Can you describe a situation as a project manager where you had to remain positive in the face of adversity?
While leading a financial planning organization for a Fortune 100 company, I was given a nearly impossible mandate from the CFO to develop a new revenue planning system in a very short five-month period. A huge part of my job was keeping the team moving forward and productive while at the same time not being unrealistically euphoric about our situation. Crucial to our succeeding was my leading the charge with a positive attitude of ''we can get this done'' while at the same time not being viewed as a clueless leader. We ended up successfully meeting our deadline, and the system was a huge success.
As project managers we need to keep a positive outlook and motivate our teams to deliver results. Take that to an extreme, though, and you could be viewed as an overly euphoric doofus who is out of touch with the reality of the situation. When taken to this extreme, the positive outlook isn’t a team motivator; it’s a de-motivator. Rather than feeling inspired by their PM, the team will tend to feel set up for failure by an out-of-touch and giddy PM.
By all means, be positive in your outlook. Just don’t lose touch with reality and bet your team’s success on Hail Mary passes.
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About the Author
Lonnie Pacelli is an internationally recognized author and is president of Leading on the Edge International. Lonnie has had over 20 years of leadership experience as an executive, project manager, developer, tester, analyst, trainer, consultant, and business owner. During his 11 years at Accenture, he built leadership expertise consulting with many Fortune 500 companies including Motorola, Hughes Electronics, and Northrop Grumman. During his nine years at Microsoft, he continued building leadership expertise through the development of some of Microsoft’s internal systems, led their corporate procurement group, managed their corporate planning group, and led company-wide initiatives on continuous fiscal improvement and training process optimization. He has successfully implemented projects ranging from complex IT systems to process reengineering to business strategies.
See more on Lonnie at www.leadingonedge.com and www.smallbizmadesimple.com.
