by Donnie MacNicol
Many models exist which aim to describe leadership. These can include a description of the practices, competencies, characteristics, traits and behaviours. Each looks at leadership through a different lens. An excellent example is Kouzes and Posner’s (2007) Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. This model identifies the five practices common to personal-best leadership experiences.
We have adapted this for the leadership of projects and added an additional practice, Deliver Value and its two commitments. As part of each practice there are behaviours or commitments that can serve as a basis for learning to lead, an ongoing requirement for each leader as they change and the context within which they lead changes. It is a generic leadership model but can be applied to the role of the project leader, as described below using the original commitments as a basis.
Many organizations have developed their own set of leadership competencies which reflect their own circumstances and what they are trying to achieve. This is critical, since although the competencies are broadly similar between organizations and industries, the specific context and areas of focus must be captured and built in to the set of competencies. We have been involved in doing this for multiple organisations globally and found a lot of consistency between sectors and geographies, adapted to suit the context of course.
Do you agree with the model below? Can you suggest how it can be improved? Do you have any suggestions as to where it could be used? Please comment above or contact me directly.
Practice | Commitment |
Model the Way |
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Inspire a Shared Vision |
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Challenge the Process |
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Enable Others to Act |
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Deliver Value |
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Encourage the Heart |
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Commitments as a Project Leader. Adapted from The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® model (Kouzes and Posner, 2007)