Voices on Project Management offers insights, tips, advice and personal stories from project managers in different regions and industries. The goal is to get you thinking, and spark a discussion. So, if you read something that you agree with--or even disagree with--leave a comment.
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Date
Apart from the challenge of letting go of my 18-year-old "baby," I was thrilled and proud to bring my son to the Rochester Institute of Technology, a university in Rochester, New York, USA last week. At orientation for first year students, James Miller, PhD, senior vice president for career services, invited the 2,650 new students gathered there to create an education and a life that included three critical elements: balance, passion and making a difference.
What better message could there be for these young people, and for the rest of us as well?
Ultimately, project managers are committed to making a difference. It doesn't matter whether the project is solving a problem or filling a need, building a bridge, or creating new software that will do a job better, faster and easier. The goal of project management is always to make things work and work well. And that makes a difference -- in people's lives, communities, schools and environment.
Passion is another element that we love to see in our profession. Who among us wouldn't prefer to work on a team with people who won't stop until things get done and get done right? These are the people who are profoundly connected to, and engaged in, the outcome of the project. They keep the big picture in mind, too, and know that what they do is valued, important and worthwhile.
And then there's balance, the ultimate key to self-actualization and satisfaction in life and in work. Giving back -- when many of us have so much -- is a key part of a balanced existence. I love the way more and more organizations in the United States are excusing their people from work to do community service. I'm also inspired by the way many project managers serve as mentors to those entering the profession or in the process of earning a Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential.
Balance, passion and making a difference. These three elements can and should be a project manager's call to action. What we wake up for, what we see as our purpose in life, and what we keep in front of us as a guidepost will continually challenge and inspire us -- as well as those around us. I hope my son will learn this as his first academic lesson. And may it last a lifetime.
Posted
by
Judy Umlas
on: September 15, 2010 03:29 PM |
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