Amr MiqdadiGrants Coordinator| Internews NetworkJerusalem, Israel
What is the difference between a project manager and a leader?
Should there be a difference? Consider this:
Not all leaders are project managers, but all project managers should be leaders.
You can tell from the above statement that I believe a good project manager is also a leader. You can be a project manager without being a leader, but your options for advancement may be limited.
Take a minute and think about what you do as a project manager. Your list probably includes at least the following:
• Coordinating
• Staffing
• Managing the budget
• Managing the schedule
• Reporting status
• Managing issues
• Managing risks
• Managing scope
• Leading the team
• Facilitating the work
I bet you have many more items to add to the above list. Let’s leave the list as-is for now and think about what a leader does:
• Directing
• Setting vision
• Setting an example
• Motivating
• Managing
• Defining strategy
• Leading the team
What are the similarities between the project manager and the leader defined above? The word managing does show up in both lists, so does leading the team. (Note that both sets of the above lists come from discussions with previous students.)
The differences are all about adding to your use of tools and processes by incorporating the art of project management. I mean your use of interpersonal skills, your ability to motivate others so that they want to follow you and your ability to get the team to see the big picture.
The next question for you to ponder is when are you a project manager and when are you leader?
Let’s look at an example of when you are a project manager and a leader. Let’s say that you are preparing for, facilitating and leading a project kick off meeting. As you prepare and create the agenda and reserve a conference room and coordinator attendance, you are in more of a managerial role. As you facilitate the meeting you may be somewhere between manager and leader (depending on the nature of the facilitation). But as you explain the mission and vision of the project to the team, as you motivate them to be excited about the project goals, you are being a leader!
I once heard an expression that I would like to pass on to you; “Managers speak the language of tasks, work to be completed. Leaders speak the language of stories.”
You can be a project manager who manages schedule and budget, but to move up you need to be a leader too. You need to be able to fulfill the managerial requirement AND set the vision, inspire and motivate.
Not all leaders are project managers, but all project managers should be leaders.
Improve your soft skills and become a real project manager with Margaret Meloni.
What is the difference between a project manager and a leader? Should there be a difference? Consider this:
Not all leaders are project managers, but all project managers should be leaders.
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You can tell from the above statement that I believe a good project manager is also a leader. You can be a project manager without being a leader, but your options for advancement may be limited.
Take a minute and think about what you do as a project manager. Your list probably includes at least the following:
• Coordinating
• Staffing
• Managing the budget
• Managing the schedule
• Reporting status
• Managing issues
• Managing risks
• Managing scope
• Leading the team
• Facilitating the work
I bet you have many more items to add to the above list. Let’s leave the list as-is for now and think about what a leader does:
• Directing
• Setting vision
• Setting an example
• Motivating
• Managing
• Defining strategy
• Leading the team
What are the similarities between the project manager and the leader defined above? The word managing does show up in both lists, so does leading the team. (Note that both sets of the above lists come from discussions with previous students.)
The differences are all about adding to your use of tools and processes by incorporating the art of project management. I mean your use of interpersonal skills, your ability to motivate others so that they want to follow you and your ability to get the team to see the big picture.
The next question for you to ponder is when are you a project manager and when are you leader?
Let’s look at an example of when you are a project manager and a leader. Let’s say that you are preparing for, facilitating and leading a project kick off meeting. As you prepare and create the agenda and reserve a conference room and coordinator attendance, you are in more of a managerial role. As you facilitate the meeting you may be somewhere between manager and leader (depending on the nature of the facilitation). But as you explain the mission and vision of the project to the team, as you motivate them to be excited about the project goals, you are being a leader!
I once heard an expression that I would like to pass on to you; “Managers speak the language of tasks, work to be completed. Leaders speak the language of stories.”
You can be a project manager who manages schedule and budget, but to move up you need to be a leader too. You need to be able to fulfill the managerial requirement AND set the vision, inspire and motivate.
Not all leaders are project managers, but all project managers should be leaders.
Improve your soft skills and become a real project manager with Margaret Meloni>> http://bit.ly/lTctCu
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Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Amr, have you thought about setting up a blog here on Gantthead? This discussion topic, and your post from April, might both be better off in the blog forum, and you might get more responses in the form of comments.
I have been away on holiday for a good month so I suppose just catching up on interesting discussions.
You are absolutely right the PM are not necessarily leaders, they follow the company process and procedures and do a job well done, but a leader could be anyone, any person either with rank or without rank, a good scenario is we have a Head of department, they have the authority, they make decisions, they are company wide visible but do not direct, nor lead, he or she is placid get the job done, staff are happy, no rocking the boat! another scenario we have an ordinary hard working member of staff, they have no rank within the organisation and yet they are leading, unofficially they have the authrority and followers. We may not be born to be leaders we can learn to lead! This is an interesting topic, how many of us think they were born leaders and how many have learned to lead ! Saving Changes...
Justin KeswickSenior Technical Analyst for EFT/ACH/Wires, ERP integration files, Kyriba, SAP| Scotiabank Global Business Payments, Technical Integration ServicesToronto, Ontario, Canada
Hi Amir,
Yes, you have a point.
Having a PMP does not necessarily mean that you are a leader.
We are trying to implement Collaboration Software in our company and lots of issues are developing out of it.
Does our organization have the right culture to utilize collaboration?
Interesting dicussions came out of this that the PM sets the environment so that team members can be collaborative.
To set the environment, you have to be a leader.
So to conclude.
1. You can implement a project just with a project manager.
2. Although you require a leader to ensure that employees will are use the project that you implemented. This brings up many other issues other than just project delivery date and dollars.
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I see where one young boy has just passed 500 hours sitting in a treetop. There is a good deal of discussion as to what to do with a civilization that produces prodigies like that. Wouldn't it be a good idea to take his ladder away from him and leave him up there?
