I recently googled “Project Leadership 2018” and was advised of 340 million results found in only 0.48 seconds; for 1996 the number was a mere 59 million. In the first PMI BoK (1996) there were 8 references to leadership compared to 150 in 2017.
Leadership is recognised more today than yesteryear and far from being a fad it is an essential element of society in general and projects in particular; but what essentials does a project leader require?
Project Leadership
During any forensic analysis of an unsuccessful project the lack of appropriate leadership is, inevitably, on the list of the many reasons for failure. Late, poor, or ineffective decisions, complacency, lack of awareness, and an avoidance of ‘grasping the nettle‘ are among commonly recognised leadership failings.
Leadership is not a forensic exercise but one of foresight, or rather vision, and dealing with the uncertainty of events and their outcomes, good or bad. Singapore’s late Lee Kuan Yew said that leadership is “the ability to see the future a little clearer than the others“; after all it’s easy to be wise after the fact. Seeing the future, or establishing one’s vision, is about managing risk and seizing opportunity.
The promotion of a vision is about the ability of the leader to influence people coupled with the style in which that influence is conveyed. Humans are attracted by style, and just like the peacock effect in modern-day fashion, it is leadership style that attracts any following. Nevertheless, style, like any fashion trend or fad, can be short-lived and a leader’s sustainability will depend on his or her own style.
The PMI, like many other bodies refers to leadership in terms of ‘strong’, ‘good’, and ‘effective’, and describes various recognised styles. However, what is ‘leadership effectiveness’ and can leadership be ‘efficient’.
Leadership Effectiveness & Efficiency
Leadership has been described somewhat clinically as “the ability to establish vision and direction, to influence and align others towards a common purpose, and to empower and inspire people to achieve success“. On a more human level, Field Marshall Slim after WW2 said that leadership “is a mixture of example, persuasion, and compulsion that makes men do what you want them to do‘ and likened it to a projection of a leader’s own personality.
Personality…each person has their own but for an effective leader that personality must be ethical and fair but also tough. Leadership is not a popularity contest and decisions may not please everybody. As Stefan Aaarnio said; “If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader, sell ice cream‘.
Effective leadership means being aware of changes to the internal and external environment and adapting or developing the skills and competencies of the team or individuals to deal with the uncertainties of change. Good leaders create and inspire more leaders while ‘bad leaders’ create subservience, fear, and despotism, and a dictatorship with slavish followers can result.
Much is written about ‘effectiveness’ and what and how leaders should do things. Napoleon said that there are two levers for moving men; interest and fear. ‘Interest’ is about understanding people and promotes respect which in turn supports a common cause and is undoubtedly effective; interest inevitably inspires more interest.
However, if the lever is ‘fear’ through the use of threats or coercive and manipulative techniques such as bullying and fear of being sacked, then this is ‘drivership’. ‘Drivers’ are toxic leaders with self-centred attitudes based on personal agendas. They may achieve results and be deemed, ‘efficient’, but any organisation should ask at what price such efficiency is realised in terms of human capital, investment and ethics.
Leadership Styles
They say that ‘if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail‘ and, similarly, a singular leadership style is unlikely to fit every situation. Style is about individual expression and, while some people aspire to lead, others may shy away. Any would-be leader must be able to adapt their style to the situation or, more importantly, the organisations, people and personalities with whom they are dealing.
There are tomes written about leadership styles and their effectiveness and it is clear that one style does not fit all circumstances, situations or people. The more ‘successful’ styles include laissez faire, transactional, transformational, charismatic and interactional and all have advantages and disadvantages but all can be effective at the right time.
Styles that are not so successful include autocratic (‘authoritarian’), bureaucratic (‘leading from a desk’), and democratic leadership but these too have their time and place. The style of ‘servant leader’ is also recognised and that leaders should ‘serve to lead’ their followers; after all with no ‘following’ how can there be any lead!
The right ‘style’ depends on the situation and the ability, aptitude and attitude of the people to be influenced. ‘Telling’, ‘selling’, ‘participating’ and ‘delegating’ are important ingredients in a leader developing a team and encouraging leadership skills within the team itself. A leader must also show moral fortitude and take responsibility for his or her actions no matter if they are leading from the front in a hands-on role, or supporting, or delegating (which is perhaps the most difficult of all). ‘
The buck stops here’ is a leadership mantra we should not forget. This applies to the ‘laid back’ advocate of the laissez faire style or the gung ho diehard with an autocratic flair and a cry of ‘my way or the highway‘ as they lead from the front.
Conclusions
Leadership is recognised as an essential part of successful ventures and we should recognise that successful project management depends on effective leadership.
Leaders need vision but they also need style and no one leadership style is truly and uniquely effective. Leaders have their own style(s) that must be adapted to any situation rather than trying to make the situation suit their style. Moreover, just as people make projects, a leader must consider their individual abilities, aptitudes and attitudes.
We should always remember that real style never goes out of fashion and good leaders are timelessly effective as they adapt to and deal with change while creating more leaders and positively influencing others.
\Leadership style alone isn’t everything and leaders need strength in their convictions as well as ability. For some leaders it would do well to remember that somewhat derogatory accolade to an incompetent military officer and that; ‘his men will follow him anywhere…just to see what the bloody hell he will do next‘…but for how long will any follower(s) tolerate incompetence, no matter how intriguing?
Bio:
UK Chartered Engineer & Chartered Geologist with over thirty-five years’ international experience in multicultural environments on large multidisciplinary infrastructure projects including rail, metro, hydro, airports, tunnels, roads and bridges. Skills include project management, contract administration & procurement, and design & construction management skills as Client, Consultant, and Contractor.