See Your World in a Fresh New Way
VIA Institute on Character
April 14, 2020
Generally, we think of meaning as being our purpose, our reason for being, something that pushes us, even in the face of struggles. Meaning helps us stretch, step out of our comfort zones and grow. It gives us a sense of significance – that we matter.
We also know that meaning is tied to learning. When a class or training connects to a bigger purpose for us, we are more likely to retain the learning and more importantly apply it. Even the most interesting topics don’t stick with us unless they connect to a bigger purpose for us.
Photo by Tobias Adam on Unsplash
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Tags: Future of Work, Leadership, Mental Health
Choosing Your Role Model in a Crisis
VIA Institute on Character
March 19, 2020
Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash
Role models are important sources of guidance and learning for us all.
Who do you look to as a model for strengths, someone to mimic?
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Tags: Sustainability, Leadership, Future of Work
Boosting your character - the benefits of strengths towing!
linkedin
January 15, 2020
My top character strength every time I take the VIA Character Strengths survey is Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. This strength – that research has failed to link with anything really – is a much-underrated strength (in my opinion) and often goes unrecognized. One client of mine on discovering the strength was one of her top five debated with me for 20 minutes as to whether it is a strength and whether it could possibly be true that not everyone ranks it highly! She could not believe that everyone does not marvel at a virtuoso performance, the view from the top of a mountain or being in nature. But I digress.
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Tags: Procurement, Management
Stressed by gatherings at Christmas? Do the dishes!
linkedin
December 24, 2019
While I in no way want to ignore those who feel the holidays keenly because of loneliness, I have been very focused recently on the strains of gatherings. This year is going to be quiet. And honestly, I am longing for that. (If you are facing time alone and are not looking forward to it, please message me!)
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Tags: Management, Leadership, Culture
Taking networking and project leadership to the next level!
linkedin
September 25, 2019
Last week, I had the privilege of facilitating two mastermind groups for senior project managers and agilists. They came from a variety of industries, each coming with a BIG question, challenge, or change that they are leading. Some topics were about motivation and influence, others were about the practical steps to implement change, some were about managing up or sideways, some were about getting others to embrace change and uncertainty.
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Tags: Management, Leadership
The Character Strengths of a Leader
ProjectManagement.com
September 23, 2019
One of the wonderful things about character strengths is that although we all have all 24, and they are a common language that lets us express our understanding and appreciation of each other’s qualities in a straightforward way, we do nevertheless express each strength uniquely.
This combination of similarity and difference is what makes character strengths so powerful. They both connect us and differentiate us at the same time.
Nowhere is this more apparent than when you speak to people who are leaders and to the people whom they lead. It is not uncommon to encounter expectations about what a leader will look like, what strengths they will have at their fingertips. We may even expect them to have superhuman capacities that translate into many signature strengths – more than your average person. One person even asked me once whether to be a good leader you needed to get all 24 strengths to the top level.
And of course, the most common preconception of all is that in order to be a leader, we must have the strength of Leadership as a top strength.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Building A Culture of Appreciation - Part 2
ProjectManagement.com
August 26, 2019
In my last post, I advocated looking for things to appreciate in yourself, to practice recognizing and acknowledging those traits that you share with others but express in ways that are uniquely you. In this post, I will dig deeper into the strength of appreciation and then suggest ways to use appreciation to the benefit of your team. Building a culture of appreciation builds rapport, a sense of inclusion and well-being for you and for those around you and you don’t need to be in charge to help make it happen.
As a reminder, Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence (a.k.a. appreciation) is seeing the best in people and things around us!
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Appreciation the Strengths Booster
ALLE LLC
August 02, 2019
How the character strength of appreciation of beauty and excellence is undervalued and yet makes every other strength more powerful.
'He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.' — Albert Einstein
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Building A Culture of Appreciation - Part 1
ProjectManagement.com
July 21, 2019
Research shows that appreciation – as measured by the VIA character strength[1] of appreciation of beauty and excellence – is not used a great deal at work.[2] It is often associated with appreciating nature, art, or skillful performances. And it is that last definition that is useful in teams in the workplace.
Subtly different than gratitude[3] which is about being thankful, appreciation is the strength that allows us to see and name the skills, values, and contributions of people around us. It is a strength that makes calling out the contribution of a colleague more comfortable. And yet we don’t use it much at work.
The strange thing is that it is not an uncommon top strength – some research suggests that 4 out of 10 of us rank it as a top strength! Maybe we just don’t think to use it in the workplace. The same is often true of love – but that is another story!
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Review of Mark Struczewski Basics of Productivity Course
linkedin
July 08, 2019
As a project manager, I have a good grasp of task and time management, task prioritization and generally getting things done. Most people I work with report that they think I a productive, I get a lot done in a short time and I meet commitments. So when Mark Struczewski introduced me to his new course on productivity, initially I hesitated. But, never one to rest on my laurels, I decided that I would try it. After all, it was just two hours of classes with some hopefully helpful homework. (The course also includes a call with Mark which I have yet to schedule!)
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Tags: Management, Leadership, Business Strategy
Finding Strengths in Others
ProjectManagement.com
June 24, 2019
Over the last couple of months, I have had the pleasure of offering two webinars exploring the use of character strengths as project managers. In the second webinar we moved onto the topic of seeing strengths in others - the second three phases in the SBPM model – See, Acknowledge, Leverage.
We used a sample profile created from attendees’ responses to the VIA Assessment. This is the kind of thing I do with project managers and teams when I work with them. The strengths profile of a team is an indication of team culture.
Some questions to consider are:
What does a team with this profile feel like to work in?
What strengths are most prevalent and how do they affect communications?
Can there be too much of a character strength or strengths in a team?
If yes, what do you do about it? Some options are
Explore the profile with the team – awareness is a great first step.
Explore how people feel about the top strengths and what strengths might be encouraged to create balance.
Spot strengths with team members to get them used to seeing their own strengths and the strengths of others.
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Tags: Culture, Future of Work, Leadership
An Author Reveals – Pt 8
Import from wordpress feed
May 29, 2019
Chapter 7 – When Other Things Go Wrong What planning styles are most prevalent on your team? In my teams, I have seen all sorts of planning styles. Some teams have tended to be more detail oriented and this has sometimes made it more difficult to provide high level updates or to measure progre
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Appreciation - the Strengths Booster. How to Engage Your Character Strengths Every Day...
linkedin
May 28, 2019
He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. — Albert Einstein
Appreciating Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence – the strength booster!
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Tags: Management, Leadership
#PMIEMEA19 – on tour with Character Strengths
Import from wordpress feed
May 26, 2019
When I die Dublin will be written in my heart.~ James Joyce, writer.
For a few days, a group of project managers gathered together in Dublin to talk…. Project management. For some people that sounds a little like watching paint dry. For others, it does not convey much at all! What does it mean when...
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Finding Strengths in You
ProjectManagement.com
May 20, 2019
There is lots of great research on the benefits of starting from what is strong rather than what is wrong. For example, we know that positive emotions make us more open to ideas – including ideas about how we might learn and grow. Adopting a learning mentality – also known as “growth mindset” has been shown to lead to great feats. Of course, talents – innate abilities – help, but they don’t go anywhere if we don’t hone them and learn to apply them effectively.
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Tags: Culture, Future of Work, Leadership
#PMIEMEA19 - On tour with character strengths!
linkedin
May 19, 2019
When I die Dublin will be written in my heart.~ James Joyce, writer
For a few days, a group of project managers gathered together in Dublin to talk…. Project management. For some people that sounds a little like watching paint dry. For others, it does not convey much at all!
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Tags: Management, Leadership
An Author Reveals – Pt 7
Import from wordpress feed
May 15, 2019
In the book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, there are lots of opportunities to explore the topics covered with the “Making it Stick” questions and the “Strategies for Success” in each chapter. In this blog series, I share my own answers. Chap
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
An Author Reveals – Pt 6
Import from wordpress feed
May 01, 2019
In the book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, there are lots of opportunities to explore the topics covered with the “Making it Stick” questions and the “Strategies for Success” in each chapter. In this blog series, I share my own answers Chapt
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Social Intelligence, Communication And Project Managers – Sweet Spot Or An Opportunity?
Import from wordpress feed
April 23, 2019
“This article was originally posted on Forbes.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellevate/2019/04/22/social-intelligence-communication-and-project-managers-sweet-spot-or-an-opportunity/#39688de51354 As a long-time project manager I study what makes project managers tick. Since 2016, I have b
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Social Intelligence, Communication And Project Managers - Sweet Spot Or An Opportunity?
Forbes Magazine
April 22, 2019
Analysis of project managers and their tendency to rank the strengths of social intelligence and perspective lower than other people on average. Based on questions from recent audience members, the article explores whether gender or age changes this result.
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Tags: Culture, Future of Work, Leadership
An Author Reveals… Pt 5
Import from wordpress feed
April 17, 2019
In the book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, there are lots of opportunities to explore the topics covered with the “Making it Stick” questions and the “Strategies for Success” in each chapter. In this blog series, I share my own answers.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Three more things PMs want to know about Character Strengths
Import from wordpress feed
April 15, 2019
Over the last few months, since the publication of my book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management I have been speaking to project managers from all around the world about how the science of Character Strengths can help us build engagement, increase
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
An Author Reveals – Pt 4
Import from wordpress feed
April 02, 2019
In the book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, there are lots of opportunities to explore the topics covered with the “Making it Stick” questions and the “Strategies for Success” in each chapter. In this blog series, I share my own answers. Chap
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Answering your top 3 Character Strengths questions
Import from wordpress feed
March 27, 2019
Over the last few months, since the publication of my book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, I have been speaking to project managers from all around the world about how the science of Character Strengths can help us build engagement, increas
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Creating a happier workplace culture one strength at a time
PMWorld 360 Ezine
March 25, 2019
The Project Management Institute defines a stakeholder as “those who have a stake or an interest in a project or strategy undertaken by a company or an organization, they will be affected in some way by the project and so have an interest in influencing it.” Stakeholders can be either internal or external to the client’s organization. Internal stakeholders work within the client’s organization, and external stakeholders do not work for the organization, but they still have an interest in the project. Stakeholder management involves the client reconciling “the differing stakeholder requirements and passing on the clear direction to the project manager” in order to gain a collective agreement and successfully complete the project (PMI, 2003).
This article explores a 4-step process for successful stakeholder management
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Answering three more frequent PM questions on Character Strengths.
linkedin
March 22, 2019
Over the last few months, since the publication of my book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, I have been speaking to project managers from all around the world about how the science of Character Strengths can help us build engagement, increase productivity and creativity and help us to get stuff done.
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Tags: Management, Leadership, Future of Work
An Author Reveals… Pt 3
Import from wordpress feed
March 21, 2019
In the book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, there are lots of opportunities to explore the topics covered with the “Making it Stick” questions and the “Strategies for Success” in each chapter. In this blog series, I share my own answers. Chap
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Sneak Peek! Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management
linkedin
March 19, 2019
In this post I share the Introduction from my book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management. Recent Amazon reviews say, "If you pick one book to read on project management this year, start here." and, "I’ve been around the project management industry for a long time and around project managers even longer. This book is what the industry needs."
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
An Author Reveals... Pt 1
linkedin
March 18, 2019
In the book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, there are lots of opportunities to explore the topics covered with the “Making it Stick” questions and the “Strategies for Success” in each chapter. In this blog series, I share my own answers.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
An Author Reveals… Pt 2
Import from wordpress feed
March 14, 2019
In the book Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, there are lots of opportunities to explore the topics covered with the “Making it Stick” questions and the “Strategies for Success” in each chapter. In this blog series, I share my own answers. Chap
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
What is Stakeholder Management
PMWorld 360 Ezine
February 21, 2019
The Project Management Institute defines a stakeholder as “those who have a stake or an interest in a project or strategy undertaken by a company or an organization, they will be affected in some way by the project and so have an interest in influencing it.” Stakeholders can be either internal or external to the client’s organization. Internal stakeholders work within the client’s organization, and external stakeholders do not work for the organization, but they still have an interest in the project. Stakeholder management involves the client reconciling “the differing stakeholder requirements and passing on the clear direction to the project manager” in order to gain a collective agreement and successfully complete the project (PMI, 2003).
This article explores a 4-step process for successful stakeholder management
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Shifting from stakeholder management to stakeholder engagement
PMWorld 360 Ezine
February 12, 2019
In the latest edition of the PMBOK, there was a small but significant change in the language around stakeholders. Instead of Stakeholder management, the focus of a project manager is stakeholder engagement. What does this change mean?
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
5 habits for 2019 - 3 steps to keep them (7 min read)
linkedin
December 31, 2018
This is a very quick post about New Year's Resolutions.
Resolutions are a little like performance reviews. There is a big build up, we spend time coming up with meaningful goals, and three weeks later we have forgotten all about them. It is hard to understand why we want to set a point in time to reflect on who and where we are and who and where we want to be.
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Tags: Digital Disruption, Leadership, Culture
5 Steps to Making a Dream Come True
linkedin
November 27, 2018
Today is the culmination of many years work. This journey started in 1992 when I accidentally became a project manager. Since that time I have been learning and practicing project management. I have spent countless hours in the pursuit of a greater understanding of how to engage teams to get better results, and although that learning will not stop, two years ago it reached a point where I felt compelled to share what I have learned with my fellow project managers. I not only wanted to be a Project Motivator, I wanted to help others to become Project Motivators too.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Roles, Engagement and Social Intelligence - a Project Manager View
linkedin
November 15, 2018
Over the last two years I have been gathering information on project managers. Sometimes I have been asking people who work alongside PMs for their viewpoint, other times I have been asking PMs directly.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
5 Way to be a Strong - and Socially Intelligent - Project Manager
linkedin
October 24, 2018
At the PMI Global Conference in LA in October 2018, about 100 project managers gathered early in the morning on the last day of the conference to explore character strengths and the art (and science) of team engagement - for us and for our teams. We explored social intelligence and hope, prudence and appreciation.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Pop Quiz - Post PMI GC, what did you do differently?
linkedin
October 13, 2018
You went to LA, you participated in workshops and presentations, you networked, you partied and you went home. You probably took notes of things you want to remember, things you want to do, things you want to learn more about.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Day 3 of the PMI GC - a Great Finish!
linkedin
October 10, 2018
This was my first foray into the PMI Global Conference and what a wonderful first experience. With such a terrific array of speakers and topics, it was hard to choose between sessions. But once we engaged our perspective and judgment strengths, we realized that it really was a no-lose situation. Practically any session would be of interest and practically any session would be educational. And as my preliminary research shows, love of learning is a big motivator for project managers!
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
PMI GC Day 2 - It just keeps getting better
linkedin
October 07, 2018
It is the end of day 2 at the conference, After a great shout out for Dana Brownlee and her upcoming book The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up: Project Management Techniques from the Trenches from emcee Stephen Maye, we started the day off with a great keynote from Cam Marston. He took us through the causes of intergenerational friction starting with Socrates! Very interesting and informative. Definitely information that we can all benefit from and use. Our behavioral preferences are learned and change from generation to generation. As much as boomers complain about millenials, we made them who they are today!
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Tags: Management, Leadership, Future of Work
PMI GC Day 1 From Great to Greater!
linkedin
October 07, 2018
Here I am at the PMI Global Conference in LA. This is my first GC, and I was not sure what to expect. Well the first day was certainly more than I ever hoped! And as a project managers, HOPE is a go to strength.
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Tags: Management, Leadership, Future of Work
SBPM Tips: The A-Z of character strengths – engaging conversations for our disruptive times.
linkedin
September 26, 2018
People who know me already, know that I am always exploring ways to connect with and engage the teams I work with. Engaged and connected teams are more motivated, more productive, more innovative and more committed to each other and the goals of the project. I use all sorts of techniques, but one of my favorites is Character Strengths.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture
Great Opportunities from Character Strengths
linkedin
September 25, 2018
Today is Character Day. What a great time to use the strength of bravery to share that 2018 is turning into a year of opportunity. In October I present two sessions about Strengths-Based Project Management (SBPM) at the PMI Global Conference in LA.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Excited to be a 2018 PMI Global Conference Presenter!
linkedin
June 07, 2018
I am so honored to have been chosen as a PMI Global Conference Speaker in Los Angeles, October 6th - 8th.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Getting the Communication Right: How to Build Social Intelligence into the Message
ALLE LLC & PMI Chicagoland
November 18, 2019
Our biases sometimes get in the way of communication. We listen for cues and filter information based on prior experience and personal perspective. This is not only natural, but to some degree is necessary if we are not to be overwhelmed with information.
So how do we make sure our message is being received loud and clear? And how do we know we are hearing clearly what other people are telling us?
In this session, we explore how social intelligence helps build effective messages and we use real life examples to experience how biases affect conversation outcomes.
As we explore these interactions, we delve into character strengths theory and see how it relates to seven key team roles that play into our interactions every day. We will look at how the strengths of social intelligence and perspective show up for project managers and explore strategies to build our social dexterity.
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Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Leadership
In the Here and Now: Using mindfulness practices to enhance personal and team performance
ALLE LLC & PMI Chicagoland
November 18, 2019
The research says it all. Mindfulness leads to better health, reduced stress and greater focus. Yet, despite the evidence, many of us don’t incorporate mindfulness from day to day. More powerful than mindfulness alone is the combination of mindfulness and character strengths. Research tells us that the use of character-strength leads to higher engagement and productivity. Come learn about your level of mindfulness, discover your top strengths and leave with practical resources to combine the two every day.
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Tags: Leadership, Future of Work, Mental Health
Strengths-Based Project Management: Social Intelligence for Project Managers
ALLE LLC & PMI Minnesota
September 24, 2019
Project managers and their teams agree that communication and connecting stakeholders to the goals of a project are core to the role of project managers. Connection is a fundamental part of both aspects of our role. Connection is built on social intelligence – the way that we build and maintain relationships with others and elicit co-operation. This session explores social intelligence in project managers and provides tools for building social intelligence from the moment the session starts.
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Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Leadership
Social Intelligence for Project Managers
Project Management Success Summit
August 21, 2019
Exploring Social Intelligence, character strengths, team culture and stakeholder relationships with Michael Charles of Project Management Success Summit 2019
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Introduction to Strengths-Based Project Management - Social Intelligence for Project Managers
GreatITProfessional
June 25, 2019
In this webinar, you will discover what you can do to:
1. Be more engaged;
2. Play to the strengths of others;
3. Build engagement in those around you.
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Change Management
Social Intelligence for Project Managers: What is it and how do we get it?
PMI EMEA
May 11, 2019
Social Intelligence ranks low for Project Managers as a strength - at least when taken on average - but it is an important component of our role as communicators. We can build social intelligence with simple steps.
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Tags: Change Management, Future of Work, Leadership
Introduction to Strengths-Based Project Management - Seeing the Strengths of Others (Part 2)
projectmanagement. com
April 03, 2019
Following on from the March 6th webinar, we will look further into how being a strengths-based project manager means playing to the strengths of those around us to build cohesive high-performing teams.
Having started with our own strengths, we will turn our attention to the strengths of those around us. How can we see their strengths, how do we call them out in a sensitive way? Attendees will use real-life examples to practice spotting strengths and will walk away with practical tools to use when working with stakeholders, team-members, sponsors and people outside their workplace too!
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Tags: Culture, Future of Work, Leadership
Introduction to Strengths-Based Project Management - Finding Your Strengths (Part 1)
projectmanagement. com
March 06, 2019
Being a strengths-based project manager means playing to the strengths of those around us to build cohesive high-performing teams. As modeling is such a powerful way to influence others, the first step is to become aware of our own strengths, to explore how they show up for us and to learn how to target our strengths.
In this session - which substitutes for the session planned for December 2018 - attendees will learn about the “aware-explore-apply” model of character strengths and how just knowing their own strengths will positively impact their teams and projects. The session is packed with information about why strengths matter, how your strengths can help you and the people around you and ways to start engaging strengths right away. When you leave, you will have tools you can use immediately to start making a difference.
This is part one of a two-part webinar series.
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Tags: Culture, Future of Work, Leadership
Be a Project Manager: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths Based Project Management
PMI
October 08, 2018
Using character strengths awareness and practices to build teams
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Tags: Leadership, Culture, Future of Work
Character Strengths and Project Managers - A Study
Institute for Neuro- and Behavioral Project Management
Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management
Coaching Perspectives VIII
Project Manager Effectiveness Survey Results
Social Intelligence: Why we need it and how we can get it!
Motivation
Interview with Dr. Ryan Niemiec, Director of Education, VIA Institute on Character
Mark Struczewski Podcast
Elise Stevens Fix My Project Chaos
Joe Pusz - Project Management Office Hours
People & Projects with Andy Kaufman
Thank you to my father - Rick Kelly, 1930 - 2000
Choosing Your Role Model
The Power of a Timeout
Group Strengths Coaching for Project Managers and Teams
