Project Leadership: A Question of Timing

Abstract

Project managers face a profession coupled with a number of unique challenges. Tasked with the successful implementation of their project, these leaders are given a mandate to operate their project teams as de facto profit centers for the organization as a whole. One key skill that successful project leaders need to master is the ability to attune their temporal skills to the nature of the work they are called upon to perform. Different aspects of their duties require appropriate and varying time orientations. This paper discusses the development of a model of time orientation, which argues that project leaders must possess or develop a number of temporal skills that match the various tasks and situations they are called upon to address. Finally, we posit some roles that project leaders must undertake and the desirable temporal alignment likely to enhance their chances for success.