Collective Wisdom from the Experts 177
• Don’t try to figure out which label would make the best project manager.
There is no right answer to that question. A good project manager has to
be flexible, i.e., be able to diagnose each situation and shift out of his/her
comfort zone to respond in the most effective way.
• From your available data, create a fresh, current personal inventory of
strengths and weaknesses. Keep it where you will always be able to find it
and update it as you continue to learn more about yourself.After that, the rest is downhill! Use an available strengths inventory to assess
your team. Then, look for people on the team who have strengths in the areas
listed on your personal weakness inventory.
For me (an Expressive type , if you know the Social Styles types), my weakness
is attention to detail. I’ll always need someone (an Analytical type) to keep
me on track in that area! If you’re likely to try to please others more than you
should, you may need someone to help you drive the project forward more
forcefully than you would be comfortable doing yourself.
Make sure that you have teammates with complementary skills working with
you in areas where your weaknesses lie. But you don’t have to tell them that’s
what you are doing, right? Keep some mystique about it, and maybe you can
convince the team that you are a superhero. I won’t tell anyone otherwise.