety of elements in addition to well-prepared macro plans. Many don’t realize that project management is not just the ability to make plans. It’s the capability to bundle contents into “tollgates,” and then respond to adversity and external factors while passing through those entrances on time (and in the proper fashion).

How does that sound?

Let’s step back for a second. We’ve established that you belong to the project. What does that mean? It means that if you are leading a mission-critical project you probably don’t have a life anymore. Your life’s pace is now set by the project. No Saturdays, no Sundays, no summer vacation, nothing like that. Just tollgates with goals to be achieved within a certain timeframe. These tollgates set the pace of your life -- both professionally and privately.

How do you mitigate this burden? How do you survive? Not by creating fantastic project plans, but by completely changing your approach.

Game, Set, Match: How to Win As a Project Manager

To explain this concept further, let me use the analogy of a tennis tournament. When you start a tennis tournament, you have just a couple of numbers in mind:

• To win a game, you have to score 4 points. 
• To win a set, you have to win 6 games (so you need 24 points total). 
• To win a match, you must to win 2 sets (you have to score 48 points).

How does this translate into project management?

• First, clearly identify your final objective -- winning the match is like bringing your project into reality. 
• Once you set up your final objective, you uncouple the tasks into sequential, stand-alone activities -- the “sets” and the “games” within the “match.” 
• When you start the first activity, forget the rest and just focus on that! 
• Win one game at a time to gain each set, and finally the match.

The game you are not playing doesn’t count, just the one you are in does. So, the activity you are doing at this very moment is the only one that matters. When you achieve its objectives, you get ahead. If you miss it you are losing, and the entire project is in jeopardy.

 

Keep Your Focus on Each Sequence, Then Deliver

Leading a project doesn’t require the attitude of those who run marathons: resistance and persistence. Rather, a project manager uses the approach of those who play in qualification tournaments that have sequential events -- you win and you move ahead. Every game is the game of the project’s life. Every tollgate is the tollgate of the project’s life. You cannot miss it, and because of that, you must focus on each step as if it were the entire project.

This approach allows you to keep control over the project, and stop the long journey from taking control over your life. It’s crucial to separate the project into a sequence of deliverables, and then hyper focus just on today/now, not on tomorrow. Don't allow the distractions of “what ifs” to come in, as that can pull you away from operational delivery.

Project leadership is a role for people who love pressure, stress, a chaotic life and dirty hands. The magic word is “deliver.” But, don’t make the mistake of thinking you are in this role only to deliver a project. Instead, realize that your job is to carry parts of the project through each tollgate. Moving into one after the other will allow you to complete the entire project without losing your way.
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Mauro Piloni is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of EXEVER S.r.l.

Until Success Do We Part: How to Decide If a Project Management Role is For You

By Mauro Piloni 

If you work as a project manager (or were recently offered a role), you were probably pulled aside by management and informed that a long-term initiative was in the works. This project requires the most important ingredient – the right leader – and that front runner is you.

What comes to mind when hearing this? You probably feel proud. You are one of the few, if not the only one, called upon for this role. You will have access to needed resources – your wants and needs will be fulfilled. All of them: power, money and career. What a drug.

After a couple of days of contemplating the offer, you accept, the announcement goes live, and you are ready for a bright future. The end, right?

Reality, however, differs greatly. It’s not that your supervisor knowingly misrepresented the role. The problem is that even those in top leadership positions maintain limited influence on the “company world” around them. Everything can and will change, yet the expectations for your performance will remain – unless you leave the company. Considering that the average project lifespan runs two years, imagine the number of changes that can happen in the organization and market during that time.

Understand that when you accept the offer to lead a project, you accept it unconditionally. Deciding to direct a long-term project is somewhat like getting married. The moment arrives when someone asks if you will stay “in good and in bad.” Your choice doesn't usually depend on what might occur in the future. You speak those vows because you love (and believe in) your partner. Certainly you could become poor or rich, but that doesn’t alter the decision made at the ceremony.

The Four Steps in Deciding

While assessing the project management opportunity, one must understand how the environment may change during the life of the assignment, and anticipate and mitigate potential problems. Here are some important steps to take before diving in.

1. Understand the “why me.” Why did you receive this offer? Are you really the most suitable person for the role? Three possibilities exist:

• You’re developing quickly in your current role, but no advancement opportunities exist. In essence, the project is a parking spot, a way to exercise your skills while awaiting other internal move options.
• You’re viewed as a roadblock for another person who the organization wants to place in your current position. Moving you would free up an internal “domino,” and in that case, you are just entering the “exit” room.
• You might very well be the strongest candidate for the role. If so, then accepting this offer can greatly advance your career. 

2. Investigate the project’s origins. Ask some questions and find out if the initiative comes from the entire organization or just your direct supervisor. The cross-functional dimension of a project-leadership role implies that you will report to a number of leaders. If the assignment came from the broad population of leaders then you know you would have support.

• If the plan was generated solely by your direct supervisor, then keep in mind that if your boss ever loses credibility, encounters other priorities, or leaves the company, the idea about needing you in this role will drop.
• How do you assess this? Talk to your supervisor about meeting one-on-one with the other leaders and key stakeholders to discuss their expectations for the project. If you sense resistance from your manager, it may be a red flag indicating the project probably lacks approval and backing from the larger organization. This could leave you vulnerable. 

3. Research the organizational climate and the potential changes. In the duration of the project leader role things in the external world and in your organization will change dramatically. The only constant is that you cannot give up in the middle of the journey. Therefore, you must clarify the scope of the project and its intended outcome. Also, spend time learning about the business environment that generated the need for this project. You might interpret the overall situation differently than those choosing you, and realize that the idea presented may not be what the organization needs. If this happens, you could develop and suggest a different proposal before committing to the role.

4. Verify the availability of resources. So often I hear from other project managers that their organizations promised all the needed resources. But then they discover that their organization’s operational approach is completely disconnected from its financial means. Make sure the project appears in the organization’s spending plan (for the number of years required to complete). If you don't see it listed (or if that data is not available to you) then take note that a considerable amount of energy could be spent on obtaining approval for continued funding. Certainly occasional budgetary adjustments will be needed, but the majority of a project manager’s time should be focused execution, not proving value.

Make the Call, Then Find the Focus

Unconditional acceptance of the project in the context of its current (and future) climate is key to the decision process. So, check where you sit right now before agreeing to start the journey. Because once you begin, you cannot leave that path. If you can ensure that your position is solid and the project has a strong infrastructure of broad support and funding, then organizational changes will not lead to derailment.

If you do accept the offer, you will have just one goal: to bring this project to a positive conclusion. Focus your actions there, and with some strategy everything else will flow around you. Your life, then, is the project. You can fully dedicate your mind, your body, and your heart with no room to worry about other matters. With this level of concentration, you are more likely to overcome unforeseen circumstances and experience a successful end.

If you are ready to move forward, read my next blog where I discuss the next steps of this journey.
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Mauro Piloni is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of EXEVER S.r.l.

 

The Myth of the Flawless Outsider

Why is it that so many companies exhibit a strong preference for recruiting external hires to fill key leadership roles? Are these rational, data-based decisions, or are some decision-makers falling prey to hidden biases that could prevent them from placing the right person in the role? If so, then at what cost?

Much has been written about the challenge and complexity facing today's leaders. Emerging technologies, aggressive competition, rapid change and escalation of consumer expectations all combine to make leadership a riskier proposition than ever before. The pressure on leaders to drive results can be extreme, and it is magnified when those leaders are stepping into new roles.

Filling these roles can present a daunting challenge, as circumstances demand breadth of leadership capabilities, depth of technical skills, and the wisdom required for successful navigation of an entirely new landscape. As companies explore the pool of candidates for these crucial roles, they often make the mistake of overlooking the internal talent they have cultivated.

We call this oversight "the myth of the flawless outsider," and it has several components:

• There is a natural tendency to cast a tough role with a heroic figure – someone who can be placed on a pedestal by the organization.
• This focus on the need for significant talent and thought leadership can make us overlook the strengths of those already familiar to us and concentrate on their relative weaknesses.
• We tend to devalue available information and fail to dig deeper in the interview process. Why do so many companies perform pre-hire assessments, only to disregard (or significantly under weigh) the data gained? A number of Hiring Managers have told us how much they have come to regret ignoring pre-hire assessment reports as those hires eventually stumble in their roles.
• All other things being equal, a lack of familiarity with candidates means their resumes tend to look "rosier" than the facts known to us about existing colleagues. We are very familiar with the career ups and downs (and personal idiosyncrasies) of our colleagues – information that we may not gain about external candidates until well after their start date. We call this the “ bright shiny penny” syndrome.

How do we create a more balanced approach, so that we don't overlook the talent right under our noses?

1. First, develop a rigorous, feedback-rich talent-management process that truly prepares your internal leaders for big roles.
2. Next, use a multivariate/multi-faceted approach to selection, with rigorous and structured interviewing and assessment for all candidates – whether external or internal to the company.
3. Strive to select humans over superheroes. Remember that brilliant interview skills do not equal leadership effectiveness (and may conceal flaws and lack of experience that will ultimately lead to their failure).
4. Do something that most companies don't: use pre-hire assessments and interview data to get New Leaders on the right developmental paths as they enter their roles. (Instead of waiting until their development needs become obvious to all).
5. Finally, work to establish realistic expectations for New Leaders so they don't fall into the heroism trap ("I'm here to change the culture," for example). Humans, not heroes, deliver sustainable results. And they don't have as far to fall as those perched atop inappropriate pedestals.

If, as do many humans, we prefer the new and shiny over the old and reliable, we need to follow the steps above to avoid falling into the trap set by the myth of the flawless outsider. It may be less exciting, but it will be better for our organizations (and us) in the long run.

Culture Makes or Breaks New Leaders

Many in the business community agree that a leader’s success (or even survival) in a role depends on their ability to work within the operational culture. And for those transitioning into new roles, culture lies at the root of many onboarding paradoxes. New Leaders are often hired to make changes, fix broken things, “take us to the next level,” have early impact, yet they must act within the context of the organizational culture to accomplish those imperatives. In addition, the New Leader must navigate not only the maze of corporate norms, but also the subculture in their own operation.

Seek  First to Understand ...

While actively learning about their operations, New Leaders are likely to notice that the number of definitions of the culture roughly equals the number of people in the organization. Some ways people commonly describe the culture of an organization include:

• “The way we do things around here.”
• “Lessons learned that are important to pass on to the next generation of employees.”
• “What we do when noone is looking.”

Without a common understanding, the New Leader may encounter barriers to gaining knowledge about the culture. This part of the onboarding process comes with a number of challenging questions:

• How is the culture described by the organization?
• Is it the same for top leaders as it is for others deeper in the organization?
• In the selection process did the New Leader hear the “whole truth" about the culture, or just the depiction of how the organization hopes to function someday?
• What about the discrepancies between how the inhabitants broadly describe the culture versus how the subcultures really function?

Addressing these questions can help the New Leader learn about, and demonstrate respect for, the existing culture (which has added importance for those hired as change agents).

Navigating the Culture -- It's OK to Ask for Directions 

To navigate the corporate culture, New Leaders must figure out not only “the way we do things around here” but also “the way we don’t do things around here.” While they were hired to lead their operations, the organization will directly and indirectly signal to the New Leader what they can and shouldn’t do to drive success. Those who take the time to observe, ask questions about the best ways to operate, and then follow that advice, are ultimately more successful.

New Leaders also have diagnostic tools available to give them an early view into the performance climate of their own operations – the culture that will make or break their results.

Culture Informs Planning and Action

In order to adequately grasp the culture, New Leaders must take a step back during their first months on the job and focus on learning rather than attempting to drive near-term performance. Some mistakenly assume that “because people downstream report to me, they will follow my direction and short-cycle their own.” These Leaders then move forward in a manner that runs counter to their operation’s culture and performance climate. Their outcomes can range from a simple lack of communication, to heightened frustration and complete failure.

New Leaders can truly “get” the culture if they work with their Hiring Managers to construct deliverables that:

• Facilitate learning about the corporate and operational culture.
• Demonstrate that they have incorporated that knowledge.
• Start moving the New Leader’s operation toward desired goals and performance levels.
• Working with (and within) the organizational culture that existed before New Leaders came on board will help smooth their transitions, balance the paradoxical nature of onboarding, and deliver results.

Working with (and within) the organizational culture that existed before New Leaders came on board will help smooth their transitions, balance the paradoxical nature of onboarding, and deliver results.