What Matters Most?

Technical competency is not the most important skill for a project manager. Neither is building a good schedule, nor monitoring issues and tracking down open action items. First and foremost, project managers must be effective leaders.

I can’t overstate the importance of leadership skills for a project manager. In 1998, Zimmer and Yasin studied the characteristics of effective senior project managers. Eight of the top nine characteristics are aspects of managing relationships or leading. Technical competence is the lone exception on the list.

Zimmer and Yasin identify poor leadership as a cause of project failure, and they conclude that project managers must combine technical competency with the ability to lead. I agree. The more responsibility a project manager has, the more crucial leadership skills are to his or her success.

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