The Project Leadership EXCELLENCE 42
Revision, 27 October 2014

What follows is a slightly revised version of the Project Leadership Excellence 42 list from my presentation last week to the PMI Leadership Institute confab. We have also attached this list in both PDF and PowerPoint formats.

1. Politics as nuisance-distraction vs. “Politics Is Life. RELISH It.”
2. IQ > EQ vs. EQ > IQ.
3. Buttoned down to a fault vs. “I am a dispenser of enthusiasm.”—Ben Zander
4. “We don’t have time for niceties” vs. CIVILITY. ALWAYS.
5. “There’s always some damn thing” vs. Live for the madness per se.
6. “This is a time of enormous change, which must be reflected in our work” vs. “The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.”—Albert Bartlett
7. Linearity/“waterfall” vs. Non-linearity/circularity/high tempo-lightning fast “O.O.D.A. Loop”/agile.
8. Step-at-a-time vs. “Demo or die”/“Serious Play”/“Ready. Fire. Aim.”
9. Optimistic-or-bust vs. UNDER-promise or bust.
10. In the office vs. Out of the Office/NO OFFICE.
11. Nose to the grindstone vs. “This is a blast—as cool as it gets.”
12. Meetings as agony vs. MEETINGS AS LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY #1.
13. Small leadership circle vs. Inclusive leadership circle.
14. Formal customer-vendor relationships vs. “No barriers”-fully integrated partnership with customers-vendors.
15. No time to waste, isolation is the norm vs. welcome to the Age of SOCIAL BUSINESS.
16. Information as needed vs. WILDLY “over”-communicate with EVERYONE.
17. Confidentiality often necessary vs. Confidentiality 99% nonsense/Inform everyone of everything.
18. Email/IM vs. FACE-TO-FACE/frequent-flyer miles.
19. Over-scheduled vs. 50% unscheduled time.
20. Latest tech vs. Paper checklist.
21. Lunch with colleagues/Lunch as respite vs. LUNCH as #1 Networking Opportunity.
22. Suck UP for Success vs. Suck DOWN for Success.
23. Fend off enemies vs. Recruit and nurture ALLIES ALLIES ALLIES.
24. Silos are inevitable vs. INTENSIVELY MANAGED “XFX”/Cross-Functional eXcellence.
25. Not our fault vs. WILDLY over-respond to screw-ups/Apology as Relationship Building Mainstay.
26. Recognition-as-deserved vs. Constant recognition, especially for “little stuff”/Celebrate-every-damn-milestone-imaginable, make ’em up if need be/“BIG MO” rules.
27. Talk vs. LISTEN/Listening-as-Strategic Tool #1.
28. “Here’s the deal” vs. “WHAT DO YOU THINK?”
29. “We want people who know what they are doing” vs. “We want people with an insatiable thirst for growth.”
30. If we hire good folks, little need for training vs. Training = Investment #1 (Even on a BRIEF project).
31. Noisy vs. Quiet (Introverts are probably under-represented on your team—fix it).
32. “Millennials are different” vs. Millennials want stuff smart “people-1st companies” (e.g., Virgin, Southwest) have been giving non-millennials for decades.
33. Supervisors are 1st and foremost paid to “keep on top of things” vs. Supervisors are in the “people development business.”
34. Bosses aim to “help people be successful” vs. Bosses help people GROW. (2014: “Grow or die.”) (Holds on even BRIEF projects.)

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LEADER/CORPORATE MANDATE #1 2014: Your principal moral obligation as a leader is to develop the skillset, “soft” and “hard,” of every one of the people in your charge (temporary as well as semi-permanent) to the maximum extent of your abilities. The good news: This is also the #1 mid- to long-term … profit maximization strategy!

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35. Lieutenants & captains & majors vs. Sergeants, sergeants, sergeants.
36. “Gender balance” an important goal vs. Women are the best leaders. (And usually primary end-users.)
37. Concentration/“no nonsense” vs. Daydreaming/READING/ “Freak Fridays.”
38. Kaizen vs. WOW-ification/“Insanely great.”
39. Design is important vs. “You know a design is good when you want to lick it.”—Steve Jobs (Design supremacy/Market Cap: Apple > Exxon.)
40. Minimize “TGWs”/Things Gone Wrong vs. Maximize TGRs/Things Gone Right.
41. Make a damn good product vs. Good product PLUS greatly enhance the (transformative) “INTEGRATED SERVICES ENVELOPE.”
42. “Good work” vs. … EXCELLENCE!

Tom Peters posted this on October 27, 2014, in Leadership.
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