AtTask

For any organization doing project based work, the need for leadership and collaboration is critical.  Unfortuntely, for many organizations, developing leadership is a challenge—there are never enough leaders in an organization and getting people to collaborate is often a challenge.

Here are three leadership principles that can help you effectively manage project teams in today's complicated business climate:

1. Lead Yourself First.  My collegues and I used to call this walking the talk.  If you don't practice what you preach, how can you lead others.
2. Encourage Ownership.  The more people feel of sense of ownership, the more responsibility team members will feel for the outcome.  Identifying what a positive or negative outcome means to the team will encourage a sense of ownership.
3. Follow-Up.  I don't think it's any secret, but leaders get the behaviors they reinforce.

It really doesn't matter what type of project based work you do or your particular work management methodology, project managers who spend time learning and implementing leadership skills are more successful than those that don't.  As more and more organization turn to project and portfolio management best practices to make their organizations more efficient, the need for skilled project managers—those who know how to lead people as well as manage process—will continue to grow.

What are you doing to improve your leadership skills?