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Vol.
#21, 9/16/04
Deanne G. Bryce, editor
Andrea E. Sullivan, copy editor
LeaderStrength Systems, Inc. 2004
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Project Management by Gary
R. Heerkens, McGraw-Hill; (2002) Softcover, $14.95
ReaderStrength Rating:
Focus 2
Build 4
Adapt 4
Overall Rating as a Leadership Resource 3
(Please see "How Do We Evaluate Resources?" in right column)
One of the things that surprised me when I worked in
a corporate Human Resource department was how often we were asked to
evaluate and point out to senior management the people we thought might
be good leaders. I didn't realize that leaders are looking for leaders -
people who have the capacity to get things done through others. It turns
out that it is common practice to ask a high performer in a particular
role to lead a project because senior management or other organizational
leaders want to see if the high performer can move from being a good
individual contributor to leader.
If you are asked to lead a project, congratulations! You have been
selected because someone thinks you have the potential to take on a
larger role in your organization. Now you can look for and find a good
all around resource so you can create a win on your very first project.
Project Management, a
Briefcase Book from McGraw-Hill, written by Gary R Heerkens, is an
excellent choice.
Heerkens recognizes project management as being both an art and a
science. The science aspect of project management is using tools and
structures to "control" the process. (Control in the sense of guiding
the project from beginning to successful completion.) The art aspect of
project management is working with the people. He writes the book using
a fictitious character named Brad, who has been asked to lead a project.
Each chapter includes Brad's story based on where he is in the process
of project management and then breaks away from the story to explain the
details.
You may like project management so much that you change careers and
become a professional project manager. If so, this book has enough
detail into the tools used by professional project managers that you
will be on your way. If you decide to use the experience as a
steppingstone to another leadership role, there is guidance there in
terms of using introspection and self-awareness to continue developing
your leadership capacity.
We recommend the book if you find yourself in charge of a project or you
plan to assign a project to a potential leader. It does a satisfactory
job of creating a picture of an effective project leader. The book's
strengths are the balance between details of project management tools,
including what could go wrong and how to communicate problems, and the
awareness that achieving success is more than just applying tools.
In addition to this book we recommend our class called
Project Management Basics that we
are offering on October 15, 2004 through Temple University- Fort
Washington Campus.
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About ReaderStrength |
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ReaderStrength is an e-publication that saves you time when looking
for books to fuel your inspiration as you lead yourself and others.
Each issue is archived at our website
click here
How Do We Evaluate Resources?
All of the books we review are evaluated on how they support a
leader’s progress in applying our working definition of leadership.
We teach leaders to: Focus, Build, and Adapt:
Focus: A leader is able to see
a new future
Build: A leader can build from
his or her strengths as a foundation, adding on new skills,
knowledge, and attitudes to create the new future.
Adapt: A leader is skilled at
using feedback from their own thinking, other people’s reactions,
and results/information from their environments to self-correct and
keep moving toward the new future they envisioned.
Here is our rating system:
Outstanding 4
Good 3
Satisfactory 2
Unsatisfactory 1
Focus- How well does this book
inspire a vision of a new future?
Build- How well does this book
teach new knowledge and skills?
Adapt-How well does this book
assist readers in examining and optimizing their own behaviors?
Overall Rating as a Leadership Resource:
We average the ratings in the above three categories.
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