The Modern Project Manager

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Career Development   Talent Management  

Have you ever thought about becoming a project manager? Do you wonder what it takes to be successful? And what about earning potential…do you think about that, too? This article will explore the pursuit of a career in project management. Specifically, it will examine the current state of affairs in the following areas:

• Characteristics (talents, skills, experience) of successful project managers
• What employers are looking for (via job boards) in PMs
• Current PM compensation levels

Characteristics of Successful PMs
Talk to 10 different people and you will probably get 15 different answers to the question “What makes a successful PM?” At least this is what I found in researching the topic. For example, in her article entitled “The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master ‘the How’“, Joli Mosier (founding partner of MosierMcCann, a Seattle-based project management consulting firm) contends that successful PMs:

• Have a collaborative management style
• Are situationally adaptable
• Have a “figure-it-out” resourcefulness
• Have developed communication skills
• Are flexible

In her 2008 article “Six Attributes of Successful Project Managers”, Meridith Levenison states that successful PMs are:

• Foresight gifted
• Organized
• Leaders
• Good …

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