Beyond Charisma: Practical Leadership Skills for PMs

Bruce is the founder of ProjectManagementHacks.com, a resource for growing IT project managers.

  Communications Management   Governance   Leadership  

Leadership is endlessly fascinating for a good reason. An effective leader can inspire people, marshal resources and achieve difficult goals. On projects, a capable leader can make those long hours feel meaningful and worthwhile instead of an endless grind. Unfortunately, our admiration for successful leaders has a dark side.

The Julius Caesar Leadership Trap
If your approach to leadership is defined by history’s successful leaders, you may end up feeling discouraged. Julius Caesar, the successful Roman general and statesman, famously wept when thinking about Alexander the Great:

“In Spain, when he was at leisure and was reading from the history of Alexander, he was lost in thought for a long time, and then burst into tears. His friends were astonished, and asked the reason for his tears. ‘Do you not think,’ said he, ‘it is matter for sorrow that while Alexander, at my age, was already king of so many peoples, I have as yet achieved no brilliant success?’" (Source: Plutarch)

Don’t let this ancient condition—what we might call impostor syndrome today—hold you back from working on your leadership skills. Instead of viewing leadership as an inherent trait or a black box, I recommend viewing leadership as a set of skills that can be improved.

Leader, Know Thyself
Before you can put effort into growing your …

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