Leading Appropriately

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

  Leadership  

There are all kinds of leaders in organizations today, and there are many different styles of leadership that different managers use in their day-to-day operations. From the authoritarian to the servant leader, leading appropriately can mean many different things in different situations. Project managers often have to approach leadership in a different manner than leaders that deal directly with employees as project managers are leveraging resources and dealing with time-limited endeavors.

A project manager needs to approach every project with a solid understanding of how to lead appropriately in that situation—and pay attention, because this can change rapidly.

The Example
Many leaders lead by example, and this is perhaps the most effective method of leadership there is. After all, if the people following you observe your behavior, they are likely to copy it—or at the very least understand that there are no valid excuses for not getting a job done.

For a project manager, you cannot always show a clear example for everyone working on a project. A project involves many different people with many different skillsets, most of which do not belong to a project manager—so it will be difficult to lead by example if you are not able to do the work or complete the tasks they are engaged in.

In that case, your example is the work ethic, the determination …

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