3 Ways to Level up Your Leadership

 

By Yasmina Khelifi, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMP

We’re one quarter into 2023, and hectic days are succeeding. Routine is back as you keep your nose to the grindstone.

But stop for a moment and ask: What do you envision for yourself as a project manager for the coming year? You may have (or become) a mentor, or you may have a personal board of advisors.

Ultimately, you are the origin of your own change. To help you take the reins, I'm sharing three ideas to level up your leadership:

1. Embrace passion and diversity. You may have been in the same role for a while, or with the same team—and entrenched in routine. Ask yourself these questions:

• What energizes you with work? This can be something related to technology, innovation, new problems to solve, new ways of working, etc.
• Are you taking advantage of the diversity on your team? Teams can be diverse by age, gender, profession, knowledge, culture, academic backgrounds and more.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​By embracing your passions and the knowledge that comes from diversity, you can unleash fresh energy because you’ll get new perspectives, meet new people and discover new environments.

If your day job doesn’t bring the novelty and diversity you need, look for other opportunities within your organization—or outside of it. What communities can you join? I joined a marketing community, and it has become a great source of creativity. You can also try new activities, like sports, music, or learning a new language. Who knows? You might discover new strengths you never knew you had.

2. Get involved—and go beyond. Regardless of the years of project management and leadership experience you have, you can make an impact through your knowledge and lessons learned.

For example, through my work, I was asked to talk at a high school about my job as a project manager. Not long ago, I would have considered the opportunity a waste of time—but it was interesting to hear the perspectives and questions of young people.

In another volunteer activity, I got contacted to present on project management to some students at a university. It was unpaid and involved some work and preparation. Before, I would have shirked the opportunity—partly because of my fear or not being able to answer all their questions, and partly because of the benefits (or my perceived lack thereof) that I could earn from it.

Now, I hesitate less as it is a way to give back and go beyond my day job. More importantly, it is a way to share my knowledge and learn how to present my expertise comprehensively. I just need to adapt my communication, which is a learning experience for me.

In both cases, it was a short one-off event. What about you? Are there conferences where you can help or present? Were you contacted by your alumni community? Did you ever accept or decline a similar engagement? What about volunteering in your community?

3. Ask for feedback. If you work in the corporate world, you most likely have regular performance reviews. Perhaps it is systematically done; and sometimes, it doesn't happen. And yet, feedback—both positive and negative—is a great way to uncover things you are not aware of. It can strengthen your brand—and more importantly, help you gain confidence. Do you take the opportunity to ask for feedback from your colleagues?

Many years ago, I took part in a 360-feedback assessment where the consultant sent an anonymous survey to colleagues. This year, I did the same by myself. I wanted to get new insights about the way I manage projects from a technical and behavioral point of view. I also wanted to see what strengths people identified for me. It didn’t take me long to create the survey. The outcome was insightful and gave me new improvement paths.

What other things have you planned to level up your leadership?