A good project manager does more than simply delegate and track tasks, they must possess some true leadership skills to be successful. Here are four skills to think about when hiring a project manager or anyone in a leadership role.
- Filtering Skills
Knowing what is important and what to ignore comes from experience. Even without direct experience in a specific expertise, it is important to have trusted advisors that can be relied upon to identify priorities and those things that are time wasters.
- Consensus-building Skills
Knowing how to lobby and campaign for new ideas is a sign of a true leader. A true leader is not interested in getting credit of the idea, they are interested in getting things done. They plant seeds, they create a buzz about their ideas – their ideas catch on and are presented by other people and groups. They are able to work through objections and navigate through obstacles along the way.
- Listening and Questioning Skills
Leading a team requires you to understand the value of each team member and the contributions of their team and stakeholders. They take the time to listen to alternate ideas, to the objections and concerns. Taking the objections and concerns seriously and make sure that all of the voices are heard.
- Relationship Cultivating Skills
Having an extensive network inside and outside the organization is critical to a leader’s success. Gaining consensus is sometimes a matter of knowing the right person to ask or the right way to present it. A leader relies on their resources; formal and informal – it is not possible to know everything.
