Leadership—New Skills for an Age of Flux

11/14/18 • 22 min

What does it takes to be an effective leader in a rapidly shifting business environment? Guests discuss in-demand leadership skills—and how to keep fast-moving projects on track.

Barry Draskovich, PMP, vice president of program and contract management at Parker Aerospace in Irvine, California, USA, shares four skills project professionals should develop if they want to rise up in the ranks

Robert Safian, the founder of The Flux Group and former editor of Fast Company, discusses his research on leadership in the age of flux, how to maintain a strategic mindset when the market is shifting fast and the skills that set the best leaders apart.

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Key Themes:
[00:30] How leadership is evolving
[04:30] In-demand skills to sharpen
[08:10] Leading in the age of flux
[14:28] Reshaping the talent pool
[16:13] Outside-in vs. inside-out leadership
[18:18] What sets the best leaders apart

What does it takes to be an effective leader in a rapidly shifting business environment? Guests discuss in-demand leadership skills—and how to keep fast-moving projects on track.

Previous Episode

A Radical Mindshift—Managing Bleeding Edge Projects

Bleeding edge projects have the potential to disrupt the marketplace and reshape entire sectors—if they can make it across the finish line. Project leaders share how they shepherd and support extreme innovation in the face of increasing uncertainty.

Michael O’Connor, director of strategy and project management at Medtronic in Minnesota, USA, talks about what it took to develop the world’s smallest pacemaker in a highly regulated environment. Medtronic is a member of PMI’s Global Executive Council.

James Stewart, vice chair at KPMG in London, England, describes how a combination of flexibility and independent assurance can drive success on first-of-its-kind projects.

Marc Lahmann, director of the transformation assurance division for PwC Switzerland in Zurich, shares how leading organizations are adopting artificial intelligence—and what’s needed for this tech to deliver real business value.

Key Themes:
[00:30] Navigating risks on bleeding edge projects
[04:25] Case Study: Revolutionizing the pacemaker
[08:30] Flexing the project plan
[13:00] Integrating artificial intelligence
[15:26] How to spur cultural change
[17:23] Getting early wins with AI

Next Episode

Transformation—How to Manage Complexity

Innovation, uncertainty, rapid change—the defining factors of the modern marketplace are making projects increasingly complicated. Guests discuss how they’re overcoming complexity to deliver transformative projects.

The PMO team from Telstra, Australia’s largest telecom company and this year’s PMO of the Year Award winner, explains how PMO oversight helped get the company’s capital investment portfolio back on track.

Mohammed Fakhri, AVP of global project delivery at Standard Chartered Global Business Services in Malaysia, discusses how he manages change across an interconnected project portfolio.
Wale Elegbede, PMO manager for the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Regenerative Medicine, shares how project teams navigate uncertainty on innovative healthcare projects—while also complying with strict regulations.

Key Themes:
[00:30] Defining project complexity
[03:40] Telstra case study: 2018 PMO of the Year
[05:30] Facilitating strategic innovation
[08:00] Navigating interdependencies
[10:45] What is regenerative medicine?
[14:55] Planning for uncertainty
[16:45] Understanding stakeholder priorities