Introduction
The knowledge area of project leadership is a highly critical element of the project manager’s role, for it entails the art and science of guiding teams toward the successful completion of projects. It emphasizes working together toward a common objective to achieve more than any individual working alone. Therefore, project leadership is crucial to a manager’s responsibility, as it helps keep projects on track and within budget. Artful leaders articulate a shared vision and purpose to inspire their colleagues to prioritize the group’s goals over their own. The description of project leadership allows us to articulate the art and science of leadership as ensuring that stakeholders know what needs to be done and that the projects adhere to the business’s goals and objectives, all while keeping the projects on track.
Theoretical Framework
Oprah Winfrey’s Personal Responsibility Leadership
Any person handling a project must know that they should have consistency in responsibility for their lives and for improving the world. A perfect example is Oprah Winfrey, the first person of color to own a production company. Winfrey’s charismatic project leadership enabled her to gain popularity, where she was able to sell her ideas through television shows that reached more than 15 million people daily (Lewis, 2022). She teaches the world that having a project needs specific goals, since hers was to reduce the rate of child and women abuse. Thus, while starting a project, a manager must have a distinct approach to communicating the end game of what they are doing.
Steve Jobs’ Autocratic Leadership
It is essential to have an autocratic leadership style in any project. Steve Jobs, a former Apple CEO, introduced new ideologies to employees, who served as major game-changers until today (Kim, 2020). Jobs believed that he was solely responsible for key decisions in the company, and he wanted a space where his recommendations would be practiced fully (Kim, 2020). Project leaders can emulate Jobs by having moments that demand a straight decision communicated to other teams for trial in whatever is being done. However, presenting the tasks and changes requires a detailed framework that will be instilled in people’s hearts so that they can see the essence and work towards achieving it.
Transformation Leadership
Many different kinds of leadership, both inside and outside of organizations and governments, are involved in leading a project. In the wake of devastating events at the municipal, state, and federal levels, many political leaders have successfully proven their ability to use transformational leadership as a success metric. Transformational leaders have vital qualities of leadership that enable them to succeed in whatever they plan for their projects.
The ability to keep his ‘eyes on the prize’ in the face of continual danger to his person and his people – was essential to realizing his vision of a free and democratic South Africa” (Nathan, Ditchek and Niss, n.d, para. 24). That aspect helped Mandela to leverage the leadership of his people since it connected him with key people who played a key role in the success of his efforts. The main goal for Mandela was to ensure that black people had equal chances in South Africa, and that served as his project.
As a transformational leader, Mandela was humble and modest, which gave other people a chance to participate in making important decisions that improved the country’s state of affairs. One of the central leadership elements that Mandela had was intelligence, which was useful in knowing the appropriate course of action to improve people’s lives (Nathan, Ditchek, and Niss, n.d). Thus, by learning from Mandela, project leaders can emulate the key traits that helped him transition his country from Apartheid rule to a significant democracy.
Transformational leaders empower employees to decide and bring innovative ideas that drive the company’s projects forward. For instance, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, “in his 2015 annual letter to his employee, mentioned empowering his employees by letting them conclude ‘Type 2 decisions’, which the business can reverse if the things go wrong” (Alqassimi and Upadhayay, 2018, para. 9). That shows he accommodates the falls that may be evident within the workforce and do not use the weaknesses to paralyze the business continuity.
According to Thompson (2021), Bezos has been transformational due to his major project, Blue Origin, founded in 2000, due to innovative leadership, which enabled collaborative practice in knowledge and expertise in tech. A transformational leader has to be affiliative, participative, coaching, and visionary. The theoretical framework (see Figure 1) gives the primary characteristics of a transformational leader.
Situational Leadership
The ability to adapt one’s leadership style based on the maturity of one’s team members is an essential aspect of situational leadership, and project managers should take note. When it comes to leading projects, leaders who practice situational leadership have a different approach, which involves depleting many attributes that contribute to the project’s success and boosting instant processes and reflections (Kumar, 2022). These kinds of leaders are primarily concerned with assessing the maturity of their teams in terms of their skills and dedication.
Leadership comes with the mindset of completing a given project for future gains. Leaders in any project must deliver their team or members from any uncertainty and radical change. An example of that kind of leader is Dwight Eisenhower, who participated at the end of the Second World War since he knew that continuous support of the war by the US would sabotage the economic lives of Americans (Hitchcock, 2020). With his ‘gun or butter’ theory, Eisenhower believed the US had gaps in meeting its citizens’ demands, which meant a balance of political beliefs with the interests of ordinary persons in the country (Hitchcock, 2020). Situational leadership is evident when he prioritized the well-being of his people and the general public from a global perspective to ensure essential developments would take place in the absence of warfare.
Leadership in the Military
Members who serve in the military need to adopt leadership styles that incorporate digital perspectives. A recent army leadership style involved Joseph Starcher, a senior US Army member, interacting with soldiers virtually using social media (Brown-Bell, 2022). In this case, Starcher admitted that online platforms such as TikTok and Facebook enable interaction where members of the armed forces can ask questions that may not be easy to ask in person (Brown-Bell, 2022). This leadership style accommodates most Generation Z persons who may be serving in the military and effectively leverages army issues (Brown-Bell, 2022). Project managers can learn from this leadership style and incorporate social media in undertaking project work.
Project Examples
Burj Khalifa Construction Project
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is home to the Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world. The project began in 2004, took six years to finish, and cost $1.5 billion (Abraham, 2019). The project manager used various methods and tools to ensure the project succeeded.
Mohamed Ali Alabbar exemplified transformative leadership qualities in his management style (Kumar, 2022). For instance, Alabbar gave his team a sense of direction and purpose, which inspired and encouraged them to complete the project successfully (Kumar, 2022). He also showed proficiency in stakeholder management by keeping the Dubai government, the project’s financiers, and the construction contractors on the same page and dedicated to the project’s success.
NASA’s Apollo 11 Mission
Other key projects involve project leadership. In 1969, NASA launched Apollo 11, the first human-crewed mission to the moon. According to Joglekar and Hansen (2019), “With over 600 speakers in constant communication ensuring the astronauts’ safety throughout the mission, the success of the Apollo missions can be attributed largely to the MCC crew members” (p.4). Gene Kranz gave all the project members a spirit of collaboration and motivation, emphasizing communication to make the project successful. During significant technical hitches, the leader effectively leveraged the problem through a series of consultative approaches to the members who assisted him in countering the existing predicaments that had brought tension due to safety issues.
Key Skills and Competencies
Leaders who can effectively explain the project’s vision, goals, and objectives to their teams and other stakeholders are indispensable. Project managers may ensure everyone is on the same page and aware of their duties by employing active listening, clear and simple messaging, and two-way communication. This reduces the likelihood of miscommunication and delays, which hurt the project’s outcome. As Figure 2 depicts, project managers need skills to deal with the inevitable conflicts that arise (Duggal, 2023). Problems in project management frequently arise from disagreements over resources, expanding project goals, or clashes of personalities.
To guarantee that everyone involved in a project is pulling in the same direction and is fully invested in its success, influential project directors must also master the art of stakeholder management. Managers of such endeavors must frequently keep all parties informed of the project’s status and address their concerns, questions, and demands as they arise (Duggal, 2023). They should also include relevant stakeholders in the project when necessary to gain their support and enthusiasm. Bernard, Frederick, and Sylvester (2021) articulate that organizational growth must be characterized by knowing how to handle the drawbacks of workforce and managerial perspectives. Leaders must foster organizational growth to facilitate project development to the required capacity, which calls for institutionalizing change during project metrics.
Project managers must be experts in various skills and abilities to lead complex projects successfully. For example, Tuner et al. (2020) say that increased complexity in construction projects requires current technology such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation. In project leadership, a manager must know how to leverage the required tools and utilities for the success of any plan within the project. It means understanding that innovation is the key duty in any project leadership. Throughout a project’s lifecycle, the manager is responsible for spotting potential dangers, evaluating them, and developing plans to deal with them.
In addition, to finish the project on time, project managers must manage their time efficiently. As a result, they need to plan out the project’s timeline, set priorities, and divide roles (Turner et al., 2021). Managers of such endeavors must also keep expenditures under control and manage the project’s financial resources. The project managers are responsible for monitoring spending, planning for additional costs, and making any modifications.
The project’s management must also ensure it meets the quality standards set for it to succeed in its mission. To guarantee that their projects are up to par, managers must establish quality criteria, track progress, and make adjustments as necessary (Turner et al., 2021). Successful project management necessitates several interrelated skill sets, including team development and leadership, risk management, time management, money management, and quality management.
Project managers, including the required personnel, know the parts that must be covered and how they can be undertaken. Being a leader calls for rational decision-making that favors the team and the project goals (Bernard, Frederick, and Sylvester, 2021). That covers issues related to the budget and the desired degree of quality.
Conclusion
A project manager’s leadership is essential to the success of a firm’s or business’s development plan. Success in a project requires a clear vision, influential team members, stakeholder management, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Technical, interpersonal, and strategic abilities, flexibility, and risk management savvy are essential for successful project leadership.
Managers of projects can hone their abilities as leaders by focusing on areas such as communication, conflict resolution, stakeholder management, and the development of critical competencies, including strategic thinking, risk management, and decision-making. Additionally, they can study best practices and case studies from successful project managers and seek mentorship, training, and development opportunities. Adopting a growth mindset and actively seeking feedback and learning opportunities are also crucial for project managers who want to develop into more capable project leaders.
Reference List
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