We increased the amount of her allowance, gave it to her quarterly, but then had her use her budget to buy all of her own clothes and other personal items

- We kept track of inflows and outflows on an excel spreadsheet

- If she wanted something we would ask her if that was where she wanted to spend her budget.  If she said yes then she made the purchase but then she had to wait until she had enough money in her account to buy other things

- Right after we put this into effect, she and my wife were in Nordstrom and our daughter saw a pair of flip-flops she wanted.  She asked my wife if she could get them.  My wife responded, “Is that where you want to spend your money?”  She ended up buying flip-flops at Target.

2.  Both our kids got checking accounts before age 16 and credit cards at age 18.  The rationale for doing is that we wanted to make sure they learned about the concept of interest and making payments versus paying their bill in full every month.  We wanted them to learn good habits while at home as opposed to learning bad habits while at college.  While discussing with our daughter, she asked the question, “You mean if I don’t pay it off in full every month then I’m paying interest to the bank and getting nothing in return?”  After I told her that was exactly the case she vowed that she would always monitor her spending so she could pay her bill in full every month. Both our kids are experienced with credit cards and neither has paid a dime in interest charges because they couldn’t pay their bill in full every month.

3.  Our eldest is out of college and youngest is still in college.  When our eldest got her first job as a nurse we had a deliberate discussion about her saving for retirement.  She contributes the maximum amount to her 401k, has saved up enough for six-months of living expenses, and lives off the rest.  She drives a ten-year-old car because it’s “good enough”.  She still indulges in the nice purse or a weekend away, but does so within her means.

4.  Most of the discussion has been about our daughter, but we did the same things with our son.  He and his big sister are better disciplined money managers than many adults I know.  Oh and our son is also mainstream autistic and still is able to manage his finances like a hawk.

May 2026 Update: My kids are both in their 30's now and my daughter has kids of her own. They are both excellent money managers, have good savings and retirement accounts, and have never paid a dime in credit card interest. if you've got kids be intentional with teaching them about money early on. It will pay huge dividends later in life. 

One of my column readers recently sent in this question: One of our senior project managers left abruptly in the middle of a 3 year million $ contract. What experience and education would you consider in promoting a replacement? 

Ooh, good meaty problem.  Not so simple a solution.

First facet, preparedness in case of flight:

• Have a project succession plan in place for key project team members.  This includes not only the project manager but key analysts, developers, and other hard-to-replace team members.
• Assess whether the project manager is already a flight risk because of prior circumstances.  For whatever reason, the project manager may be at flash point and ready to leave or already looking to leave.

• Document if there are there specific skills required of the position.  Some project management positions can be filled by a good generic project manager, while others may require a specific functional, technical, or industry skills. 

Next facet is actions if a flight occurs:

• Execute the succession plan if the planned successor is ready to assume control.  Sometimes the successor will be able to easily slip into the shoes of the prior project manager.  At other times the successor may have to share workload with his or her manager or other project team members to lighten the load and better minimize project impact.
• Don't expect much out of the fleeing project manager.  He or she may be physically be around for another week or two but mentally the transition to the new job has already begun. 
• Stay close to the situation.  Don't just assume that because there is a new name in the project manager box on the org chart that all is going to go well.  Keep close watch over the new project manager and be ready to assist if you see problems starting to crop up.
• Keep the team calm.  When a leader flees the situation is ripe for confusion, dissention, and infighting which can lead to budget and schedule problems.  Keep the team focused and motivated through the transition.  Most importantly, keep them informed on what is going on.
• Position the next successor.  This is good for two reasons:  it helps mitigate the risk of another PM flight and is a natural learning opportunity to build up new project managers.

My wife and I frequently travel to the southwest, where we have many friends and family members. During our time there, we contact several of them to get together for lunch, dinner, or coffee.

This is very important to us because we like to keep up with what’s going on in their lives, and build upon relationships already established. Most everyone responds fairly quickly, even if it’s with, “Sorry, we’re out of town and won’t be able to get together.” We certainly understand these types of responses.

It’s the non-responses that bug me.

Each non-responder is someone we’ve always had good relationships with, and had good times when we’ve met with them. During our last trip, we knew at least two of them were busy with work and life, so we would have gladly accepted a response of, “We’re just too busy right now.” It was getting no response at all that just didn’t set well.

Read more at ProjectManagement.com.

So okay, Microsoft Project is a super flexible tool in helping you as a project manager define your project tasks, dependencies, and resources.  Quite frankly, though, the workplan you define in MS Project is only as good as the thought that goes into it.  Too often I've seen savvy MS Project users completely bungle a project because, while the tool was being used appropriately, the workplan didn't make sense to the project team and didn't reflect what really needed to be done.  The team consistently expressed confusion about what needed to be done by when because the project workplan wasn't reflective of the actual work which needed to be done.  Great exercise in using MS Project, but poor execution of the project.  Blech.

I’m a huge baseball fan. I love the strategy behind the game and how teams adapt their play to fit the need of a game. I especially enjoy how the role of a pitcher is used. Simply put, there are three basic categories of pitchers:

• Starting pitcher: The pitcher who starts the game and can last anywhere from less than an inning to a complete game.
• Relief pitcher: A pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed for whatever reason, such as injury or fatigue. A relief pitcher can fulfill one or more roles, such as long relief, middle relief, setup, or left/right specialist.
• Closing pitcher: A specialized relief pitcher who typically pitches the last inning of a game to secure (or save) a win.

Throughout history, there have been many outstanding starting pitchers, such as Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver, who are measured by stats such as earned run average, wins/losses, innings pitched, and strikeouts.
Since about the 1970s, the closing pitcher role has gained in prominence with notable players like Mariano Rivera, Rich “Goose” Gossage, and Trevor Hoffman. A key stat for closers is the number of games saved.

Relief pitchers, while not as notable as starters or closers, are typically comprised of career relievers or may also consist of former starters and closers. There are also some players, most notably John Smoltz and Dennis Eckersley, who began their careers as starting pitchers, but then found themselves being premier closing pitchers. Some closing pitchers even have songs that are played as they enter a game. (Any time Rivera entered a home game in Yankee Stadium, “Enter Sandman” by Metallica would be played through the PA system.)

All the players described above are baseball pitchers; it’s their role, or branding, that distinguishes how and when they are used in a game.

The pitcher analogy also applies to a project manager’s branding.

Read more at ProjectManagement.com.

So check this out.

Recently I received an email from someone who found me on LinkedIn. The person wasn’t a connection of mine, so I had no idea who he was or where he worked.

Let’s go through some of the items on the email (indicated by red letters A-F) and how it influenced my impression of this person. I changed personally identifiable information and will call him John Doe.

A – John’s email in the “from” line is from what I call “CompanyName1.” All good so far.
B – The subject of the email is “Offer for Thensetta Group of Companies.” This seems all fine and well except my company name is “Consetta.”
C – In his signature line he identifies himself as working for “Company Name 2,” which is different from the company in his email address
D – His website is listed as “Companyname3.com,” which is different from both the company names in his email address and signature. What’s even more interesting is that the underlying URL is different from the listed company name. When I copied “Companyname3.com” into my browser I got a “Page Not Found” message. When I clicked on the hyperlink it took me to a parked webpage.
E – The portfolio in Vimeo has yet another company name which is different than all the others.
F – John tells me that if I want to stop getting emails from him I need to reply with “remove.” I presume that means to put the word “remove” in the subject line. Any reputable company uses an email service like Constant Contact or Mailchimp with a structured unsubscribe process.

Needless to say, there’s no way in heck I’m going to do business with John Doe. The first impression he left was so abysmally bad that I could never imagine entrusting him with helping me resolve a business problem.

I suspect that if you’ve been in business for any period of time you’ve heard the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” Despite this saying being as old as dirt, I’m amazed at how frequently I’ve seen professionals, both seasoned and newbie, create a negative perception in a first interaction. It’s even worse when, like the John Doe email, a negative first impression is earned through careless and reckless mistakes. The way John Doe bungled his first interaction with me told me volumes about what he might be to work with. While it’s entirely possible he is a competent professional, I’ll never know because he’ll never get a second chance with me.

If you think you might need some help on creating positive first impressions, give the following six tips a look before your next meeting with someone new.

Positive first impressions matter. Creating negative first impressions through carelessness or being unprepared is just shooting yourself in the foot. Take first impressions seriously and do all you can to make your first impression impressive.

Hal was a new leader over a team of six followers. He committed to his manager that he would be a “learning leader,” and read leadership books to improve his skills. Almost every month in team meetings Hal included a book report on his latest book and the leadership techniques he wanted to put into practice. At first the team was receptive, but after the first few books a pattern emerged. Hal would talk about what he learned and implement the new methods . . . until he read the newest book on his list, making the previous book’s approach yesterday’s news—pushed aside. The team grew exasperated with Hal’s technique du jour only to have it replaced with a newer model. Even worse, the theory stayed just that, theory. Hal evaluated himself based on his knowledge; the team evaluated him based on his actions. Hal ultimately lost his team leader role; all that theory never making its way to reality.

As of this writing there are over 60,000 leadership books on Amazon. Each author (including me) tries to take a unique spin on some aspect of leadership in hopes of appealing to leaders of all types. Some books have been highly influential (think The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), while others not so much. With so many choices on the market and new ones being released all the time, a leader can get overwhelmed with the number of authors shouting at them about how to be a better leader. Even if a leader narrows his reading list down to just a few books, he is faced with what to do with the concepts the author is peddling. Perhaps it will be a discussion topic at a staff meeting, or the basis of a team-building exercise at an offsite meeting. More often than not, the hot concepts of today stay just that: concepts. Translating leadership concepts into reality that can actually grow a leader’s skills takes deliberate action. 

Want to be more intentional about weaving leadership concepts into your leadership fabric? Consider these five take-aways:

There’s no shortage of leadership tips and tricks any leader willing to learn can tap into. Just be intentional about what you decide to take on and focus on bringing leadership concepts to reality.

Truth #2: Great sponsors ensure the solution solves the root cause problem. Great PM’s don’t allow solutions to lose focus. It's so easy for a project team to get all lathered up in the coolness of a solution and the incremental value which can be had by just taking on a bit more scope here and there.  I love when project teams can kill two birds with one stone, but at the same time the sponsor and PM need to be very disciplined about keeping the project team focused on solving the root cause problem and not allowing scope to explode due to emotional frenzying. 

Truth #3: Great sponsors enforce a “good enough” mindset. Great PM’s don’t use “good enough” as an excuse to cut scope. Using a "good enough" mindset means being very conscious of not gold-plating a solution and putting incremental work into a feature that doesn't yield incremental benefit.  PM's, project teams, and sponsors alike fall subject to gold-plating to increase coolness or solve out-of-scope problems.  The sponsor needs to continually remind the team to not gold-plate and to do what's required to solve the problem.  At the same time, the PM can't use good enough as license to trim scope to solve a budget or schedule problem.  Certainly budget and schedule problems will happen, but the PM can't hide behind good enough and unilaterally trim scope based on his or her convenient definition of what good enough means.

Truth #4: Great sponsors ensure the project has the right resources to get the work done. Great PM’s articulate clear resource requests and “right size” the ask to the need.  No news flash here; projects need people and money to get things done.  Where things go awry is when project needs are poorly articulated, lack credibility, or are flat-out ignored.  This is one of the most important areas of an effective sponsor/PM partnership.  The PM needs to be crystal clear about what resources are needed to complete the project, thoughtful about alternatives to fulfilling the need, and objective about the consequences of not filling the need.  The sponsor needs to be convinced of the resource need, then needs to either support the PM to secure the resources or understand and accept the consequence of not securing the resources.  This truth is a massive failure point in projects with both the sponsor and PM being culpable.

Truth #5: Great sponsors hold the PM and team accountable for results. Great PM’s embrace the accountability and enforce it with the team.  Any leader worth his or her salt understands the concept of accountability.  Most sponsors joyfully embrace this role and effectively drive accountability across the team and with the PM.  The PM has a specific responsibility to embrace the accountability, demonstrate respect for the sponsor with the project team, and cascade the accountability throughout the project team.  Too often project managers will bad-mouth the sponsor to the project team and undermine his or her credibility as sponsor which creates ill-will between the sponsor and the team.  The sponsor needs to drive objective accountability and the PM needs to demonstrate respect and ensure all team members are held appropriately accountable for results.

Truth #6: Great sponsors are on top of the big issues and stand at the ready to help resolve them. Great PM’s articulate issues clearly and timely and escalate only those they can’t solve.  Too many times in my career I've seen a project sponsor be treated as if they were royalty.  The PM would make the trek up the mountain to report progress to the sponsor in hopes of pleasing him or her and getting a nod of approval from his or her highness.  Here's the reality:  the best sponsor/PM relationships are when both the sponsor and PM recognize the sponsor plays a specific role on the project and fills needs that he or she is best suited to fill.  The sponsor needs to be on top of the big issues which are appropriate for him or her to be addressing and be "at the ready" when the team needs an issue to be addressed.  At the same time, the PM needs to make sure that only those issues which are appropriate for the sponsor to address are being escalated.  Too often the PM will use issue escalation either as a means of "covering your butt" thus putting the sponsor on notice for an issue or will escalate inappropriate issues due to flat-out laziness.  The PM needs to escalate only those which cannot be solved at his or her level and ensure the sponsor is given as much time as reasonable to put the issue to bed.  The sponsor needs to be ready and willing to act. 

Truth #7: Great sponsors are an advocate, coach and battering ram for the project. Great PM’s know how to leverage a sponsor and listen to the sponsor’s counsel.  Some of the best sponsors I've worked with provide an open door to coach and counsel the PM.  The sponsor shows an active interest in the PM's success and deliberately works to help the PM grow as a professional.  They also serve as an ambassador for the project to other areas of the organization to ensure other stakeholders and constituents are supportive of the project.  Their interest is much more holistic and strategic; they want to help the organization be better and help the PM be better at his or her job.  At the same time, the best PM's see this relationship as an opportunity to grow personally and professionally and actively seek out and listen to a sponsor's coaching.

Truth #8: Great sponsors willingly make tough decisions even if unpopular or politically charged. Great PM’s provide clear and unbiased alternatives, information and consequences to support decision making.  On virtually every project there will be at least one decision which the sponsor has to make which will be unpopular with some organizational faction.  The PM has a clear responsibility to provide the sponsor with an objective point of view on decision alternatives, allow the sponsor as much time as reasonable to make the decision, and, while being politically aware of consequences, not be politically driven by consequences.  The sponsor needs to ensure alternatives are appropriately vetted, the facts and consequences are understood, and then make the decision as timely as reasonable.  The PM needs to be believable and objective, the sponsor needs to be courageous and timely.

Truth #9: Great sponsors don’t opportunistically increase scope if the project is going well. Great PM’s keep the team focused on delivery and don’t claim victory too soon.  In the 2006 Olympics, snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis had the gold medal all but won. On the last jump of her race Lindsey does a hot dog move and trips at the finish line only to walk away with the silver medal.  Victory was in sight, cockiness crept in, then something bad happened to blow it.  Projects are no different.  The sponsor and PM need to jointly ensure that victory doesn't get claimed too soon, that scope control doesn't get sloppy, and that the team stays focused on driving the project to conclusion.  The sponsor needs to resist the desire to add "just a little feature" at the end and the PM needs to not allow the team to relax. 

Truth #10: Great sponsors continually evaluate priorities and are willing to pull the plug on a project if it no longer makes sense to do. Great PM’s don’t get emotionally tied to a project and don’t lobby to keep it alive if it should stop.  Sometimes a project no longer makes sense to do.  Whether it be about changing priorities, overly aggressive benefit statements, or under-estimated costs, both the sponsor and PM need to keep an ear to the railroad tracks and ensure the project still makes sense to continue.  If the sponsor has bigger fish to fry he or she needs to either continue to commit to the project or kill it.  The worst thing a sponsor can do is allow a project to die a slow death due to disinterest.  It not only wastes time and money but also creates disillusionment with the team because management isn't demonstrating support.  The PM needs to keep a "business first" attitude and recognize that sometimes a well-intentioned project no longer makes good business sense to continue.  Lobbying to keep a low-priority project going will just delay the inevitable.

Want more on how to be a great project sponsor?  Check out www.greatsponsor.com for 31 tips to be a best-in-class project sponsor!