Rising through the ranks takes more than simply executing projects with aplomb. It also takes leadership skills—and organizations increasingly understand the value of project professionals who have them. Four in 5 project professionals report that leadership skills (along with other people skills, like communication and negotiation) are more important today in their organizations than they were just five years ago, according to PMI's 2018 Pulse of the Profession®.
How can project managers double down on leadership skills—and earn a spot higher up the org chart? A portfolio manager, a chief project officer and a project management office (PMO) director explain what helped open doors for them. By seizing unexpected opportunities, building their strategic chops and gaining experience across sectors, they earned a broader business perspective that set the stage for leadership.
Matrixed Ascent
Ada Osakwe, PMP, portfolio manager, Qantas, Sydney, Australia
It's difficult to develop leadership skills if you wrap yourself in a professional cocoon—staying in the same work role and environment. My growth has come from pushing myself and exploring all pockets of a business to build knowledge and perspective. That's why I try to rotate into different business units every couple of years to keep challenging myself to grow as a leader.
—Ada Osakwe, PMP, Qantas, Sydney, Australia
At Qantas, I have a performance plan that states my career goals and what leadership training I want to complete each year. But I've taken it a step further: I created a one-page professional development plan that I constantly update. I map out what roles would interest me in the next five years and then identify which technical and people skills I think I'll need to improve to achieve those goals. Leadership has been a recurring theme in my development plan for years. I recently took a three-day leadership course through Qantas, where we homed in on the value of stakeholder management and taking people on a journey. During these lessons, I learned how leaders from other departments and business units handle certain issues.
And to make sure I'm actually using and improving the skills I learn, I make it a point to solicit feedback. Recently, I came out of a meeting that I was supposed to lead with an uneasy feeling. So that same day I met with one of the senior stakeholders. He asked, “Do you think you ran that meeting well, as a leader?” And I said, “Honestly, no.” So we broke down what I could have done differently. Those small, impromptu moments of leadership feedback are incredibly helpful.
Anyone who aspires to project management leadership should understand from the start of a career that leadership doesn't happen in isolation. And I've always been driven by that notion. On one of the very first projects at Qantas, I really enjoyed working with the project sponsor. So I've made it a point over the past six years to have coffee with him occasionally. He's turned into an incredible mentor. He'll look at my plans and make suggestions, such as whether I should stay on course, observe someone else's leadership style or talk with someone in a certain business area or prompt me to think bigger.
These types of conversations are powerful: They give me an opportunity to articulate what I'm trying to achieve. Before you know it, you've reached that next career destination and you're thinking: What's next?
C-Suite Climb
Olawepo Ogunniyi, PMP, chief project officer, DropQue, Lagos, Nigeria
Did you have C-suite ambitions early on in your project career?
Yes and no. I knew I wanted to pursue a senior-level leadership role. But I had to adapt to achieve it. I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and had my heart set on the engineering field. My first job just happened to be in a bank. I spent about three years trying to switch to an engineering firm, with no results, before I finally settled down and started looking for opportunities to advance in the banking industry. But I've always had that wider lens on project leadership: I didn't want to simply execute a project well; I wanted to make project management indispensable to business.
—Olawepo Ogunniyi, PMP, DropQue, Lagos, Nigeria
How did you strengthen your leadership abilities as you moved along your career path?
There's no question that continuous learning helped prepare me to take on greater challenges. I earned my Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification in 2008, but I made sure to not stop there. I've taken courses in leadership and business. I completed a master's degree in project management at the University of Lagos. And I started teaching project management courses. All of that helped me stretch myself as a project manager in the banking industry. I also gained key leadership skills when I helped lead a bank-wide asset reconciliation project that was instrumental to the acquisition of another bank with over 400 branches across Nigeria. And I led another project that successfully deployed over 1,500 ATMs across the country. I was able to cite both of those projects when I interviewed for project management leadership positions.
How did your years of being a project manager prepare you for the C-suite?
As a project manager, you're already looking beyond schedule, scope and budget to how the project aligns with organizational strategy and delivers business value. And, by leveraging lessons learned, you have an eye on constant improvements. That's a great springboard for being a project management leader. In my current role, I oversee the alignment of portfolios, programs and projects with strategic goals. And I'm responsible for evaluating project performance against goals. DropQue is a startup tech company aimed at building Africa's first interactive talent exchange powered by artificial intelligence. As a startup, we have to be focused on constant improvement.
What's something you've done that's had a surprising impact on your leadership?
What stands out is volunteering. I've worked on several projects on a pro-bono basis, including projects within my church community. That afforded me the opportunity to expand my network beyond banking and develop contacts and experiences across multiple industries. As a result, I have a much wider perspective on what it means to lead people.
Empowered Learner
Renee Cardella, PMP, PMO director, Press Ganey Associates, Chicago, Illinois, USA
When Renee Cardella started her project management career 15 years ago, innate curiosity and a willingness to ask questions allowed her to thrive in an organization where nobody had formal project management training.
“At the time, I thought learning on the job was enough,” she says.
Taking on great responsibilities in bigger and more complex projects was enough to progress from developer to IT project manager. But when a new CIO at her previous organization created the company's first PMO, in 2013, Ms. Cardella set her sights on project management leadership. “I'm a high-energy person, and I wanted a new direction and new leadership opportunities,” she says.
Pitching herself for the PMO director role was easy enough; the CIO wanted to promote from within and liked Ms. Cardella's leadership ambitions. But she knew that her ad hoc education and on-the-spot experience wouldn't be enough to sustain effective leadership.
So after landing the role, she began studying for her PMP® certification. The move, she says, “would have been so helpful earlier in my career.” Surprisingly enough, one of the earliest leadership challenges she faced was convincing the CIO who had created the PMO that the organization needed to elevate its project management maturity. “We had about 100 people in IT and no formal project managers,” she says. “Business analysts were among those stepping in to manage projects, but they were really struggling because it wasn't their area of expertise.”
Being a project management leader, Ms. Cardella realized, would mean challenging the C-suite to walk the walk on the value of project management. “I had several hard conversations with the CIO and finally convinced him of the importance of having proper project managers with the training and discipline the organization needed,” she says. Taking a stand allowed her to hire four PMP-certified project managers, along with a PMO analyst.
When a PMO director opportunity came up last year at a new organization, Press Ganey, she didn't let an obvious obstacle deter her. While her experience at previous organizations was firmly rooted in waterfall, Press Ganey mainly uses agile approaches. Ms. Cardella won them over by stressing her leadership experience over her technical skills.
“First and foremost, they were looking for a strong leader with good people skills,” she says. “Part of being a project management leader is being willing to stretch yourself, to put in the extra work to learn something new.”
—Renee Cardella, PMP, Press Ganey Associates, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Never Stop Leading
Leadership training doesn't stop when the workday is done. Project management leaders share tips on looking beyond the project field to strengthen leadership skills on the job.
“Seek out other leadership opportunities in unexpected places. For me, that's volunteering with kids. I get a lot of practice dealing with stressful situations and leading large groups. It's so different than project management, but it winds up being complementary as well.”
—Ada Osakwe, PMP
“Never stop learning—and not just about project management. I'd always wanted to get my MBA and strengthen my business skills. And in 2013, I finally decided to go for it.”
—Renee Cardella, PMP
“Make connections beyond project management. My pastor has been a constant source of support as I've grown in my career. And he's been a connector to other networks and leadership opportunities.”
—Olawepo Ogunniyi, PMP