Who/ What motivates a project manager

Indeed a great question, Priya.

A project manager sits between the team and the organization and has to balance requests and capabilities. He/she might feel very lonely and this could be a reason why they look for a community of peers like PMI. At least they are understood there, see the commonalities between companies, learn some tricks and can experience some empathy and respect. This was the main reason I joined PMI 27 years ago.

What motivated me to become a project manager was that I understood that my personal growth is with human interactions, which will be basically the same for my lifetime, so I looked for something stable. Coming from technology, I understood that it will change quickly and I will not be able to use much of my expertise after 20 years, in big contrast to dealing with people.

Any - any - problem in projects, programs and PMOs I solved by talking with people, understanding people and influencing people.

I do not agree that a PM must be motivated to get a well motivated team. We are professionals and we need to go for the objective because we accept it then if to motivate the team will help then we need to do that no matter if we, as PM, are motivated or not. Returning to your question the same that is applied to motivate the team could be applied to motivate the PM taking into account the Masslow Pyramid which is the tool I am using from years and it works for me. More about that: the interesting thing, at least for me, is lot of times as a PM I am located in one level on the pyramid while the rest of the team are located on levels too far for me on the top while others are located far from me on the bottom.

A good PM must be self-motivated. It is the essential quality imbedded in the authentic nature of our being. We must be real in other to appreciate and feel motivated by the project moving successfully and even when we encounter some constraints we are still motivated to find solutions to some of our challenges within the project. Through PMI we can bring forward in a forum like and seek to discuss risks, constraints, and solutions to many of the problems and challenges we face on our projects as PM. Our resources are limitless, casting away fears of the unknown and knowing that the universe will deliver our good, we must continue to rely on each other irrespective of where in the universe we reside and work. Remember 7 Keys to Project Leadership:" Be Authentic, Lead with Vision, Improve and Innovate, Empower the Team, Get Close to Stakeholders, Establish a Solid Foundation and Work with Intent." Be Real. When you can not think of a solution. Meditate first. The Universe will deliver the solution.

A project is normally for a extended period of time and can be away from a project managers home country, their family and friends. As a result a project manager will decide on a project that they are interested in, that is their in their area of expertise and skillset, that will also test them and develop their existing skillset and that they believe they can add value to the project. As a result a project manager goes into the project with the mindset on a positive footing. Seeing a project through to completion especially when you have gone through all the phase of a project is a motivation factor in itself and project managers have a mentality of not going to beaten and of not wanting to fail on a project and the risk of failure is a motivational factor for a project manager.