No Authority, No Problem

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Leadership   ProjectsAtWork  

Project managers are often described as leaders without authority. It is a role that relies on influence rather than formal power. But what some may view as a professional handicap is actually an opportunity to engage in true leadership based on self-awareness, awareness of others, and clearly articulated values.

We all know that project managers generally have to manage their teams through influence and persuasion rather than formal authority (and I would argue that this is not a handicap but, in fact, a much better approach to true leadership anyway — we shouldn’t need positional power to get the job done). However, we also must recognize that some project managers are better than others at using their influence and personality to lead.

I want to look at some of the key factors that impact a project manager’s ability to lead. This isn’t a new topic, and many articles have written about the importance of building tgeam trust and respect through communication skills. Very important, indeed, but I want to focus on three other factors that can make a big difference in leadership success: self-awareness; awareness of others; and values.

Self-awareness

A project manager who is self-aware and is willing to share that awareness with others can build stronger relationships. From a purely practical standpoint self-aware project managers can help…

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