How Can We Learn To Be Courageous Project Leaders?

There is a saying in the field of Change Management about people being averse to change.  “The pain of status quo has to be greater than the pain of change.”

Here’s a new one for Project Managers.  “The fear of remaining silent has to be greater than the fear of speaking up.”

And what are the situations that test our courage?  How about:

• A key team member with uniquely valuable skills is being a jerk;
• A client/business executive is undermining the team’s success; or
• Your boss is asking you to perform miracles.

I believe that project life sometimes presents you with only two choices:  do you want to make a career decision now, or do you want to make one later, but you are going to make a career decision.  I also believe that those of us who have developed any kind of a reputation for delivery under adversity have much more power and credibility than we typically credit ourselves. 

Bosses want us to help them see the world through rose-colored glasses.  And some of them are pretty good at applying coercive pressure to get us to agree with them, when we know in our fat little hearts that the situation is deeply troubled.

Yet we often stay silent, and pay the price.   Why?  Because we fear for our jobs?  But if we fail to deliver, aren’t our jobs just as much, if not more, in jeopardy?  Not to mention our mental and emotional health…

How can we learn a different behavior?

By remembering our experiences, and those of our colleagues.  We must remind ourselves that the fear of remaining silent should be greater than the fear of speaking up.