Leading Projects In

Organizations
SCS 1952

Session 4
You As a Leader
Session Outline
1. What are the most important leadership traits for
achieving project success?
2. Leadership, motivation and the Project Manager
3. You as a leader Improving your project leadership

Learning Objectives
Define leadership in project management
Explore leadership sources of power
Understand a Project Management leadership model
Explore the differences between leader and a manager
Discuss different types of leadership styles

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Readings

You As a Leader
Arora and Baronikian,
Leadership in Project Management, Second Edition
Chapter 5: You As a Leader

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1. What Are the Most Important Leadership
Traits for Achieving Project Success?

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What is Leadership?

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What is Leadership?
Leadership is the ability to guide the project team while
achieving project objectives and balancing project constraints
It involves focusing the efforts of a group of people on a
common goal and enabling them to work as a team
Leadership is composed of several complex elements, the
three essential components being:
The person leading
The person being led
The environment (situation)
Project team leaders are responsible for:
Vision, strategy, and communication
Influencing, mentoring, and monitoring team members
Evaluating the performance of the team

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PMIs New Triple Constraint

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Leadership Powers
Leadership involves moving others, and moving others involves power
Margaret Thatcher said, Being powerful is like being a lady. If you
have to tell people you are, you arent.
Team members accept or authorize you
to lead them because of what you
represent for them, the value
that you provide and your credibility

Even when formal (legitimate)

power is bestowed, what makes
some individuals stand out as true
leaders, while others do not?

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Six Powers
Legitimate Power is the ability to gain support because project
personnel perceive the project manager as being officially empowered to
issue orders
Information power is the ability to influence through knowledge of certain
privileged information
Referent power is the ability to attract others and build loyalty. It is derived
from charisma or other personal traits
Reward power is the ability to recognize or acknowledge individuals for
adhering to standards or expectations. e.g. I have the authority to give you a
performance bonus
Coercion power is the ability to sanction or penalize individuals for failure to
conform to standards or expectations
Expertise power is the ability to influence others based on particular skills or
deep knowledge. e.g. I know how to do this job well, and you want to learn

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Qualities and Traits of a Project Leader
The qualities and traits of the project leader can certainly
contribute to strengthen the sources of power
Leaders are found in every part of society and many of the same
leadership qualities and traits are evident across this diverse
range
These qualities and traits are largely a matter of personality and
character
It starts with who you are!
It continues with who you want to become!
It will only happen if you want it to!
And you have to ACT on that wish!
Leadership does not come from outside of you the answers cannot
come from others. Leadership comes from inside you!

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Leaders Qualities and Traits
Integrity - Probably the most critical quality of all. It is difficult to follow a
leader who demonstrably lacks integrity or trustworthiness
Credibility - The project leaders personal and professional credibility will
determine how team members respond to them
Toughness - This trait speaks to the importance of resilience and firmness
Warmth - The effective project leader is engaged with both heart and mind;
they care about the well-being and success of project team members
Fairness - team members or individuals differently, based on the needs of
the situation, but equally and without any favoritism
Confidence - The substantial accountability placed on the shoulders of a
project leader requires that they are constantly setting direction, solving
problems, negotiating, dealing with conflict and making decisions
Humility - It is hard to follow an arrogant leader. Humility is also
demonstrated by the willingness to listen to and take into account the ideas
of others

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Elements of Effective Leadership
The rarity of leaders is reflected in the old Chinese proverb, It
is easy to find a thousand soldiers but very difficult to find a
general

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2. Leadership, Motivation And
The Project Manager

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What is Motivation?
Motivation is closely linked to leadership and power
It is the energy that pushes one toward performing a certain
action
It can be described as inducing an individual or project team
to work toward desired organizational goals
Derived from the Latin for to move, motivation is a source
of energy enabling the team to accomplish its goals
If communication is considered the sister to leadership,
then motivation is its brother

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Motivation - Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors
Intrinsic factors
Arise from within us our
interests, beliefs and other
inherent (sometimes latent)
needs
They are linked to the desire
to do something because one
finds it interesting, compelling
or desirable in and of itself
no one needs to tell us to do it
The researcher seeking new
knowledge, simply for the sake
of it, is an example of an
intrinsic factor propelling
behaviour
Extrinsic factors
These are the influences of
other people and other things
pushing us to take certain
actions
The opportunity for good pay, or
a better position, can be a
strong external influence on our
behaviour
Deadlines are also a form of
extrinsic motivator
Leaders can utilize extrinsic
motivation factors with their
powers of reward, as well as
coercion, encouraging or driving
particular behaviours
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1. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor
developed two contrasting
models of management
and employee motivation,
Theory X and Theory Y, at
the MIT Sloan School of
Management in the 1960s

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Theory X
In this view, which has been proven counter-productive
management assumes employees are inherently lazy, dislike
work and will avoid work if they can
Consequently, management believes that workers need to be
closely supervised and that comprehensive systems of
controls are required
According to this theory, employees will show little ambition
without an enticing compensation program and will avoid
responsibility
whenever they can

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Theory Y
Managers operating within a Theory Y environment believe
that, given the right conditions, most people will want to
perform well at work and that the satisfaction of doing a good
job is itself a strong motivator
Represents an optimistic or positive view of people, their
inherent capabilities and the role of intrinsic motivation

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2. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Human needs are arranged in a hierarchy of importance
Needs emerge only when higher-priority needs have been satisfied
Satisfied needs no longer influence behaviour; e.g. money is not the
only cure for morale and
productivity problems
The need to participate, to be
recognized, to be creative and to
experience a sense of worth
are better motivators in an
affluent society

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 Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Five Levels
Physiological - These are literally the requirements for human survival;
e.g. Food, water, air, clothing, shelter, comfort, etc.
Safety e.g. Personal security, financial security, safety against
accidents/illness and their adverse impacts, etc.
Love/Belonging/Social e.g. Sense of belonging to a given community,
expressed in acceptance, group membership, companionship, love,
affection, etc.
Esteem All humans have a need to be respected as well as to possess
self-esteem and self-respect; e.g. prestige, recognition, sense of
competence, etc.
Self-Actualization This level pertains to a persons full potential and the
ability to realize it
It is very specific to a given individual and cannot be applied across the board
e.g. one individual may have a strong desire to become an ideal parent while
for another it may reside in athletic expression

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3. Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory
In the late 1960s,
Frederick Herzberg
wrote about worker
motivation
He distinguished
between
motivation factors
and hygiene factors
He suggests that
the bottom two
layers of the
hierarchy should be
considered extrinsic
motivators

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Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory
Herzberg suggested that
hygiene factors cannot
motivate people in
themselves, but that their
absence can result in
dissatisfaction
The presence of hygiene
factors eliminates
dissatisfaction
Poor pay, though, would
bring dissatisfaction
The presence of motivation
factors provides satisfaction,
while their absence leads to
lack of satisfaction

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3. You as a Leader
Improving Your Project Leadership

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Leadership vs. Management Quotes
Management is about skills,
Management is getting
leadership is about skills
work done through others.
coupled with character
Leadership is taking people
where they havent been
but need to go

Effective leadership is
putting first things first.
Effective management is
discipline, carrying it out Management is efficiency
in climbing the ladder of
success; leadership
determines whether the
ladder is leaning against the
Management is doing right wall
things right, leadership
is doing the right thing
Managers work
with processes and
leaders work with
people
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Comparing Management and Leadership
Tasks Management Leadership
Planning & Budgeting Establishing Direction

establishing detailed steps
developing a vision and strategies for change
Creating an
agenda
allocating necessary resources
focus on the long-term

focus on the short-term, details, eliminating risks
taking calculated risks

Organizing & Staffing Aligning People

Developing a
establishing structure, staffing, delegating
communicating direction by words and deeds
human network
providing policies/procedures
influencing the creation of teams and coalitions
for achieving the
creating processes/systems
focusing on integration
agenda

compliance
creating commitment

Controlling & Problem Solving Motivating & Inspiring

monitoring results vs. plan
energizing people
Execution
identifying deviations
satisfying higher-level needs focusing on empowerment

organizing to solve problems
creating environment for development

getting right person for the job
Predictability & Order Change
Outcomes
consistently producing key results expected by
producing (often dramatic) change to become more
various stakeholders competitive

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Where do you fit?
Review these and see what applies to you...
How many Manager behaviours? _____
How many Leader behaviours? _____
Which on either side of the continuum would
you like to develop?
Choose three and discuss with a colleague

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Leadership Styles (1)
The Project Managers leadership style can fall
anywhere on the continuum of:
Autocratic
Democratic
Laissez-faire

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Leadership Styles (2)
Autocratic The autocratic style does provide for faster decision-making
but the decision may be a poorer one due to lack of input
Makes all the decisions, instructs team members what to do without asking for
feedback
An autocratic style may be exhibited by leaders who have been given full
organizational power and authority over decision-making
Democratic This style implies that leaders share their decision-making
authority with the project team
Continuously seeks input from project team members and takes this input into
account in planning and executing the project
Laissez-faire This style is very much focused on delegating authority to
team members, supporting them and giving them the tools and resources
required to be successful
Highly delegative approach to leadership, allowing maximum room for each
individual in the project team to grow and develop

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The Leadership Continuum
Whats Your Leadership Style?

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The Keys to Successful Growth

Self-Knowledge who am I?
Self-Awareness what am I doing
and is it the right thing?
Self-Care am I being the best
person, physically, mentally and
emotionally I can be?
Self-Discipline am I exercising
the self-control I need to get
there?

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Your Personal Leadership Goal
Start identifying what it is that you want to change about
your own leadership behaviour
You must be able to count them on the fingers of one hand!
Remember Little changes make a big difference in the
long run

Goals
The destination we want to reach over a
designated period of time
Without goals you can end up anywhere
As the Cheshire Cat said to Alice (In Wonderland)
after she asked which path to take . . .
If you dont know where you want to go,
it doesnt matter any path will get you there.

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Who YOU are as a LEADER
List what you consider to be your five
strongest qualities or strengths as a
leader . . .
1. ___________________________
2. ___________________________
3. ___________________________
4. ___________________________
5. ___________________________
List what you consider to be the five
main personal challenges you face as
a leader
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
4. ____________________________
5. ____________________________
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Discuss
Share these qualities with a colleague
Be an active listener listen to understand
Probe, explore and reflect
How are your qualities different or similar?
Consider how these may be important in your group project
or elsewhere
Time
5 minutes to write
10 minutes to discuss

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Leadership Self-Assessment
A leadership self-assessment is an important tool to
help you think about the many skills and attributes
of leadership, both the ones you already possess and
the ones you would like to develop
These tools help the PM realize where they may
have weaknesses or blind spots
They will guide you to those leadership capabilities
that need attention

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Situational Leadership (1)
Based on the premise that a
single leadership approach
may not be suitable for
every situation
It may even be contrary to
what a given situation calls for
to achieve optimal project
team performance
Leadership style is largely
influenced by the work at
hand
Situational leadership is
about how leadership
approaches and behaviours
change according to the
different situations

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Situational Leadership (2)
Task
Behaviour
Task behaviour is the extent
to which the leader engages
in one-way, task-based
communication, such as
telling people what, how or
when to do something. The
focus is more on structure,
control, power and task
completion. This is a more
directive form of leadership
behaviour. At the extreme, it
would represent an
autocratic or authoritarian
leadership style.
Relationship
Behaviour
Relationship behaviour is the
extent to which the leader
engages in two-way
communication driven by
relationship development,
such as active listening,
praise and encouragement.
The focus is on being
appreciative, patient and
understanding. This is a
more supportive form of
leadership behaviour. It
would be consistent with a
democratic or participatory
leadership style.
Readiness or
Development Level
The readiness or
development level of team
members refers to the ability
and willingness of the team
members to perform given
tasks. This is a combination
of competence,
commitment and attitude
toward others. The most
appropriate leadership
approach, then, would be
the one that is well matched
to the readiness or
development level of team
members at that stage of the
project or in a given
situation.
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The Multiple Hats of Project Leadership

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Chapter Summary
There are six main sources of leadership power: legitimate, expert, reward, coercive, referent
and information
There are a set of desirable leadership traits such as fairness, integrity, humility and confidence
For the successful project leader, leadership maturity should be combined and strengthened
with strategic awareness, executive presence and execution orientation
Given the importance of motivation in leadership, three theories of motivation were reviewed:
McGregors Theory X and Theory Y, Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Motivation-
Hygiene frameworks
These helped us understand what leadership styles autocratic, democratic or laissez-faire
work best in what organization
A project leader needs to adapt and balance their task-oriented and relationship-oriented
behaviours to match the readiness level of the project team, as well as the requirements of a
given situation, so as to optimize performance
The six hats of team leader, role model, cheerleader,
entrepreneur, influencer and project advocate/
change agent, together encompass the role of
project leader

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