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Watching our language: Survival Skill #3

by | Jun 9, 2021 | Uncategorized

When we’re children, we learn how to speak by listening to the conversations around us.  At first, our brains struggle with the new learning, but then we become fluent, and we don’t spend much time thinking about it.  But when we’re dealing with...

Taking responsibility: Survival Skill #2

by | Jun 2, 2021 | Uncategorized

Unfortunately, taking responsibility too often gets confused with accepting blame.  The words, “Who did this!” have echoed in our ears from childhood, and the desire to have it be someone else’s crime is universal.  Shifting blame can look like a safe strategy,...

Leading from a higher ground

by | May 10, 2021 | Uncategorized

Like many of you, I’ve been in situations in my career where I didn’t like the way things were being done.  Maybe it was my boss, or the executive team, or the engineering strategy, or the marketing positioning, or the decline in revenue, or…well, you get the...

Flexibility and freedom from place

by | Apr 26, 2021 | Uncategorized

Back in the day, it was an article of faith with me that I couldn’t work remotely from my teams and be an effective manager.  I relied on my ability to influence and cajole and evaluate in face-to-face interactions.  I rarely worked from home, because that would...

What is referent power and why do we care?

by | Apr 16, 2021 | Uncategorized

We gain referent power because people like us, because they want to be like us in some way, because they respect us.  There are many sources of referent power.  Perhaps we are charismatic and inspiring.  Perhaps we are calm in a crisis, can defuse a conflict with...

Let’s talk about power

by | Apr 16, 2021 | Uncategorized

If you’ve taken the PMP certification, you’ll know that PMI assumes that the Program Manager is at the top of the project pyramid.  PMs ostensibly have a great deal of legitimate power: the organization has agreed that the PM can make decisions on behalf...

A Program Manager’s tale of woe

by | Apr 13, 2021 | Uncategorized

Early in my career,  I was the Program Manager on an extremely challenging program.  The critical decisions were made outside my sphere of influence, but my job was to make them a reality, no questions asked.  Senior management was often arbitrary and out of touch,...

Sometimes it’s not about the metrics…

by | Apr 7, 2021 | Uncategorized

Job descriptions for project and program managers all contain a hefty requirements section on the candidate’s ability to collect, codify, analyze and report information.  I don’t know about you, but I certainly spend a good deal of my day tending my...