Leadership and vision

0:00Sara: Welcome to Project Management Exam Prep.

0:03This episode is about leadership and vision.

0:06Every project management exam tests it, because a plan does nothing until people

0:11follow it.

0:12Leo: You will learn how the three bodies frame it, how leadership differs from management,

0:17how to share a vision, how to fit your style to the person, and how to lead yourself.

0:22We finish with a drill, so keep a pen ready.

0:25Sara: Let us start with the three lenses. What does IPMA® say?

0:30Leo: IPMA®, the International Project Management Association, sets out its standard in

0:35the Individual Competence Baseline, the ICB4.

0:39Its element on leadership asks you to give direction, coach, use influence well,

0:45and choose a style that fits the situation.

0:47Senior managers, not only your team, should see you as the leader.

0:52Sara: And PMI®?

0:53Leo: PMI®, the Project Management Institute, publishes the PMBOK® Guide,

0:59its guide to the project management body of knowledge.

1:03The eighth edition makes accountable leadership one of its principles.

1:07The outline of PMI®'s Project Management Professional exam, the PMP®,

1:12has two tasks here: develop a common vision, and lead the project team,

1:18which includes choosing a fitting style.

1:20Sara: And APM?

1:23Leo: APM, the Association for Project Management, publishes the APM Body of Knowledge.

1:29Its section on leadership covers creating a vision, leadership of self,

1:34and situational leadership. The syllabus of APM's Project Management Qualification,

1:40the PMQ, asks how leadership affects motivation, why styles change,

1:46and why coaching and emotional intelligence matter.

1:48It also covers your own professional development.

1:53Sara: Where do the words differ?

1:55Leo: In three places. First, leading yourself.

1:59The ICB4 says self-reflection and self-management.

2:03APM says leadership of self. PMI® puts self-awareness and self-management inside

2:09emotional intelligence.

2:11Sara: Second?

2:12Leo: Adapting your style. PMI® and APM call it situational leadership.

2:17The ICB4 names no model.

2:20Sara: And third?

2:21Leo: Servant leadership. PMI® defines it, and ties it to its leadership principle.

2:26APM uses it for teams that manage themselves.

2:29The ICB4 does not use the term.

2:32Sara: What is the core, whichever exam you take?

2:35Leo: Three ideas. One: leadership is not management.

2:39John Kotter, a scholar of leadership, draws the line.

2:43Management keeps a complex system running, with plans, budgets and control.

2:47Leadership sets the direction, brings people behind it, and inspires them to get

2:52there. A project manager needs both. Leadership is not authority either,

2:57and you also lead upwards and outwards.

3:00Sara: Two?

3:01Leo: A shared vision: a short, plain picture of the future the project creates,

3:06and why it matters. Set it with the sponsor and key stakeholders,

3:11and let people question it. Promote it: repeat it, and link big decisions back to

3:16it. Keep it current. When two people read it differently, find out why.

3:21Sara: Does that change in agile work?

3:24Leo: A product vision guides the backlog, and each review asks whether the result moves

3:29towards it. The team decides how to work, so the leader serves more and directs

3:34less.

3:35Sara: And three?

3:36Leo: Servant leadership, which Robert Greenleaf described, means serving the team first.

3:41You meet its needs, remove blocks, and help people grow, while still giving direction.

3:47And Daniel Goleman made emotional intelligence widely known.

3:50The PMBOK® Guide groups it in four areas: self-awareness, self-management,

3:55social awareness and social skills. The first two are about you.

4:00Sara: How do I choose a style? Both model sheets are free in the description.

4:05Leo: Start with two things you give people. Direction means saying what to do,

4:10how and by when, then checking. Support means listening, encouraging,

4:17and giving the person a say. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard described the idea in

4:22nineteen sixty-nine. The labels on screen are our own.

4:26Sara: And then?

4:27Leo: Read the person on this task. How able are they, and how sure and willing?

4:33New to the task, but keen: give clear steps, and check often.

4:38We call that show how. Learning, and less sure: add reasons and encouragement.

4:45Explain why. Able, but still unsure: ask for their plan, and back it.

4:52That is where coaching does most. Able and confident: agree the result,

4:57then give room. Hand over.

4:59Sara: So each person gets one style?

5:01Leo: No. The style belongs to the task. Your best tester may need close support the first

5:08time she presents to senior managers. After a setback, step back in.

5:13Aim to hand over, because it grows people and frees your time.

5:18The ICB4 adds: sometimes hold back your answer, so the team finds its own.

5:23Sara: And leading yourself?

5:25Leo: Our second model is a reflection cycle.

5:28David Kolb described learning as a cycle, from experience to a lesson you try out.

5:35Graham Gibbs built a guided debrief on it that also asks about feelings.

5:40Ours has four questions. What happened?

5:43What did I feel and do: my first reaction, and the value behind it?

5:47Why, and what does it tell me? Ask someone you trust.

5:51And what will I try next time? One small change, with a date to check it.

5:56Sara: Why does the first reaction matter?

5:59Leo: Once you know it, you can choose your behaviour.

6:02A leader who hears bad news as an attack teaches the team to hide problems.

6:08Sara: And time and stress?

6:09Leo: Sort work by importance, not noise. Protect time for important work that is not

6:16yet urgent, such as coaching. Say no to the request, not the person,

6:22and offer an option. APM notes that stress grows when people lack control over time,

6:29ability or resources. Watch for the signs in yourself and your team,

6:34and plan rest. And own your development: find your gaps, and close them.

6:40Sara: How does this change between Mid-level and Senior?

6:44Leo: First, the two levels. They are this series' own labels.

6:47Mid-level means leading moderately complex projects, the level of IPMA® Level C and

6:53PMI®'s PMP® exam. Senior means leading complex projects and people,

6:59the level of IPMA® Level B and of APM's chartered status, Chartered Project Professional.

7:06At Mid-level, you lead your own team well.

7:09Take Parking Permits Online, a city project that moves resident parking permits

7:13online in eight months. The project manager, Anna, leads seven city staff and fits

7:19her style to each person and task. The supplier's team of five does not report to

7:25her, so she leads it through its own lead.

7:28Sara: And at Senior level?

7:29Leo: You lead leaders, across organisations.

7:33Take One City Account, a thirty-month city project that brings fourteen online services

7:39under one login, led by Anna some years later.

7:44Anna leads team leads, an integration partner and nine owners of old systems.

7:51She keeps one vision in front of all of them: one account for every resident.

7:56She coaches the leads instead of solving their problems.

8:00And she paces herself for thirty months, and brings bad news to the steering board

8:04early.

8:06Sara: Now the drill. A city team is moving resident parking permits online,

8:11and go-live in eight weeks cannot move.

8:14The analyst who owns the data migration knows the old database well,

8:18but has never led a migration. She is a week behind and has gone quiet.

8:23The supplier's lead developer offers to take it over.

8:27And two team members ask why paper permits must end at all.

8:31How do you lead here?

8:32Leo: Pause and write your answer. You have forty-five seconds.

9:20Sara: Where do you start?

9:22Leo: With the person. Talk to her alone. She knows the data, but the task is new and

9:28her confidence has dropped. So she needs more direction and more support:

9:33explain why. Do not hand the task over; that takes away her ownership.

9:39Pair her with the developer twice a week, and check in daily.

9:43Set a trigger: if the trial migration fails by next Friday, the developer leads.

9:48Sara: And the question about paper?

9:50Leo: The vision is slipping, so find out why.

9:54Restate it plainly: residents renew from home, and counter staff help those who

9:58need it. Then link each person's task to it.

10:02Sara: What lifts that to Senior?

10:04Leo: The system. Why did nobody see it earlier?

10:08Ask every task owner for confidence, not only progress.

10:12Agree the developer's time with the supplier's lead, under the contract.

10:16Tell the steering group early, with the trade-off: a little risk now,

10:20against a city that can run its own data later.

10:23Sara: How do the exams ask this?

10:26Leo: IPMA®'s written exam asks for open answers; at Level B it may be oral.

10:32IPMA®'s certification also includes an interview, where assessors ask about your

10:36own projects, so note one person whose style you changed.

10:41The PMP® exam uses scenarios, and questions built on a case study or a chart.

10:46APM's PMQ asks for short written answers, such as why a leader may need to change

10:52style.

10:53Sara: Let us recap.

10:55Leo: One. Management runs the means; leadership sets the direction and brings people

11:00with it.

11:01Sara: Two. Set a shared vision with key stakeholders, promote it, and keep it current.

11:07Leo: Three. Fit direction and support to the person and the task: show how,

11:13explain why, back them, hand over.

11:16Sara: Four. Serve the team, and know your own reactions.

11:21Leo: And five. Lead yourself: reflect, protect your time, watch for stress,

11:28and keep learning.

11:29Sara: The two model sheets and the study handout are linked in the description.

11:34Next time: teams, diversity and inclusion.