Excerpted from The Project Management Advisor - 18 Major Project Screw-Ups And How To Cut Them Off At The Pass (Prentice Hall, 2004)

The important thing was to match my playing to the other instrumentalists and to make beautiful music together. While I never got to rock stardom with my own entourage and groupies, I did learn that music is about how the entire band sounds -- not any individual player.

Through my own work/life balance journey I've learned that regular exercise is key to keeping stress in check and helping me have more stamina when things get hectic at work.  I came across an interesting Harvard Business Review Blog about the importance of regular exercise to a balanced life.  Something I've taken to doing is foregoing the elevator and taking the stairs wherever I go to help integrate exercise into my daily routine.  If you want some additional tips on achieving better work/life balance, check out my Straight Talk Seminar - 17 Tips to Help You Find True Work/Life Balance.

Recently I did an interview talking about the most important attributes of an effective project manager and those attributes which undermine a person's ability to manage projects well.  It was fun putting together the list and I thought I would share my raw bullets with you, as follows:

Attributes of an effective project manager:

• Skill in negotiating win-win solutions between stakeholders and the project team
  
• Ability to understand the needs of the stakeholder organization and take those into account when making day to day project decisions

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When project teams work in perfect harmony it's like music to the project manager's ears. Each project team member knows what they need to contribute to the project, knows when they have to perform, understands what other project team members are doing on the project, and knows what it takes to be successful.  Get this ebook see how to get your project teams to gel and deliver results.

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Man what an interesting thought.  Big Data is about analyzing lots and lots of structured and unstructured data to help an organization do something better and be more prescriptive in responding to events.  Phys.org published a super intriguing article about how big data could be used in professional and amateur sports to give athletes a winning edge.  Think about the possibilities of extracting data from video which helps coaches and players prepare for upcoming games.  Big Data and sports; whoda thunk! 

I ran across this compelling article which validates that Cloud Computing is here to stay and is only going to increase in prominence over the next several years.   If you're behind the curve in your cloud knowledge or are in denial of its applicability, give these stats a look. 

Stay up on this trend; don't turn into a typewriter repairman.

I ran across this article on four Leadership Qualities Employers Look For.  The four qualities highlighted, Integrity, Good Judgment, Competence, and Vision are all good undisputed qualities.   In my Straight Talk Leadership Seminar 27 Tips to Conquer the Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership I focus on seven sins that can the best leaders avoid, as follows:

1. The Sin of Arrogance
2. The Sin of Indecisiveness
3. The Sin of Disorganization
4. The Sin of Stubbornness
5. The Sin of Negativism
6. The Sin of Cowardice
7. The Sin of Untrustworthiness

Whether you're a new or experienced leader, honestly assess your leadership capabilities against the seven sins and grow those leadership skills!

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Think back to some great communicators like Reagan, Martin Luther King Jr., or John F. Kennedy. What made them great communicators? It wasn’t that they were great orators, had flashy teeth, sported perfect hair, or demonstrated a flawless writing style. They had courage, conviction, wisdom, clarity, and  credibility; five attributes that build the foundation of all great  communicators.

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Fast Company published a thought-provoking article with an interest-piquing title.  When you dig into the article, though, the core message of the article comes through:

Being dedicated and ambitious is admirable, but allowing work to define your self-worth and identity is dangerous.

Man I couldn't agree more with this statement.  I've seen many ambitious career-minded people crash and burn because the god they worshipped - work - didn't care about them at all.  The reality is that at any point in time your employer can say to you, "I'm sorry, but we no longer need your services."  The god they worshipped is now no longer there.  I've seen people turn to substance abuse, nervous breakdowns, and worse because they allowed themselves to be defined by their work.   I wrote a seminar on this topic because I feel so strongly about it. Check it out if you think your work defines you.

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Project risk and issue management is one of the most lethal but easily overlooked aspects of successful project management. Risks and issues derail your plan and cause you to divert focus away from project activities. But, there’s simply no avoiding them. If you’ve got a project you’re going to have risks and issues.

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