I just read an article on Slate on the new Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It", a behind-the-scenes look at his preparation for a concert series right before he died this summer.    I hit one sentence and thought, "Hey, that's what we're supposed to be like as managers of projects and the people on them!"

Here's the lead-in paragraph and then the sentence that hit me is bolded:

"[Kenny] Ortega [the filmmaker] methodically works his way through the concert [preparation],.... We see Jackson helping to cast dancers (out of 5,000 who auditioned, only 11 were chosen for the show), coaching his keyboardist on how to come in just behind the beat ("Like you're dragging yourself out of bed"), and encouraging a female guitarist to go all-out on a shredding solo: "This is your time to shine."

The portrait of Jackson that emerges is of a considerate and respectful collaborator, but also an iron-willed perfectionist who knew precisely what he wanted out of his crew and insisted on getting it."

I really like that description, that combination of his "ways of being" -- considerate and respectful; but not a push-over, iron-willed too.  That's a great term.  You have to be iron-willed, to drive something important to completion, no matter what happens, to be sure you meet all the important goals!   By all accounts this concert was a huge deal to him and no way was he going to let anything get in the way of his vision for it.

Having a bit of the "conflict avoider" in my personality, this vignette paints an impactful word picture - an example of what an effective "project manager" looks like in action.  Key point:  "Considerate and respectful" does not mean we are "nice" all the time - and I'm referring to the 'nice' by which people really mean "go-along" or "'pushover.'   If  -- in the name of avoiding conflict, or being liked, or trying to survive the politics, or simply because we have no authority, so we think we have to get everything by being no-strong-words-nice on our projects --  we end up not saying a tough "no" when it's needed, not taking a stand on a project goal when someone (important) is trying to mess with it...   Well, that violates the second part of the Jackson description:  "...iron-willed... knew what he wanted.. insisted on getting it." (for the good of the show and his paying customers.) 

That iron-willed part is key for us as managers of our own critical "concerts".  That's the leader part, the business-savvy part, the customer-centric part.  And more than one executive has told me that the PMs they trust the most and promote are the ones that exhibit this strength of purpose.

Final comment:  I also like the picture I get from the details in the lead-in paragraph - how he was both considerate AND iron-willed.   He coached and corrected people in his crew to get the results he wanted.  He insisted on results, no giving way -- but he delivered it collaboratively as they worked together, and he did so with encouraging words too.

A great find over lunch today.  I think I actually may go see this concert movie :-)   And I'll definitely keep thinking about these traits as manifested by mature, strong, effective project managers: 

Collaborative, considerate, respectful...

but iron-willed, know what's important/needed, and insist on getting it for the good of the project.

Comments

Nice find. I like that too. "Iron-willed" by itself could too easily descend into didactic, draconic, and inflexible -- berating and browbeating the team rather than coaching and motivating them. Neither extreme gets far in the long run. One is reminded of the old definition of diplomacy ... ^_^