In a previous post, we touched upon the relationship between project management and soft skills. But what about project management and leadership?
Project Management and Leadership
Before we talk about project management and leadership, let’s do a quick recap of the differences between hard and soft skills and why both are key to effective project management.
Hard skills are quantifiable skills you can acquire through experience or education, such as learning a new language, increasing your typing speed, or learning how to code.
Soft skills refer to how you work with others and include traits such as patience, conflict resolution, communication, time management, and (you guessed it) leadership.
Why Does Leadership Matter in Project Management?
Warren Bennis, one of the pioneers in leadership research, defined leadership as “the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
It’s no coincidence that you could use the same quote to define effective project management.
At the end of the day, a project manager works with people. While materials can be manipulated by force and software can be programmed, in order to work with people, you need to be able to inspire them and persuade them. Tat ability is known as leadership, and is at the core of project management
Some of the leadership skills a project manager should have include:
- Integrity
- Decisiveness
- Active listening
- Strategic thinking
- Creativity
- Ability to inspire
- Delegation
- Professionalism
No matter how well you know the project or how clearly you understand the desired goals. If you don’t work on acquiring and honing this set of leadership skills, you won’t be able to realize your full potential as project manager.
To learn more about project management, be sure to check out our previous posts, “The 3 Most Common Project Management Mistakes,” and “When Did Project Management Start?”
About Darnell Technical
Darnell Technical Services is an engineering design firm with extensive experience in a vast array of projects. Our headquarters are located in Santa Ana, California, and we have an office in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Contact us today by telephone (714-285-0082 (CA), 702-945-2899 (NV)) or through our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to learn more about all the technical instruments and materials we put at your disposal.
