Lead Yourself Before Leading Others
That was the biggest take away I got when recently reading “Powerful Project Leadership” by Wayne Strider. As I’ve been taking on some more Project Leadership responsibilities, I wanted to read some material that focused more on Project Leadership than simply Project Management, and this book came highly recommended.
After sifting through some of the more flaky and new-agey aspects of the book (such as the suggestion to carry wishing wand and courage stick icons around in your pocket for empowerment), I found some good solid concepts laid out in the book that would be useful for any Project Leader. Some of these included taking the “Zeroeth Step”, response filters and being understood.
Strider talks of laying a good foundation, especially on a personal level, for any new project. He calls this taking the “Zeroeth Step”. This is taking time to reflect on a new project, considering both your own needs and the needs of others, and understanding the context of your project. Without honouring your own needs within the context of the project, you can become disconnected and less effectual, and thus your project could suffer.
Response filters was another interesting topic, in regards to dealing with difficult people. This flips the situation around where it is not the “difficult” person that causes a difficult situation, but instead your own personal response filters. Basically, “difficult” is your own interpretation, and a response filter is the way you react to certain types of people. By becoming aware of your response filters, you can start to change how you respond. Sure, easier said than done, but with work this can be possible.
Being understood is key to successful Project Leadership. Without clear communication your project becomes susceptible to failure. Strider talks of the five levels of communication: cliché, information, opinions, feelings, and total truth. Communicating at the “total truth” level is not always easy to do, as it can leave you feeling vulnerable. An example of communicating the total truth in the context of a project is, say, admitting to not being able to meet a critical, yet impossible to meet deadline. Ultimately, admitting this feels like failure, but alternate solutions can be brainstormed as soon as this is apparent instead of hiding this fact and then failing even more miserably when the deadline is missed. The closer you get to communicating at the highest level, or total truth, the more effectual your project becomes.
I highly recommend this book, albeit with caveats to take some of the aforementioned flaky portions with a grain of salt. Then again, if carrying a wishing wand icon in your pocket makes you feel like a stronger Project Leader, then all the power to you!
