One major responsibility of a project manager is to provide leadership for teams, inspire confidence, motivate people to do their best work, while ensuring effectiveness, quality and efficient use of resources.
Recently, I was privileged to lead a diverse team of over 10 core staff directly, and well over 160 field staff to support an assessment for a major client. This was quite different from assessments that I have led before;
This was different on 3 major levels:
First, was the time crunch; this is the implication of that: an enormous work to be completed within a short period of time and just about 5 days was allocated for planning i.e from kick off meeting to the field, and assessments in 54 LGA’s across 9 states have had to be completed in just about a month or less.
Second, multiple stakeholders needed to be managed across the national level, states levels, different sub-units at the states, across the clients and also at LGA and community levels, respectively each with their unique interests.
Thirdly, the team was dynamic, as different staff were brought in from across the organization, at different and strategic points, so resourcing required advance negotiation skills with other heads of units, senior colleagues and even junior colleagues.
While these unique situations existed, it was important that I managed the dynamics with grace, ensuring ownership from team members, and client satisfaction.
One thing that has ensured the program progressed successfully was Leading from the front. I made up my mind to be physically present in at least 1/3 of the states, and at least 1/3 of LGAs surveyed; I was involved in planning, training, state entry meetings, daily review meetings and supervision of data collection teams in even very remote locations which can be unlikely for many. This leadership style spurred team efforts and limited excuses as I could relate to every step in the project process.
Indeed, the results achieved from being a functional leader far outweighs that of being a positional leader. This is what it means to lead from the front.
In leadership, be rest-assured that, people don’t only hear or read your words, they also learn from your life, dealings and actions per time.
They don’t only take instructions from you, they imitate and follow your examples and practices.
This further butresses a popular quote “Examples are the best communicators of principles”.
In leadership the content is more important than the container.
It takes a leader who has cultivated the culture of leading from the front, to produce consistent results.
So as a Project Manager, while it may be fine to manage from the office, you will see more results, addressing problems real-time and on-site, redefining strategies when in action and leading from the front.
The implication is being actively involved in a team’s work while also setting an example for others to follow can help create a culture of accountability, collaboration, and shared success.
The pro-activeness of the Project Manager in any sphere of handling responsibility spurs the whole team members to active participation, which enhances esprit de corp, where team members make both individual and collective efforts to ensure that tasks are accomplished within timelines and with excellence.
Lead from the front! Achieve results!
