Of these personal traits, I consider the following four to be
among the most critical.
- Thinks like a generalist—Project managers must always be
thinking in terms of the big picture. This can be a challenge
for those who are accustomed to focusing more narrowly.
Although this trait certainly requires knowledge in many differ-
ent areas, what’s crucial is that you must pay attention and
care about everything and everybody. - A high tolerance for ambiguity—This competency will be
particularly challenging if you’re technically oriented. You’ll
often receive mixed signals or contradictory data. You need to
develop processes for finding truth and narrowing down inputs
without getting frustrated. This will probably not be easy for
you. - A high tolerance for uncertainty—As with ambiguity, this is
particularly challenging if you’re entering project management
from the technical arena. Most technically oriented people are
accustomed to precision. As a project manager, the norm is to
make many decisions without sufficient information. You must
condition yourself to making decisions that are only acceptable,
not perfect. - Honesty and integrity—Although obvious virtues, these traits
are worthy of specific mention. Whenever studies are performed
on the traits that people most admire or desire in leaders, hon-
esty and integrity always rise to the top. One of the best behav-
ioral traits for a project manager is to be known as doing what
you say you’ll do. Closely related is the issue of integrity, having
The Role of the Project Manager 39Managing Supporting Technologies
Your biggest challenge in the area of technology manage-
ment will probably come from dealing with the people
responsible for managing the supporting technology areas. It’s likely that
they will be your peers, which could lead to some angst, jealousy, and
competition.You can expect this interaction to test your interpersonal
and behavioral skills as much as any other, perhaps more.