Organizational Leadership
Positive Leadership in Project Management
SERIES ARTICLE
By Frank Saladis, PMP, LIMC, PMI Fellow
New York, NY, USA
Change, as everyone knows, is a constant challenge for any organization. It challenges leaders to regularly review the organization’s vision and mission and to find new ways to nurture employee growth and to develop new leaders.
Moving forward in the journey to the future, leaders can expect some significant turbulence, shifting markets, new technologies, increased competition, shortages of certain skills, and possibly shortages of employees at many levels of the organization.
Today’s leaders have two major responsibilities: Setting the direction through vision and mission, and then leading the organization to success.
Leaders know that the “vison statement” articulates why the organization exists. This is a concrete statement that expresses what you are as an organization and the impact you make in your business environment. The vison must be articulated to the entire organization clearly and often and with enthusiasm and passion. The leader must show that he or she is fully committed to the vision. This is only one part of leadership. The part that is more challenging is the act of leading. A simple definition of leading is “to provide direction or guidance.” That is the very basic premise of leadership but there is much more. The leader, whether leading a small team or a large Fortune 500 organization must establish a “framework of inspiration” that will drive the organization forward through the engagement of every employee or associate.
Upskilling and Nurturing Current and Future Leaders
1 Create or review your current vision. Ensure that the vision captures very clearly what your organization is. Your vision frames what, in most cases, already exists within your organization. Its reflects upon the culture and fabric of what the organization is. The vision captures the essence of the organization in a simple but inspiring phrase.
2. Live your Values – Not value as in products and usefulness, but values. This is about how people behave and treat one another. Values are about how business is conducted. Things like promoting positivity, creativity, and respect. Create a culture of caring – for all employees and for customers and other stakeholders.
3. Training – The rapid changes in technology and the continuing changes in societal behavior organizations to ensure they have a plan for the development of new skills to meet the needs of customers, to address new methods of doing business, and to stay ahead of the competition. The need for training applies to public, private, and not-for-profit organizations.
4. Continuous Process Improvement – Consider the processes currently in use. How long have they been in use? Many processes are based on needs that existed years ago. Schedule periodic “needs-analyses” and look for opportunities to improve or replace existing procedures. Digital transformation and use of Artificial Intelligence can identify many areas for improvement.
More…
To read entire article, click here
Editor’s note: This article is one in a series on Positive Leadership in Project Management by Frank Saladis, PMP, PMI Fellow, popular speaker and author of books on leadership in project management published by Wiley and IIL in the United States. Frank is widely known as the originator of the International Project Management Day, the annual celebrations and educational events conducted each November by PMI members, chapters and organizations around the world.
How to cite this paper: Saladis, F. (2024). The Continuing Need to Upskill Organizational Leadership: Positive Leadership in Project Management, series article. PM World Journal, Vol. XIII, Issue II, February. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/pmwj138-Feb2024-Saladis-The-Continuous-Need-to-Upskill-Organizational-Leadership.pdf
About the Author
Frank P. Saladis
New York, USA
Frank P. Saladis, PMP, LIMC, PMI Fellow is a Consultant and Instructor / Facilitator within the project management profession and has over 35 years of experience in the IT, Telecom Installation and IT Project Management training environment. He is a senior consultant and trainer for the International Institute For Learning Inc. and has been involved in the development of several project management learning programs. Mr. Saladis has held the position of Project Manager for AT&T Business Communications Systems, National Project Manager for AT&T Solutions Information Technology Services and was a member of Cisco Systems Professional Services Project Management Advocacy Organization. His responsibilities included the development of Project Management Offices (PMO) and the development of internal training programs addressing project management skills and techniques.
He is a Project Management Professional and has been a featured presenter at the Project Management Institute ® Annual Symposiums, Project World, PMI World Congress, CMMA, and many PMI Chapter professional development programs. He is a past president of the PMI New York City Chapter and a Past-President of the PMI ® Assembly of Chapter Presidents. Mr. Saladis is a Co-Publisher of the internationally distributed newsletter for allPM.com, a project management information portal, and a contributor to the allPM.com project management website.
Mr. Saladis is the originator of International Project Management Day and has written numerous leadership and project management related articles. Mr. Saladis is also the author of the Project Management Workbook and PMP ® / CAPM ® Exam Study Guide that supplements Dr. Harold Kerzner’s textbook – Project Management, A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling?, 9th Edition published by John Wiley & Sons and the author of Positive Leadership in Project Management, published by IIL Publishing. He is a member of the International Executive Guild and the NRCC Business Advisory Council. He has also held the position of Vice President of Education for the Global Communications Technology Specific Interest Group of PMI ® and holds a Master’s Certificate in Commercial Project Management from the George Washington University. Mr. Saladis received the prestigious Lynn Stuckenbrook Person of the Year Award from the Project management Institute in 2006 for his contributions to the organization and to the practice of project management. He can be contacted at saladispmp@msn.com
To view other works by Frank Saladis, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/frank-p-saladis/
