The Leader in Me

SECTION I: CELEBRATING THE LEADER IN ME The theme of this book is about expanding your view of who you are, that you are magnificent and extraordinary. Banish all thoughts of ordinariness. Instead affirm the unique skills and abilities only you can offer. Both in your career and in your life, do not focus on things that are undistinguished about you. Instead look for ways to expand those unique skills and knowledge that only you have and that make you extraordinary and magnificent. Take action to verify your greatness. The focus of this book is on Project Leadership and becoming great at managing projects. This book is divided into five sections to help you continuously develop higher leadership skills as a Project Manager. The five sections are: • Celebrating the Leader in Me • Building a Foundation for Success • Creating Amazing Teams • Delivering Project Success • Accelerating Your Career Celebrating the Leader in Me is about recognizing the leader in you. Leadership can be demonstrated in many areas including work, family, corporations, politics, volunteer groups, charity, and all aspects of life. It is about specific ways to continuously develop your leadership skills. A few people just naturally demonstrate leadership skills with no additional training and little mentoring. Most of us can much better recognize and develop the leader in ourselves by training and mentoring. If you have access to leadership programs, enroll and take advantage of this opportunity. If you do not have access to a leadership program, this section provides information on an excellent leadership program that you can enroll in to make significant, lasting positive changes in your life. Building a Foundation for Success walks you through the Initiation Phase and what you need to do to create a foundation of success for your project. Without establishing a strong foundation at this Phase, it is very challenging to bring a project to a successful completion. Communication and the importance of forming a strong partnership with the project Sponsor is detailed. Tools to help you Build a Foundation for Success are included. Creating an Amazing Team discusses what you need to do to build a highly productive team during the Planning Phase. In addition to planning, your primary role in this Phase is to build an amazing team, focused on the goals of the project. It is during this Phase that you establish your role as a leader with your team. If you are unsuccessful in establishing yourself as a leader during this Phase, it is almost impossible to do it later in the project. You will receive tools on how to plan and create productive teams. Delivering Project Success builds on the previous two Phases. The cornerstone for Delivering Project Success are the Initiation and Planning Phases. By successfully establishing a strong foundation of success and building an amazing team, the Execute, Monitor and Control Phase of the project will be significantly easier to deliver and to meet the expectations of the Sponsor and Stakeholders. Tools are provided. Accelerating Your Career should be the end result of the project. You will now be viewed as a leader in your organization. You should share your successes with other leaders and welcome new and different opportunities that arise. Tools are provided. Let’s begin.   EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITIES Skilled project professionals are in demand in the global market. There are not enough skilled project professionals to meet current demand in many countries including China, India, United States, Brazil, Japan, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries. Research shows that this demand will continue increase in the next decade. This is creating amazing career paths. The increased demand can be traced to three reasons. First organizations are creating a wider range of jobs for project professionals, thus opening up more opportunities. Second the current talent is reaching retirement age. Third, technology has revitalized projects. This is creating extraordinary opportunities going forward. Skilled project professionals with the right skill set can look forward to an extremely positive job outlook. The demand for project professionals with the skill set of leadership, technical project management, organization and business knowledge is increasing. Growth of Career Opportunities Since 2008 organizations have become much more project oriented with a wider range of jobs resulting in new project management positions for skilled project professionals. This trend is expected to continue for the next ten years. Did you know that an amazing 97% of organizations believe project management is critical to business performance and organizational success? It is projected that there will be 15 million new high-level project management jobs available within the next decade in the countries identified above. Research shows that opportunities in the field of project management are growing. The Project Management Institute (PMI) published research in 2017 titled: Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017-2027. It found that "Future demand for Project Manager was growing faster than demand for workers in other occupations. This analysis also estimated that project-related jobs would number 52.4 million by 2020. By early 2017, the number of project management jobs had already reached almost 66 million, exceeding that original projection." This research estimates that 2.2 million new project roles will be created each year through 2027. According to PMI research, the career is rewarding financially with projected salaries of over $100,000.00 per year. A project professional can have a very rewarding career. Path to Becoming a Project Professional What is the best path to project management professional positions? There are numerous entry points into project management positions and all can lead to a very rewarding and successful career. The paths can include completing a degree in project management, on the job experience, becoming certified through a project management organization, promotion to the position, and many other ways. The necessary skill set is often developed by on the job experience. The skill set includes leadership, technical project management, organization and business knowledge. These skills are essential in any career path you pursue. All of us aspire to become world class in our career, find joy in our career and add value. Below are six points I have found will help you find fulfillment and joy in your life and your career. • Find time to exercise each week. Exercise needs to become part of your life over and every week. Health is absolutely essential for joy in your life and career. You may have heard the expression: "Those who do not make time for exercise, need to make time for illness later." I cannot emphasize enough the importance of finding exercise activities you enjoy each week. I love walking and walk three miles a day, in the summer, fall, winter, and spring. I also do other exercises as fit into my schedule. • Small wins are important and matter. Life is an evolution. What we do every day is more important than what we do once a year that might be at a big event. It is the small daily innovations and improvements that lead us to become world class. What we do each day sets us up for the habit of improvement that can then lead to stunning results. Build daily habits for a life happiness and fulfillment. • Focus on the long game, not the short game. What you need to focus on is your mindset, your capability over time and your acumen for long term success. Develop yourself so when you become successful, you can sustain that success over decades. As you become more and more successful, work harder than ever, learn more than ever and become even more passionate about your career. Aim to become legendary