You can hate it all day long

Behind every great breakthrough are key human qualities .

Behind every successful career you will find irreplaceable character traits .

In every successful project, there is a Project Manager with the right skills .

A successful Project Manager career requires an identity as a person who makes things happen.

The ability to manage a project - the path from idea to implementation - is one of the 5 most valuable skills in business.

It ranks alongside programming, marketing, content creation, and sales.

Project Management is not just a skill. To realize ideas, you need to know who you are.

For most people

• taking full personal responsibility (Ownership, Accountability)
• the ability to make and fulfill a commitment (Commitment)
• taking regular and consistent action despite the unknown (Greatness in the 'Now') read below

are an unbearably difficult task.

These are key skills/qualities/character traits.

And it goes without saying that they are a factor in achieving success.

For the Project Manager - the same labor characteristics.

Somewhere they call them ' Soft skills '. In Bulgarian it's 'меки моеме', which sounds too stupid to me .

The three we will talk about today are hard and heavy.

Maybe you're new and green in Project Management, like I was.

I'll give you another perspective on why many of your colleagues look down on your role. The reason may not be that you're not doing a good job. As a Project Manager, you're expected to be the kind of person they want to build within themselves.

If you are the colleague, read it too. And share. Participate actively in the project so that we can help each other. We can't do it without you.

Which are 'these three'?

In English, the definitions sound kind of precise, you'll hear me use them a lot. Learn them, stand up and make things happen.

1. Ownership (Accountability)

When you are a Project Manager, you manage the implementation of an idea. Take personal responsibility for completing it.

Personal responsibility is a character trait. A life position. It is not just a burden. It is the willingness to be accountable for actions or results despite the circumstances. For a Project Manager, 'despite the circumstances' means being accountable for the work of people who are not under your direct control. That is, to take this responsibility personally .

Have you ever wondered why in over 50% of the risks in the project you are listed as the owner. Because you are the one responsible. You will solve the problem, even if it is with someone's help.

At its very core, personal responsibility is freedom of choice. The responsible person chooses to constantly ask themselves “ what more can I do to achieve the result”. The stories that the entire team is responsible, one for all, all for one… are Stories. A convenient blurring of responsibility. The pillars of a large and successful corporation are the characters who have the personal responsibility to solve problems, to progress and to finish… despite the circumstances!

The Project Manager has only one right choice - to take on the implementation of the project personally. That is why he is entrusted with the job .

Challenge yourself to win people over. Be a servant leader. Build trust and reputation . Feel their pulse. Give more. Touch the heart before you shake hands. The responsibility does not lie with the senior programmer - he is fine without the project. It does not lie with the Delivery Lead - he has a team of people to take care of. It does not lie with the sponsor - for him the project is one of many.

Do more, despite everyone and everything. Own the realization!

2. Commitment

In the Bulgarian dictionary there are 2 ways to translate the word commitment (-v) -

• to make a commitment to perform a task;
• To dedicate oneself to the accomplishment of a task.

Both are very accurate. In fact, to fulfill a commitment, most of the time you have to dedicate yourself. How many people around you can you think of who have a great capacity for making and fulfilling commitments ? And how many times have you fulfilled a commitment to yourself?

Commitment is a personal promise you make. Keeping a promise to others builds healthy relationships. Keeping a promise to yourself builds character , confidence, and success!

In the English dictionary, one meaning is:

"Commitment is a state of intellectual or emotional commitment to a given course of action."

Parrots don't differentiate between being interested in doing something and being committed to something. If you're just interested in doing something, you'll only do it when the circumstances allow. When you're committed, you don't accept excuses.

Once we commit , we do things we wouldn't normally do. We easily accept inconvenience. One of the deep reasons why many people don't like Project Managers is that they take on bigger commitments than they are and are always ready to step out of their comfort zone. And a team member often doesn't see why they should. " " Why am I being forced to work on 'this' when I have enough tasks and I can only do them anyway..?"

And a new idea cannot be realized without everyone getting involved.

Don't be afraid to demand commitment and dedication from others. When you are dedicated, you do the action, even though you don't feel it. The unique thing is that others don't see your inner battle. They see energy that attracts work that gets done. That way, they won't just see you as the annoying parrot that gets them out of their comfortable rhythm. You made the commitment, you made the promise, you have the right to demand. You have the right to communicate the goals, the deadlines, and the risks often.

Responsibility and commitment ( promise ) are like a hand and a glove. A promise is accountability projected into the future. Responsibility for future actions and results. So many people make a promise and don't keep it. Increasing your capacity to deliver on commitments has a dramatic effect on your personal and professional life.

If you find it difficult to keep promises, start with small ones to yourself. Keep a journal, be consistent, and build up your capacity.

Because Project Management is one of the highest paying skills?

Set yourself the goal of building an identity of someone who keeps their commitments!

3. Greatness in the now (be great now)

Having faith that you will succeed is an absolute necessity. The concept of 'be great now' explains how to practically apply this faith. And how to train it.

In all my publications so far, I have defended the thesis that the project is about something unknown that you and your organization have not done before. If you have already done it, it is called a process.

Deciding that you are great now , not when you achieve success, will help you do what is necessary to manifest that success.

Taking action , feeling the earth shaking with the uncertain outcome, is a courage that not everyone possesses. Many people will give up. Or they will simply postpone until it becomes critical.

Imagine what it was like for the Project Managers who completed some of the most impressive projects - the construction of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the Chuo Shinkansen train line in Japan, or the International Space Station .

Greatness is not achieved after you realize the project or achieve the result. On the contrary - long before that, just when a person decides to do what is necessary to become great. Realization is not the actual greatness, but only its confirmation . Long before the result comes, you become great. It happens instantly - the moment you decide that you will do what is necessary, and in every subsequent moment, when you make the same decision again and again. You reach a point from which there is no turning back. You have started the engine, and every circumstance and unknown are dust. You accumulate confidence - every day you decide, every day you act, every day there is progress.

The advantage of the Project Manager in the organization is that only he has such a broad view of the whole work. A team of performers does not need to think far ahead. They can simply execute tasks. They can even be creative and follow a set vision, task by task. But the Project Manager is the one who has to foresee , play out possible scenarios and prevent disasters . This makes you unique!

To master the future unknown, simply take steps toward your goal every day. And the best laid plan will eventually change. Be prepared to take the next step after each action. Be big from now on . A successful project is forged at the very beginning, as you run against doubt and gain momentum.

Everything said is known to you. You recognize yourself. I want to make you stand up. To make sure that your added value is significantly greater than you think. You are valuable!

Be responsible, keep your commitments, and decide to be great from now on by choosing to act every day!

Keep building an identity as someone who takes work personally, dedicates themselves, pursues, and makes things happen.

The life of a Project Manager is very dramatic. Stress is often present.

You may have completed a project late, over budget, or with poor quality. Or you may have excelled but it turned out to be the wrong project for the business.

The Apostle Paul persecuted the Church and killed Christians. And he got away with it . That's exactly why God chose him - he had the character and identity of someone who makes things happen. He stood on the right principles. He didn't get the right project the first time.

Pavel is one of the most unique examples of a Project and Program Manager.

His project was to build the Church. His program was to build and maintain church after church wherever he went. These were the “benefits realization” of God’s strategy . Although his sponsor, the Lord Jesus, appeared to him, appointed him, and gave him the tasks, there were unknowns before him. But he stopped at nothing to add more value and more value to Christ’s organization.

Part of the New Testament - are the letters he wrote from his cell. Beaten and awaiting the death sentence. He survived a shipwreck, was bitten by a poisonous snake, his most loyal sponsor (Barnabas) quarreled with him and left him. He chose to act and pursue results despite everything.

He was dedicated. All the church leaders relied on him , and he did not betray them. 2,000 years ago there were no emails or business trips by plane, but he did not fail to send a message or revisit the cities he passed through.

He became great , long before he became great. He never stopped praying for his brothers, writing, communicating the vision, extinguishing conflicts, preaching and breaking chains. He did not hesitate to criticize and break differences and teach everyone with whom he 'worked on the program '.

The result of the program is a 2,000-year-old living organization, 4 billion followers (with their generations), and the author of 2/3 of the most widely read book - the Bible.

And the peace of success:

The satisfaction of a successful Project Manager career is being recognized as

"The one who solves problems"
“The one who makes things happen”;
“The one who brings change and adds value”

You are a key factor !

p.s.

If you want to start a career as a Project Manager - write to me, I will help you for free

Follow me for the entire “ How to Cook a Parrot ” series - this was just the first part

Share and comment to help someone else stand up.

**the concept of accountability, commitment and greatness in the now is inspired by the book “The 12 Week Year” by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington - I'm reposting it for you