subject: Successful Project Manager Born Or Bred? [print this page] Some of the key competencies of a typical project manager include:
*critical thinking and problem solving skills
*communication skills
*strong decision making skills
*conflict management ability
*adaptability
*time management
*negotiating skills
*strong ethics
Are these traits that one must be born with to be a successful project manager? To some extent you could conclude that a person must possess these qualities naturally in order to be most effective in the role of a professional project manager. But, as with any profession, a project manager, either new or seasoned, can hone (or develop) those qualities with professional training.
Some professions demand in-born natural talent that cannot be taught. To excel as a professional singer, you must have the basic, inherent talent. Additional training will help develop the voice and teach the vocalist how to control their breathing and how to strengthen their lungs. But without the innate talent, the average Joe cannot create a career as a singer.
Aside from the qualities outlined above, a good project manager must be a good leader. Again, is that a trait that can be taught? Absolutely! Yes, it helps to have a natural ability to lead, but great leaders know to take advantage of opportunities for broadening their abilities with high quality, executive training.
In addition to these key personality traits, a career project manager must excel in the essential skills necessary to meet the typical job requirements. These might include developing full scale project plans; defining project scope; coordinating staff; managing resources; strategic planning; tracking deliverables; monitoring and reporting progress; evaluations and assessments; and expert use of PM Software.
Those skills are bred, not born. In other words, those skills must be acquired through formal education. Of course, as a professional project manager, this is not news to you. Likely, you have already taken the necessary courses and obtained your degree and your PMP. But, you want to grow into a great leader. You are not satisfied with the status quo. You do not aspire to be a competent manager. You aspire to greatness.
It has been said, there is nothing more powerful than education. If so, then it stands to reason, the only way to become the most successful project manager, the most dynamic leader, is to further your education. Continuously. You cannot grow if you become complacent.
One of the biggest struggles project managers face (despite their great time management skills) is finding time to work, maintain a home/family life, maintain a career and still manage to obtain their PDUs. PMCAMPUS offers a wide variety of PDUs for busy PMPs developed by certified PMPs themselves that make the process of earning PDUs easy, and also informative and interactive.
