Leadership for Project Management Thomas Saupp

Department of Industrial Engineering and Management University of Technology Karlsruhe Thomas.Saupp@estiem.org

Abstract: In this paper the various aspects of leadership will be described in the scientific context of project management. Focussing on the function of successful leadership, it will be explained, how to organise projects, how to guide through effective communication and which responsibilities a leader has to carry. Keywords: Organization, Communication, Responsibility, Simplification, Feedback

1. Introduction: How to define leadership?

2. Organization 2.1. Importance of the leading person 2.2. Leading while using an approach for problem solving 2.3. Styles of Leadership 2.4. Finding a structure of steps and processes

3. Communication and Guidance 3.1. Initial Input and Motivation 3.2. Simplification 3.3. Diversity and Culture 3.4. Emotional Aspects 3.5. Reflection and Feedback

4. Responsibility 4.1. Staff 4.2. Company

5. Conclusion:

1. Introduction: How to define Leadership

If we try do define the term Leadership, we might find it quite difficult to include all relevant aspects which cross our mind, into one or two sentences. Simply speaking Leadership could be seen as the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members.1 In my opinion, the given description is quite useful, but there are still some important points missing. Thus, I would like to add the following lines to round up the explanation: Leadership can be seen as the summation of practised manners which is able to lead a large organization (mostly a complex system) target-orientated and holistic to a permanent peak performance. Moreover it should be able to encourage the team members to overcome resistances, chance fundamental changes in the interest of the sustainability. Leadership has also to be capable of initiating the necessary transformation process of the organization by taking all of its elements (strategy, culture, structure, information, communication, performance and results) into consideration and to consequently foster this decision. Lastly it is absolutely necessary to stimulate all the people within the organization mentally and emotionally to establish connectivity beyond all ranks of hierarchy.

Keeping those aspects in mind you understand that leadership strongly depends on fundamental, personal and naturals features. Moreover the realization of leadership could only successfully work out in a team and with an adequate supporting architecture. Considering these different characteristics, leadership differs from management in terms of their aim. Leadership especially for project management follows a path which mostly starts with a vision, goes on with communication between the team members, and considers the meaning of the work and results. And it should always be exciting for everybody integrated to the project team. That is basically the best way to reach changes, innovation and creative solutions of various tasks.

2. Organization 2.1. Importance of the leading Person

When the leader passes over all alike, not making a distinction, then the endeavours of those who are capable of exertion are entirely lost.2 Getting the meaning of only these two lines is the main information we have always to keep in mind when leading a team. Good leaders are made not born. If we have the desire and willpower, we can become effective leaders by developing through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. To inspire our workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things we must be, know, and do. These features do not come naturally, but are acquired through continuous work and study. Good leaders are constantly working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are not resting on their laurels. On the following I will list some essential features, a leader has to show. As a matter of fact, most of them came up during my in-between presentation at SAC. Leaders have to possess organisational skills, such as the ability to solve conflicts, being communicative and listening to the team-members. Moreover it is necessary, that a leading person can patently manage people of the team in a very tolerant and self-confident way. Keeping these characteristics in mind, a project-leader also has to work target-orientated. Accordingly he or she must be firstly very decisive, in order to life out the driving force of the project and secondly always has to keep the overview in such an innovative process. Leaders carry out this progression by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, their competences and skills. Although our position as managers, supervisors and finally leaders gives us the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organization, thus power alone does not make you a leader. It simply makes you the boss. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to collectively achieve high goals, rather than simply bossing people around. When a person is deciding if he/she respects us as leaders he/she does not think about your attributes, rather, we will be observed what we do, so that he/she can know who we really are. Eventually this observation has the purpose to find out, whether the leading person is trustworthy or only a self serving individual who misuses his/her authority to enlarge the own

advantage like getting promoted. To give an example, self serving leaders are not effective since their inferiors only obey to their order but do not follow them. Thus a basis of good leadership is honourable character and selfless service to our team. In our employees' eyes, leadership is all we can do to affect the objectives of the project we manage. In order to reach goals, which is quite difficult in most projects, we as respected leaders have to concentrate on what we are (such as beliefs and character), what we know (such as job, tasks, and human nature) and what we do (such as implementing, motivating and providing direction).

2.2. Leading while using an approach for problem solving

Due to the fact, that I gathered quite a lot of experiences by working on case studies about various topics, I would like to transfer these into the context of project management. Usually, the team leaders get clear objectives directly from their superiors then have to build a team and consequently start to work. Since there have always been and will be predefined deadlines at which the successful result of the project have to be visible, leaders have no time to loose. In order to keep the theoretical aspects simple, I will explain the process of solving a problem, which is now to be seen equally to managing a project, by the means of a diagram:
Problem Solution Method Tasks of the Leader

Motivate Communicate Identify problems Lead the Discussion Possible Alternative Lead to a solution Selection of Best Alternative Keep the Motivation Implementation Coordinate Feedback Feedback Evaluation

Figure 1: Problem solution method adapted to project management

At the left side of the diagram we can see, how the usual way for solving a case study problem looks like. A team should firstly collect all necessary information about the topic and thus identify the main problem(s) which occur at the present situation. Secondly everybody is expected to contribute in listing some possible alternatives for solving the problem. To reach this we mainly use brainstorming. Only by reading the last two sentences, we should recognize, that a leading person is needed, to influence the people in a motivating way to come up with a large number of ideas and to encourage discussions about advantages and disadvantages of those alternatives. Influences by the leader are visualized in orange arrows. Keeping in mind that every team member should work on the project in a target-orientated way, guidance to finally agree on the most appropriate solution to the initial problem is absolutely essential. A project is only successfully carried out, if the team realizes the implementation of the best alternative as third step. A leaders task would be to keep everybody highly motivated, since the success of the project might lie directly ahead of the team. As a last point, which is also significant for reaching in-between steps, giving detailed feedback to each team member is one of the key elements to be considered and to be coordinated by the leader.

2.3. Styles of Leadership

Figure 3: Styles of leadership3

Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.4 Basically there are three different styles of leadership. The Authoritarian or autocratic style of leadership, Participative or Democratic leadership and lastly Free Reign or delegative. Although good leaders use all styles, most probably preferring one of them, bad leaders tend to stick to only one style, because they miss competences to cope with a different style. Authoritarian (autocratic) style This style is used when we as leaders would simply tell our employees what we want to be done and how it has to be made, without admitting the advice coming from our followers. Some of the appropriate conditions to use such a type of leadership are when we have all the information to solve the problem or to finish the project, we are short off time, and our employees are well motivated. Some people tend to think of this style as a vehicle for yelling, using demeaning language, and leading by threats and abusing power. This is not the authoritarian style. More likely it is an abusive, unprofessional style called bossing people around. This kind of leadership has definitely no place in a good leaders repertoire. The authoritarian style should normally only be used on rare occasions. If we have the time and want to gain more commitment and motivation from our employees, then we should use the participative style.

Participative (democratic) style

This type of style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process. However, the leader maintains the final decision carrying out his/her authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness; rather it is a sign of strength that our employees will respect. Moreover this type of leadership is normally used when we have only one part of information and our employees have other parts. Note that a leader is not expected to know everything this is why we integrate knowledgeable and skilful employees in our project team. Using this

style is of mutual benefit allows them to share the common vision and enables us to make better decisions.

Delegative (free reign) style

In this style, the leader allows the employees to make the decision. However, the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made and consequently for the result of the project. This type is used when employees are able to analyze the situation and determine what needs to be done and how to do it one their own. The leading person cannot do everything! He/She must set priorities and delegate certain tasks. Thus, being delegative is not a style to use in order to blame others when things go wrong, rather this style is to be used when we have the full trust and confidence in our inferiors. For a quick overview, please have a look at the scheme below.

Figure 4: Extent of control5 To conclude we should not be afraid to use it, however, we should use it wisely!

2.4. Finding a structure of steps and processes

Large scales interdependences have made our todays world more complex and chaotic than ever before. Even small changes in few of initial parameters at the beginning of a project can make the result of it totally worthless. (For further information, please refer to Chaos Theory)

Consequently, leaders need to have clear thoughts about how to structure work processes. As a basic rule, a leading person has to keep in mind: If projects seem to be too complicated to comply with, divide them into small pieces or steps. Thus we can easily keep an overview and check whether our team has reached those small steps. If not leaders can directly interfere or give advice to get the team back on track again.

Figure 2: Cognitive and rhetorical factors6 We might already think about the significance of communication which is indeed very important. However also the decision on a useful structure strongly depends on the extent of communication skills a project manager shows. More detailed, we have to take rhetorical concerns in account as well as balancing factors. Due to the chosen style of leadership the audience is more or less involved in creative processes during the project. Depending on the behaviour of the group and at last essentially affected by a leaders credibility, we have to select either a direct structure or an indirect one.

Patterns of reasoning and argumentation: The ways in which people from different cultures structure an argument and reach conclusions can vary significantly. U.S. businesses, for example, tend to favour "direct structure," in which the main point or suggestion appears first, then followed by sub arguments and evidence. In other cultures, the use of direct structure may seem offhand or even rude; in these cultures, the main point may be ambiguous, buried, or never even stated. In the West, arguments are to be supported by objective, neutral, often quantifiable facts. Individuals in other cultures believe, information cannot be separated from the speaker or

writer, and, therefore they tend to rely rather on intuition or emotion to substantiate ideas. At that point of thinking, a careful reader might guess, which topic comes next. As we have just seen, even decisions on a structure for project management rely on communication. 3. Communication and Guidance 3.1. Initial Input and Motivation

Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." Peter F. Drucker No matter how we define leadership, it typically involves an element of vision - except in cases of involuntary leadership and often in cases of traditional leadership. A vision provides direction to the influence process of working in a project. A leader (or group of leaders) can have one or more visions of the future to aid them to move a group successfully towards this goal. A vision, for effectiveness, should describe the future state, which is defined as result of the project. Therefore it has to sound credible and preferable compared to the present situation. Being between the current state and a future optimum, a vision must appear desirable enough to energize followers. Considering various cultural differences, we as leaders should try to succeed in speaking to followers at an emotional or spiritual level since energizing effects are mainly driven by emotions and feelings. For getting a clear overview, how the cycle of working on a project looks like, and at which point the initial input takes place, have a look at the diagram below:

put Initial In

Activity

Concrete Experience

Next Input

Testing Implementation

Observation Reflection

Processing Phase

Abstract Concepts Generalisations

General Phase

Regarding to this scheme, we can easily see, how certain steps in the work on a project repeat themselves in the sense of a cycle. The leader shares his/her vision in order to motivate team members to become active and also tells about some of his/her own ideas. That is to be understood by giving initial input into the cycle of progress. Numerous techniques can support this process, including symbolic actions, leading by example, using incentives or even penalties. 3.2. Simplification Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand." General Colin Powell

In principle, simplification means for the leader to be able to state objectives as clearly and understandable as possible. Thriving leadership begins with a vision, which reflects the shared purpose. The ability to articulate a clear, practical, transformational vision which answers the question, "Where are we headed?" is absolutely essential for the success of the project. Stories teach this idea the stonecutters tale: The first stonecutter says, "Im cutting stone," the second says, "Im carving a cornerstone," but the third says, "Im building a concert hall."

The third has a vision. For any team, discussing goals, objectives and visions unifies the members and thus is a basis for success.

3.3. Diversity and Culture The last revolution in Sweden disposed of King Gustav IV, whom they considered incompetent, and surprising invited Jean Baptise Bernadotte, a French general who served under Napoleon, to become their new King. He accepted and became King Charles XIV. Soon afterwards he needed to address the Swedish Parliament. Wanting to be acknowledged, he tried to do the speech in Swedish. His broken language amused the Swedes so much that they roared with laughter. The Frenchman was so upset that he never tried to speak Swedish again. Bernadotte was a famous victim of what we call culture shock - never in his French education and military career had he experienced subordinates who laughed at the mistakes of their superior. This story has a happy ending as he was considered very good, he ruled the country as a highly respected constitutional monarch until 1844 (his descendants still occupy the Swedish throne). This little example impressively shows that leaders must be able to cope with features or habits of team members which have a different cultural background, as their own. Especially people of Mediterranean origin, tend to be active at different day-times as people from middle or northern Europe. Thus it might be difficult for us, to reach an agreement about working sessions with every team member. 3.4. Emotional Aspects

People will forget what we said. People will forget what we did. But people will never forget how we made them feel. Recent brain research revealed that unlike the mutual exclusivity of earlier constructs which oppose passion vs. reason, affect vs. cognition we now understand that human mind is a seamless blend of thinking and feeling (Damasio, 1997; Pert, 1998). Older polarized theories have dominated our sense of ourselves too long during the last centuries. According to the usage to convey messages which is indeed very popular for commercials especially for cars leaders should be totally convinced of their vision. However they must

always remain trustworthy and reliable in order to emotionalize their project team and persuade them to follow. Bearing in mind, how large the effect of emotions can be, leading persons must never stop to keep up their emotions concerning the common vision. In contrast to these aspects we should also be able to lead discussions which are largely affected by the emotionality of the people involved. As I experienced it by myself at SAC, it is quite a difficult task, to calm down clashing mentalities of team members. A possible way out of this crisis could be, to elect negotiators, who should be in charge of leading the discussion back in track, so that everybody can easily join again.

3.5. Reflection and Feedback By providing feedback, we can enhance the motivating effect of already settled project goals. If we have another look at the figure 1, we see that methods for problem solving mostly look like a cycle. This cycle is to be closed by reflecting about the steps of the project, which have already been reached. As leaders we are responsible to give our feedback in an encouraging way that is capable to motivate our team members. Moreover they should also give share feedback amongst each other and thus get to know everybody. They should even be stimulated to work harder to finally achieve a successful end of the project. In order to keep our staff motivated we must shape the feedback process as effective as possible so that everybody can learn from his own mistakes or better, form those of the other team members. Consequently a leader must ensure that employees are moved to do a good job and thus be able to perform their tasks correctly. As a next step, we should keep their attention by actively involve their minds and emotions in the reflection and learning process. Leaders must keep them participating through active practice of the skill or through discussion. For several reasons we cannot keep their attention with a long lecture. Normally, people pay attention for a short time - less than 30 minutes. They need to know what is being taught or their minds will wander off the discussion topic. If we present for an hour, only very little will be remembered. Instead, we should give a brief lecture (less than 10 minutes), demonstrate and then have them practice. Furthermore out task will be to provide feedback throughout the practice period until they can do the rest on their own. If it is a large complicated task, then it is always a good approach to break it down into short learning steps and therefore ensure the success of our project.

4. Responsibility As Project Managers we are the persons who have the overall responsibility for the successful planning and execution of any assignment. However a successful project delivery also requires that the team participates in every step towards to completion. As I already mentioned, it is necessary to have a defined structure with a clear understanding of the authority given and the responsibilities which are needed for accomplishment of the project activities. Thus leaders are in charge of setting well-defined rules and responsibilities for each team member. 4.1. Staff Considering the composition of the project team leaders have to select the people according to their knowledge and experiences as well as according to the competences needed for working on the assignment. Therefore we should include a mix of people which could even go beyond the requirements for performing specific tasks. In detail, we must cover following competences: project management (mostly our task), data (-base) administration, data communication, documentation, system testing, documentation, training, system architecture etc. Practically speaking, we should be able to choose the right people to join our project team. Having the right people is not enough at all. We must be tolerant towards their attitude as well as to their mode of operation. Everybody should be treated in the same way and no one is to be preferred because of his background of culture. Therefore respecting each other and behaving ethically correct is the essential precondition for getting successful.

4.2. Company Since project managers themselves are employed by a company, they bear certain responsibilities towards their superiors. First of all we are accountable of the final delivery of our project since the company usually grants a large budget for its realization. The project manager is the authorized representative on a project and has the responsibility and authority to properly administer the project. He/She reports to, and coordinates with, the area manager unless the region has established a different reporting relationship. Furthermore the project manager is liable, to assure that, every members work is constructed in

accordance with the plans and specifications, is adequately inspected and finally properly documented.

5. Conclusion: The understanding of leadership which has been described in this essay helps a project manager and every team member to concentrate on the same purpose, the same vision and the same goal. Leadership especially for project management can be considered as helping people to discover and use their potential and abilities in a way that satisfies their human nature and needs. Through skilful communication we as leaders have the power to create a healthy, productive and well-structured environment in which everyone can work at its peak performance by also using synergies. Since humans are the most valuable elements of a company they should always be efficiently guided so that nobody gets the feeling of being worthless or being left alone. If we always keep our team highly motivated, it will do its best to reach their sometimes far-reaching visions.

When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!' Lao-tsu

References:

Damasio A., Descartes' Error: Emotion, reason and the human brain. New York: Harper Collins. Pert C., Molecules of Emotion. New York: Scribner.

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadled.html http://www.dof.ca.gov/OTROS/StatewideIT/SIMM/SIMM200/PM1.4%20%20Overview%20 Roles%20and%20Responsibilities.pdf http://theleadership.wordpress.com http://www.oregon.gov

1 2

House, R. J. 2004: page 15 (Hitopadesa ca. 600-1100 AD, Sanskrit Fable From Panchatantra) 3 http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html 4 (U.S. Army Handbook, 1973) 5 http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html 6 http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-975January--IAP--2005/DDD146B5-BF344FA4-9FAB-15E931FF4DDA/0/terryheagney_pre.pdf