Greetings Leaders!
I often wonder why some people make it big and others not so much. A friend went to see the Rat Pack Tribute recently that highlighted singers that resembled Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. The singers were pretty good. But… why did the originals rise to stardom and these others just become good impersonators?
When I go to San Francisco and walk down the wharf, I always see talented musicians playing on the sidewalk for money. Many are often broke. What happened to them? Why aren’t they using their talents making a lot of money, or at least sharing their gifts to make a living? Instead, they live a life of poverty, hoping someone will come by and throw a buck in their guitar case. How about project managers? Why do some rise to stardom as a project rockstar, and others languish in mediocrity? Want to be a project rockstar? You can if you’re willing to follow some simple advice.
Before we dive in, I hope you don’t think I’m even implying that I think I am a project rockstar. I don’t want to be a legend in my own mind. So, let’s just say that having been around successful project managers, I know what it takes to get there. So… becoming a project rockstar is not rocket science… but it also isn’t easy. Here are ten steps to becoming a project rockstar:
- Become Certified either through PMI or Prince2
- Become technology savvy
- Learn at least 2 Project Scheduling Tools
- Know how to use Microsoft Office very well
- Buy an i-phone or smartphone (I’m not kidding)
- Become a proficient writer
- Become a proficient speaker
- Do something outside of the office
- Teach project management
- Volunteer for PMI
- Sit on a board for a non-profit
- Hit the speaking circuit
- Author a book
- Learn how to build relationships
- Never eat alone (aka networking)
- Learn how to read a room and body language
- Become a good salesman
- Have a passion for helping people/organizations to get the right things done
That’s it!
All the best!
All the time!
JT
Related articles
- Top Qualities of a Project Manager: What to Look for in Your Next Project Manager? (brighthub.com)
- Five Effective Online Web Apps For Project Managers (smashinghub.com)
- How Technical Should a Technical Project Manager Be? (brighthub.com)
Nice one , steps are well known, doing each of these in iteself is a TASK. Authoring a book, may take years similar to developing other skills. Anyway it is a new term – PROJECT ROCKSTAR