In this day and age, many organizations and various governmental departments are becoming increasingly aware that the success of any project lies in leadership skills of project managers in addition to the tradition managerial skills that they learn. Even though these two notions “leadership” and “management” have often times been confused and used interchangeably, it is important, at the outset, that the two be clearly distinguished. There are in fact, many authors who have made a distinction between leading and managing. Beach and Reinhartz [(2000:75,) quoting Kotter 1990] say that “leaders create the essence or mission of an organization—its reason for being—while managers are responsible for helping achieve the mission or vision.” Bennis (1989: 18) actually say that “leaders…do the right thing while managers…do things right. Covey (1989: 101) adds that, “leadership is not management.” Before one can manage, one has to lead because leadership comes first. ASCD (1988:6) describes management as handling tasks, analyzing data, weighing alternatives and making decisions by applying established principles or doing it by the book.” Leadership, on the other hand, “involves reaching the emotions of people through effective communication and making one’s presence felt through example” (ibid). It is a process that involves obtaining cooperation from others to achieve shared goals and objectives.
Bennis and Nanus (1997) also view managers differently from leaders. Managers are in charge of things, solve problems, use procedures for finding solutions, and make sure that things are done properly. They know how to get the job done using a process orientation and tend to continue or maintain what is already in place. Leaders, on the other hand, have a vision of what can be, and what the organization can become. They have the ability to analyze and synthesize information, to see the whole rather than the parts, and to build commitment to the shared vision or mission. Dzimbiri (2009:169) succinctly puts it that “leading involves providing vision, direction, coordination, control, motivation, energizing and inspiring. On the other hand, managing is about planning for the achievement of per-set goals.”
Despite all these given distinctions, it is, however, important to appreciate the fact that leadership is inextricably linked to management. As noted by Dzimbiri (2009:169), “there is a strong relationship between leadership and managerial functions.” Admittedly, leading and managing are two sides of the same coin. In fact, many of the roles associated with a manager are similar to those expected of a leader. Cohen et al (1995:288) admits that the two roles are hard to separate, “since most managers have some responsibility for setting direction, and few get to just carry routine work”. It means therefore that leadership is part of management and management is one part of leadership (ibid).
With this introductory observation at the back of our minds, this paper sets off to discuss the crucial role of leadership for the success of any project. The argument presented in this paper is that for projects and project managers to be effective and successful, they must not only demonstrate administrative skills and technical know how, but must also practice an appropriate style of leadership and must also contain an aura of leadership qualities. The crux of project management or any management job lies in the job-holder’s capacity to obtain the commitment of people to the objectives of the organization, which is another way of saying to exercise appropriate leadership (Cole, 1996:50). This forms the basis of this paper’s discussion.
But what is leadership? Leadership as observed by Beach and Reinhartz (2000:73) “has many definitions based on historical circumstances and the views of theorists and researchers.” Cohen et al (1995:288) say that, “the purpose of a universal definition of effective leadership is still intriguing but elusive.” However, Dzimbiri (2009:170) notes that “for many theorists, leadership is the art of influencing individual and group efforts towards the optimum achievement of organizational goals.” For Greenberg and Baron (1997:433).” Leadership resembles love: It is something most people believe they can recognize but often find difficult to define.” Jewell (1998), however, suggests that leadership involves the art of inducing compliance through the use of influence or persuasion. Leadership has also been viewed in terms of personal traits and behaviour, influence and interaction patterns, roles and positions, and the perceptions of others (Yukl, 1994:59). Bennis and Nanus (1997:19) have written that leadership is “the most studied and least understood topic.” Wiles and Bondi (1986) have noted that there are over 130 definitions of leadership found in educational literature. Terry (1993: 14-15) cautions that leadership is not “techniques, quick fixes, or heroics” but rather a “mode of engagement with life, requiring a lifelong commitment to growing toward human fulfillment.” Lambert (1998: 5-6) says that leadership involves:
Learning together and constructing meaning and knowledge collectively and collaboratively— to reflect on and make sense of work in the light of shared beliefs and create actions that grow out of these new understandings.
Cole (1996:51) defines leadership as a “dynamic process in a group whereby one individual influences the others to contribute voluntarily to the achievement of group tasks in a given situation.”
As all of the above definitions demonstrate, leadership is a complex, multifaceted concept with many nuances involved in the application of the process (Rudnistski, 1996). A comprehensive, people-oriented definition of leadership is provided by Knezevich (1994:60), who says:
Leadership is a process of stimulating, developing, and working with people within an organization.
It is a human-oriented process and focuses upon personnel motivation, human relationships or social
Interactions, interpersonal communications, organizational climate, interpersonal conflicts, personal
growth and development, and enhancement of the productivity of human factors in general.
Putting all of these definitions together, a common thread that suggests action emerges from these definitions. Leaders, therefore, are individuals who inspire other people to do things, to take action, or to respond in some way. The role of a leader therefore is to direct the group towards group goals (Cole, 1996:51). But the question still begged is: How and why is leadership the major determining factor of a project success?
The answers to this mind-boggling question still lie in the roles that leaders do in project. For the purposes of this discussion, the terms ‘leader’ and ‘manager’ will be used interchangeably, even though customarily there is a distinction. As already alluded to, all managers and supervisors are leaders, because they need to motivate their team to achieve agreed objectives. Obviously, there are other factors that determine the success of a project like concept, objectives, time and available resources. Keeling (2000:54) says that “occasionally a project might fail or be abandoned because of external circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen like changes in government policy or sometimes physical security.” However, what is being contended in this paper is that of all these factors, leadership is the major determining factor of a project success since most of these other factors that can choke the success of a project can be ironed out through effective leadership. Here are the answers how and why this is so.
Firstly, it should be noted that any project requires human resource. According to the Association of Business Executive Handbook (2000: 78), “people are an organization’s most valuable and expensive resource, but they are the most difficult element of an organization to manage.” As already pointed out in this discussion, management could be defined as “getting things done through people.” However, this is more easily said than done. People possess a variety of talents and they will react differently in different circumstances. In fact, in many ways people are unpredictable (ibid). This means that unlike machines, they are not interchangeable, which creates problems for organizations. For example, a person may work well one day but not the next, or may cope well with pressures one day but fail to cope another day. Workers therefore need to be constantly motivated to do the work. This is where the importance of effective leadership comes in.
According to Burke (2003:312), “motivation is an inner force that causes someone to be inspired to do something.” However, an important point to note is that what inspires one person may not inspire another. And what inspires an individual in one set of circumstances may not inspire him in another (ibid). The leader’s task is to influence the work situation in such a way as to encourage the individuals to inspire and motivate themselves to achieve the project’s goal. Motivation is concerned with why people do or refrain from doing things. According to ABE (2000: 78) a motive “is a need or a driving force within a person.” For a project to be successful, the project leader needs to be prepared to be the motivator and the cheerleader, so as to generate enthusiasm for the project and continually obtain, buy-in support, commitment and participation from individual project team members and various stakeholders. According to NYS Project Management Handbook, “a project leader’s role is to try to determine what motivates individual project team members” (32). This may include the desire for challenging work, professional development recognition, possibility for promotion or collaboration with other team members (ibid). All these require effective leadership skills in projects.
Related to the issue of motivation is commitment. According to Burke (2003:309), “the performance of an individual also depends on their willingness and drive to complete the tasks, in other words their commitment.” Commitment is not a fixed commodity. It may change in response to conditions and situations the individual encounters. To this extent, the leader’s role is to use an appropriate style of leadership to control the working environment in such a manner that the workforce will be committed to the task and so inspire and motivate themselves to achieve the objectives of the project (ibid).It is therefore disingenuous to say that workers can be committed to work, in projects where its leadership is lifeless.
Furthermore, for projects to be conducted effectively project stakeholders must trust project leaders and this essentially requires effective leadership. According to NYS Project Management Handbook, trust is developed overtime and is “most easily inspired when the project leader exhibits a willingness and ability to share information, discuss personal feelings, listen to and understand others’ perspective, admit mistakes, encourage others, confront others, keep promises, be credible and sincere and be responsible and accountable for actions”(P.33). Dzimbiri (2009:170) says that “managing trust is the emotional glue that binds followers and leaders together.” The role of leaders therefore is to build trust among project stakeholders.
Equally important in any project is the ability of leaders to be creative. According to Robbins (2003:35) “creativity means finding new or better ways of doing old things or finding new things that are useful and profitable to do.” Surely, this is an essential and indispensable ingredient in a competitive organization or in any project. The leader’s function calls for initiating and designing changes in the way the project operates (Cohen et al, 1995:319). In carrying out this task, the leader diagnoses trends, envisions possibilities, plans improvements, invents programs and other solutions and in general promotes innovation (ibid). It is mainly from such innovation that material progress towards better living.
Another important leadership skill that has an overwhelming contribution to the success of a project is organizing. According to David (2009:145), “organizing means determining who does what and who reports to whom.” The purpose of organizing is to achieve coordinated effort by defining task and authority relationships. A well-organized project generally has motivated managers and employees who are committed to seeing the project succeed. Resources are allocated more effectively and used more efficiently in a well-organized project than in a disorganized project (ibid).
Further to organizing is another significant job of a leader in a project, which is proper planning. According to David (2009:143), “planning is the essential bridge between the present and the future that increases the likelihood of achieving desired results.” Planning is the process by which one determines whether to attempt a task, works out the effective way of reaching desired objectives, and prepares to overcome unexpected difficulties with adequate resources. Planning enables one to avoid the trap of working extremely hard but achieve little in a project. It helps a project achieve maximum effect from a given effort. David (2009:144) has given several advantages of planning to a project. He says planning “enables a project to take into account relevant factors and focus on the critical ones.” He also says planning “helps ensure that the project can be prepared for all reasonable eventualities and for all changes that will be needed.” Planning enables an organization to gather all resources needed and carry out tasks in the most efficient way possible. Planning enables a project to “conserve its own resources, avoid wasting ecological resources, make a fair profit, and be seen as an effective, useful” project (ibid). Planning enables a project “to identify precisely what is to be achieved and to detail precisely the who, what, when, where, why, and how to achieve the desired objectives” (ibid). If truth be told, planning is the cornerstone of every effective strategy formulation. This is so largely because organizing, motivating, controlling and other managerial activities depend upon good planning.
Perhaps mention must also be made here that communication in a project is also very crucial in effective project leadership. According to the NYS Project Management Handbook, “communication is a very critical component of every project management process” so it is required that the project leader or manager develop skills that ensure that messages are appropriately transmitted and correctly received (23). The role of a project leader is to build and nurture all relationships with all identified key project stakeholders. These include the project sponsor(s), project team members, customer representatives, beneficiaries and other stakeholders that may influence the project’s progress and success (ibid). It is up to the project leader to provide appropriate communication opportunities for each stakeholder. The project manager should ensure that there are mechanisms—formal or informal—for obtaining stakeholders’ feedback. The project manager should also be cognizant of the role played by informal communications. A conversation in the hallway, a chance meeting outside the office with the stakeholder, even overhead conversations, may have a potential impact on the project. Since the project manager is responsible for setting and managing the “mood” of the project, he/she must pay attention to communication undercurrents, and be prepared to bring relevant issues to more formal communication venues when appropriate.
It would be also very inappropriate if this essay is blind to the fact that in projects there can be some forms of skirmishes. Robbins (2003:29) notes that “conflict comes to expression in its various forms such as illogical disagreement, win-lose arguments, or even open-fighting.” He further says, “in one way or another, all constitute evidences of emotional tension and disturbance between individuals or groups” (ibid). Furthermore, conflict smacks of lack of authority in an organization. Therefore conflict cannot be allowed to permeate the work situation. In any case, it has to be brought under control before it becomes unmanageable. Since a project is by definition temporary, the project manager cannot afford the luxury of waiting until a conflict ‘blows over’ but must work to create a setting where the conflict can be resolved quickly and with as little damage as possible. The role of a leader therefore is to develop an effective negotiating style.
The last role of a leader in a project that this essay puts forward is that of good decision making. According to Dzimbiri (2009:154), “decision making is the process of locating and defining the problem, weighing the various alternative solutions in terms of their possible consequences, choosing the best solution from among them and ensuring that the decision has been implemented effectively.” Good decision-making is an essential skill of a leader that is needed in any project. If one makes timely and well-considered decisions, then one can lead ones project team to spectacular and well-deserved success (ibid). If one makes poor decisions, the project team risks failure and one’s time as a leader will most likely be short. A decision situation involves either the presence of a problem or an opportunity which can be exploited. As a matter of fact, one can safely say that decision-making is at the heart of management as every managerial function requires making a decision.
In conclusion, this paper has looked at how leadership determines the success of any project. The assertion that this essay makes, in a summary, is that leadership plays a vital role in a project since it helps in such issues as motivation of project team members, commitment, building trust, being creative, planning, organizing, communication, solving conflicts and good decision making.
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