Introduction
The average undergraduate student uses a simple personal computer costing hundreds of dollars while a modern navy destroyers use a complex computer worth millions of dollars, but both operate under the same principle. Similarly, modern project management concepts and theories have been adopted to undertake the small SME project just as they are used to undertake massive global projects by multinationals (Turner, 2016). A computer is simply a motley collection of bits and parts brought to harmony and singular intent by a singular software component called the operating system. Similarly, a team that undertakes a project is a motley collection of individuals with different personal and professional prerequisites brought together to harmony and singular intent by the leader. This simple analogy reflects just how important leadership is to project management and the overall management of the organization even as it explains why leadership is taking prominence over management in modern leadership. This research paper delves into a modern leadership and how to balance between being focused and being malleable to achieve project success.
The Leader versus the Manager
Leadership is a relatively new concept to entrepreneurship as it had traditionally been relegated to political and public service. Management was the principal focus in entrepreneurship where the manager would juggle and control all available resources to come up with a profit (Hornstein, 2015). Among these resources was the human resource, which was juggled along with the rest of the resources under the concept of personnel management. Managers would try to eke out as much service as possible from the wages paid out to ensure that the business made a profit. This traditional approach changed when it was realized that the relationship between the volume of work and profits was not simply direct. A few smart, dedicated, well placed, harmonious, and motivated hands can create more profits than many demotivated, ill-fitted, and unharmonious hands (Hornstein, 2015). For example, Apple, with 123,000 pairs of hands managed a net income of over US$48 billion in 2017 which compares to Walmart’s slightly over US$20 billion made using over 2.3 million pairs of hands. The difference between leadership and management can be directly related to the exponential difference between the ratios of employees to profits.
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According to Nayar (2014 ), there are three simple ways of telling the difference between a manager and a leader. The first main difference is that leaders create value for the team while managers just count and factor in the value of the team. To the manager, the team is a key resource in the project that whose contribution is necessary for its success. The manager will evaluate how much value the team is bringing into the project then try to combine it with the value of other resources such as outsourced labor, finances, or machinery. The leader on the other part focuses on the team and seeks to understand how to prepare, organize, and lead the team to create the highest possible value for the organization out of the team.
Secondly, leaders deal with circles of influence while managers deal with circles of power. The manager comes to the team with a carrot and a stick as a source of power and seeks to use one of the two or both to get the best out of the team. A manager is a boss who understands that employees operate at the pleasure of the company and are paid to do so. To the manager, the team members should either shape up or be shipped out. The leader creates a relationship with the employees to influence them towards cohesiveness and productivity. To the leader, the opinion the followers is important because the leader seeks to influence without having to compel. A manager, therefore, seeks to make the employee do something while the leader seeks to influence the employee to want to do something (Nayar, 2014).
Finally, the leader's focus is to lead people towards the success of the organization while the manager’s focus is to manage work in order to achieve the goal (Nayar, 2014). Using the example of a journey the leader will tell the team where they are supposed to go, why they are going there and why the journey is important to the overall success of the company. The manager, on the other hand, will give the team a map with the coordinates of the destination along with the expected time of arrival. The leader’s team will be working towards the success of the organization while the manager’s team will be working to beat the clock. One team will ensure that everything is done right and might even include some innovation while the other might even cut corners to beat the clock.
Dealing with Higher Level Management from the Perspective of a Leader
The primary focus of the instant research paper is to understand how to be an effective leader in project management within a larger organization such as a large hospital. From the analysis of the differences between a leader and manager, any project leader will normally work and operate under a set of managers. The managers will be seeking to factor in the input of the team that the project leader leads towards the achievement of the overall strategic plan of the organization (Hornstein, 2015). To these managers, therefore, the team is a means to an end, a tool acquired to accomplish a duty. On the other hand, there is the team which comprises of human beings who have been brought together to accomplish the project. More often than not, the team does not have a very positive opinion of management and vice versa (Woods, 2013). Between the two groups lies the team leader who has to act as a bridge between the team and higher-level management. Failure to handle the relationship between the team and top management will create problems for the team leader from both sides (Hornstein, 2015). The top management may decline to meet the needs of the team and more importantly the needs of the team members. Both failures would affect the motivation and capacity of the team to succeed in the project (Woods, 2013).
A leader who always seems to favor the employees will lose favor with the management hence affect the team. On the other hand, a leader who seems to be a champion of the management will lose influence among the team member, which will adversely affect the project. A great leader can be deemed to be a champion of the management by the managers and a champion of team members by the team (Turner, 2016). The ability to achieve this is part of the enigma that is a great leader as it includes the ability to be different things, at different times without using wiry guile of falsehood. Among the keys to being able to deal with higher management is employing proper communication skills. The communication skills referred to here are not what to communicate but rather how to communicate. A good leader is able to present the needs of the team and the team members in a way that meeting them will seem beneficial to management (Turner, 2016). The second crucial communication skill is knowing when to communicate based on the nature of the message. For example, a prompt response is only right when it is an expected response. Management will often come up with inappropriate ideas, timelines or instructions that either may not work or will demotivate the team. Telling top management that the ideas are wrong there and then might create acrimony but declining to indicate that the ideas are wrong will also be bad leadership. Taking some time to think the ideas through then respond, would be the right communication timing (Woods, 2013). Being able to properly deal with management is, as reflected above one of the fundamental prerequisites of a good leader.
The approach to Developing the Project
One of the fundamental elements of a successful project is a good project plan. From a human resource management perspective, a managerial approach is where the project plan is developed and the team members briefed on their respective roles in the project. However , the leadership-based project management approach begins right at the development stage (Shirley, 2011). A good leader leads the team towards the success of the project and will, therefore, involve the team members in every step of project development. Instead of coming up with a plan and dishing out duties, a good leader will assemble a team with the right skill-set combination then brief them on the project idea and its relationship with the strategic plan of the organization. The members will then understand what the project is about and what role it plays in the success of the entire organization. The team will then collectively brainstorm with the help of outside experts where necessary to come up with the project plan. Some of the best innovatively ideas on how to efficiently carry out duties have been developed by motivated employees in such brainstorming sessions (Shirley, 2011).
Further, the team best understands their strengths and weaknesses and will be able to come up with plausible timelines while considering the timelines of the strategic plan of the organization (DuBois et al, 2015). The collective planning stage will lead to a collective implementation stage where decisions are made together but under a firm leadership hand. Monitoring and evaluation should also be a joint process with the team agreeing on how to handle contingencies towards a successful overall project. Among the fundamental concepts behind this approach is seeking to elicit motivation from the team members by causing them to feel that they own the project (Shirley, 2011). The moment the employees feel that they own the project they will not only root for its success but also go out of their way to ensure that the project succeeds by working harder, smarter, and in harmony.
Personal Management Style: Charismatic Leadership
Understanding personal management styles from a perspective of leadership versus management take a careful evaluation of the self and an understanding of leadership theories and concepts. Upon careful evaluation of personal skills, abilities, and characteristics , the management style that comes to mind is charismatic leadership. Charismatic leadership is the form of leadership that is dominated by positive charm and influence derived from the personality and character of the leader (DuBois et al., 2015). Charismatic leadership is also closely related to transformational leadership as the charismatic leader does not just look to change how team members operate but also their character. The primary difference between transformational leading and charismatic leadership is that the former only lasts for an episode while the latter is constant (Shirley, 2011). The project management approach indicated above is also based on the general concept of charismatic leadership where the leader transforms the followers into replicas of the leader, then guides them to the achievement of a successful project.
Among the skills, I believe I have to enable the charismatic leadership approach is the ability to communicate. Charisma is not just having the right message to communicate at all times but about being able to communicate that message in the right way, at the right place and at the right time. I have been able to develop this skill as a life-skill and as an element of entrepreneurship. Honesty and assertiveness are important components of proper communication under charismatic leadership (DuBois et al., 2015). However, being honest and assertive must be tempered with the right technique to elicit a positive outcome such as positive change without a negative outcome such as resentment. The ability to speak and be heard is also an element of charismatic leadership that creates influence. Some researchers argue that the kind of charisma that results in influence is inborn while others argue that it is developed. One of the most studied charismatic leaders of the modern times is Winston Churchill, credited with leading Britain to victory in World War II through charismatic leadership. However, in World War I Churchill was fired as First Lord of the Admiralty for several disasters in the Mediterranean Sea. Charismatic leadership skills can, therefore, also be developed over time, based on Churchill’s example.
Ways I Need to Change to become an Effective Project Manager
A good leader is an enigma who is able to balance between different strategies, approaches, and techniques. Having charismatic leadership alone cannot result in the right leadership set of skills to succeed in project management. Several other leadership concepts must be included to create a well-rounded leader (Shirley, 2011). Over and above charismatic leadership skills, I would need to adopt the following leadership concepts and their respective skills to balance them constantly as and when the situation demands, during project management.
Transformational Leadership
Project management involves dealing with different teams at different times, which may or may not comprise of the same individuals hence the necessity of transformation leadership. By definition, transformational leadership is creating an environment of intellectual simulation so that team members can ingest the vision and strategic plan of the organization (DuBois et al., 2015). All the objectives of the project and the way they are to be accomplished must be aligned with the organization’s vision and strategic plan. The transformational leader is more of a coach than a team captain.
Democratic Leadership
The strategic approach to project management cannot succeed without an element of democratic leadership. Democratic leadership can be defined as the kind of leadership that allows followers to make suggestions and have substantial control over some elements of the project. A democratic leader must not feel threatened when bettered by the followers.
Bureaucratic Leadership
Bureaucratic leadership is a strict form of leadership that almost seems more of management than leadership as the leader ensures that everything is done by the book. The context of the instant research paper is project management in an organization related to healthcare. Some mistakes or elements of negligence in such projects can lead to loss of life and human suffering down the line hence the need for bureaucratic leadership (Shirley, 2011).
Conclusion
Just as with computers, the primary concept of leadership is singular but is applied differently and in different measures depending on the situation. Further, a good leader requires an exponentially wide variety of skills that need to be utilized from time to time depending on the situation and who the leader is dealing with. A great project manager must be an expert in dealing with top managers to get the team and team members what they need. Contemporaneously, the leader must be able to deal with the team members to achieve and exceed the expectations of the top management. The primary tools of the good leader are communication and influence to motivate the team then guide it towards successful project planning and implementation. To achieve this, more than one approach to leadership is necessary thus, a good leader must have a salad of several leadership techniques and skills.
References
DuBois, M., Hanlon, J., Koch, J., Nyatuga, B., & Kerr, N. (2015). Leadership styles of effective project managers: Techniques and traits to lead high-performance teams. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance, and Marketing , 7 (1), 30-46
Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management , 33 (2), 291-298
Nayar, V. (2014, August 07). Three differences between managers and leaders. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from https://hbr.org/2013/08/tests-of-a-leadership-transiti
Shirley, D. (2011). Project management for healthcare. Boca Raton, FL. CRC Press
Turner, R. (2016). Gower handbook of project management . New York: Routledge
Woods, L. (2013, April 29). Bridge the gap between employee needs & employer expectations. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from http://www.managingamericans.com/BlogFeed/Professional-Development/Bridge-The-Gap-Between-Employee-Needs-Employer-Expectations.htm
