Leadership in Project Management - Coursework Example

Running head:LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT __________ ________________________ ________________ Abstract Leadership in project management Project management has been an area where critical managerial inputs are required. Since projects tasks, processes and their sequences of steps are growing complex with heightened budgets and global dimensions there has been a felt need to review an important input to any project management task viz. that of leadership. While a view holds that project managers should assume and nurture leadership roles; it is the view here that management and leadership are two distinct functions and should be developed as such. This paper looks at definition of leadership function in the project management milieu, distinguishes it from the management function, summarizes qualities required of a good leader, explores the various theoretical types of leaderships, maintains specific view of preferred type of leadership and checks for the type of leadership needed for a typical project in information systems. Leadership versus Management A view holds that leaders are people oriented and their main task is to inspire people. Their primary functional output is a change(Veal,2004) and their capabilities are assessed in terms of controlling the process of this change. That is to mould and control change to suit project's objectives. Whereas managers are task and process oriented and their main task is to organize such tasks and processes. Management's main output is task done in target time at target cost. In plain language Management is assigned the task of producing and maintaining a degree of predictability & order(Veal,2004). Leadership on the other hand assumes the function of producing change under a constantly updated schemata of direction and vision. Leadership is the process of motivating others to work to meet specific goals and objectives. Leadership is deliberately causing people-driven actions in a planned fashion for the purpose of accomplishing the leader's agenda. Qualities of a Good Leader Subsequent to identification of role of leadership in project management it is clear that leadership physically comprises of an individual or set of individuals acting on common concert and vision. A set of qualities are generally stated in support of good leadership. Such qualities helps in execution of the agenda of leadership as defined above. These qualities are stated below corresponding to their importance in an information system project: (a) A project leader must have the capability to nurture and develop a vision and a concrete sense of direction in which to lead the team on. He must make the entire team convinced of his stance of an inspired shared vision. At least he should be able to convey his vision to critical members of the project team. "Visionary leaders enable people to feel they have a real stake in the project. They empower people to experience the vision on their own(Barry,Top). Bennis explains about the leaders that "They offer people opportunities to create their own vision, to explore what the vision will mean to their jobs and lives, and to envision their future as part of the vision for the organization," (Bennis, 1997). (b) A project leader is expected to have high level of problem solving skills(Barry,Top). He may share problem-solving responsibilities with the team .As Kouzes says that a leader must have a "fresh, creative response to here-and-now opportunities," and not much concern with how others have performed them. (Kouzes,1987).Thus he would be capable of giving new solutions to complicated problems and lead in dead ends. (c) A project leader must exercise a lot of empathy. There is vast amount of difference between empathy and sympathy(Barry,Top). Although the words rhyme, they, in fact have widely different meanings. According to Norman Paul, in sympathy the subject is principally absorbed in his or her own feelings as they are projected into the object and has little concern for the reality and validity of the object's special experience. Empathy, on the other hand, presupposes the existence of the object as a separate individual, entitled to his or her own feelings, ideas and emotional history (Paul, 1970). Ability to put oneself in other's shoes and appreciate situation from his angle helps critically in any situation analysis. Some views have even expressed the view that more empathy ensures greater identification with the vision of the leader as empathy extended results in empathy received. (d) A project leader must be competent. While technical competence of highest order is not expected of a leader he must nevertheless have a good inkling of the tasks his group members are attending to. Perhaps only then he will be able to nurture a vision. For example until unless the leader understands the net work security lapses in current system he would not be able to source or order newer solutions. Barry has the opinion that,"The most important quality is his ability to lead and complete projects. Past records often serve as an important surrogate of project management competence for a leader. The ability to challenge, inspire, enable, change and modify must be demonstrated if leaders are to be seen as capable and competent "(Barry,Top). Above stated can be considered as core or essential qualities. There are numerous other qualities which contribute to above qualities and to the direct task of applied project management. Some of these are specific to the leader's physical personality and they can be listed as: Integrity/Honesty Intellectually Stimulating Energetic/Enthusiastic Self-Confident/Cool under Pressures Charismatic These traits evidently would further improve the quality of his interactions with the project team in terms of improving communications and setting examples. In addition certain other qualities, stated as under, describe leadership's specific ways of behavior within the project team; Assertive Dominating Motivating A word of caution is in order here. Being assertive does not mean being over aggressive. Assertion must be good enough to allow leader a free movement within project domains so as to quickly preempt potential problems and nip them in bud. Similarly domination has to be only limited to establishing matrix authority for project objectives. Personal challenges must be separated out from professional challenges and dominating quality used for the better only in latter cases. A combination of assertion and domination qualities would help the project leader to delegate tasks and demand their expected executions. A leader with the above qualities is more likely to have a higher success ratio of project management than the one without or lesser degrees of such qualities. Theories of Leadership Literature review suggests that there are several theories or styles of leadership. It must be clarified right away that a project leader must not be over occupied with theories. He must be aware that these are mental constructs and can be used freely by him depending upon the project needs. He need not be fixated to one style or theory. However he can obviously decide to choose one style over other which has been successful given his leadership qualities/traits. Those who accept the verdict, that leaders are born and not made, maintain,"... that there are certain inborn qualities such as initiative, courage, intelligence and humor, which altogether pre-destine a man to be a leader ... the essential pattern is given at birth" (Adler, 1991). Two leadership theories based on this view are the Great man/woman and the Trait theories. The great man/great woman theory, accordingly to Wrightsman, involves its followers believing that major events, both nationally and internationally, are influenced by those persons in power." A sudden act by a great man could, according to this theory, change the fate of the nation" (Wrightsman, 1977). The trait theory expands further on this conjecture, by concentrating on the personal characteristics of the leader. The theory cited traits believed to be qualities of leaders to include all aspects of physical, personality and cognitive factors, including height, intelligence and communication skills. "The research on trait theories of leadership has shown that many other factors are important in determining leader success, and that not everyone who possesses these traits will be a leader" (Adler, 1991) As interest in the trait approach to leadership waned leading to new behaviorist theories. The most widely publicized exponent of this approach was the Managerial Grid, which explained that there, was one best style of leadership, by various combinations of two factors regarding a concern for production and people. The situational approach suggested that the traits required of a leader differed, according to varying situations. To put it simply, the leader was a person who was in the right place at the right time. "Rather than a great man causing a great event to happen, the situational approach claims that great events are the product of historical forces that are gong to happen whether specific leaders are present or not " (Adair, 1984). The interactionist theory proposed that both the characteristics of the individual, and the situation in which the group found itself, accounted for who would become the leader. Resulting from this theory was the view that leaders are both born and made. Thus, one can learn how to become what Cohen has called an "uncrowned leader," a person who exerts influence over others but lacks positional authority (Cohen, 1990). Preferred style of leadership for Information System Project Based on the above theories styles of leaderships have emerged. These styles essentially owe their names to dominance of certain leadership qualities. For instance Autocratic Style (assertion and domination qualities) Consultative/Participative Style (Empathy, delegation, motivation etc qualities).Information system project would involve an entire organization(s) and require a lot of problem solving and designing capabilities. It would essentially involve not only a substantial amount of data but also several people who generate such data as well as those who expect to use it. A high amount of creativity and integrating skills would be expected of the project leader apart from a generous input of his own core competence. Hardware sourcing would require that a leader has a lot of market orientation which may consume substantial time offsite. A lot of interpersonal activities with the clients, vendors and within the project team would be required. Since most information system projects can be broken down into sub projects (modules) a lot of delegation skills with adequate amount of assertion in defining tasks would be required. Leader would also be called upon to coordinate activities of all such sub projects within the matrix defined domination so as to ensure adherence to the critical path. Foregoing indicates that a participative/consultative style of leadership may work well most of the time in such project ,however a good input or shift to authoritative style may be required at critical junctures-says around completion time of nodes of critical path. References Ruffin,Veal. Project Management and Leadership:Equal Partners for Project Success www.asapm.org. 2004. Barry, Timothy R. Top 10 Qualities of A Project Manager. Project Management Article. www.esi-europe.com. Bennis, W. Learning to Lead. MA:Addison-Wesley, 1997. Kouzes, J. M. The Leadership Challenge. CA :Jossey-Bass Publishers. 1987. Norman, Pual. Parental Empathy. Parenthood. NY: Little, Brown. 1970. Adler, R.B. &Adler, R.B. Rodman, G. Understanding Human Communication. Fort Worth, Texas :Holt Rhinehart & Winston. 1991. Wrightsman, L.S. Social Psychology.2nd Edn. Monteray, California :Brooks/Cole. 1977. Adair, J. The Skills of Leadership. England :Gower, Aldershot Kants. 1984. Cohen, W. A. The art of the leader. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1990. Read More