Every superheroine has a good origin story… Lead and deliver was born on November 5th, 2014 after weeks of assessments and intense self-reflection. I began the Find Your Forte program merely wanting to identify what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had a track record of delivery excellence. I was definitely recognized as […]
March
13
Two Key Considerations When Building a Dashboard: Interesting vs. Useful
posted by Jonesy
I love data. Who doesn’t nowadays? We are in the middle of a big data revolution with technology solutions and have so much data accessible to us. With that, many of us are asked to provide our leadership with a dashboard to measure business performance metrics and other key performance indicators. This has happened to me […]
November
12
#storyworthy – About that time I had my dream job starting a PMO
posted by Jonesy
…the only way to do great work is to love what you do… -Steve Jobs The Challenge We were the Project Management Office for a new technology division in a matrixed organization. There was no enterprise-wide PMO and very little project management governance, although Finance and Business Operations had project approval processes. We were a team made up of functional resources […]
April
25
Finding My Parking Spot: A Professional Development Analogy
posted by Jonesy
It was a rare occasion that my husband and I could have a date on a school night. We were both rushing from work and planned to meet at the movie theatre. I was familiar with the theatre and the attached parking deck. I knew exactly where I wanted to park – it was my […]
December
08
#storyworthy – Collaborating for Extraordinary Results
posted by Jonesy
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” –Andrew Carnegie The Challenge I was a part of a technology division in a company that was undergoing significant change. Translation – layoffs and […]
September
03
How to Lead Awesome Meetings
posted by Jonesy
Meetings get a bad rap, and deservedly so – most are disorganized and distracted. But they can be a critical tool for getting your team on the same page. -Justin Rosenstein, Founder Asana Yes, meetings suck. Well, sucky meetings suck. You have been in enough sucky meetings to know this. You left confused and without clear guidance. And you […]
July
20
The Importance of Stakeholder Management
posted by Jonesy
“If a project is successful and no one knows about it, is it really successful?” -Erin M. Jones This is a cautionary tale about stakeholder management. Specifically, about how I led a successful project that was not viewed that way because I failed to properly define and engage my stakeholders. A few years ago… I was asked to […]
Reflections on Leadership: My Top 5
posted by Jonesy
Like you, I’ve attended many leadership trainings and retreats, and read tons of articles on the characteristics that make leaders great. In each, I’ve learned something about my leadership style. This article summarizes my Top 5 Takeaways from a specific leadership experience that I had serving as Board President and Acting Director for a nonprofit organization. This article seeks […]
Managing Distractors
posted by Jonesy
There is always one Distractor. Sometimes they are the “what if” question-asker. The person in the room who believes it is their role to bring up a “smart” question that challenges the project team. Their comment may start off with “I don’t want to take us down a rabbit hole, but…” You know who I’m talking […]
March
08
The 3 A’s: Get the right level of Autonomy, Authority, and Access to successfully lead your next project
posted by Jonesy
You’ve just been assigned your next project. What do you do next? Identify stakeholders, define scope, and begin chartering the project. Yes. Absolutely. Start with that. I would like to propose that you also assess the level of Autonomy, Authority, and Access that you have so that you are equipped with the right tools for […]
Lead and Deliver 