Lazymale is our first guest blogger on pm411.org.  But don’t let his name fool you - he keeps busy as a Program Manager at a software services firm where he manages a team of 50 people both offshore and in the United States.  Yet he still has time to keep up his own blog at www.lap31.com!  Lazymale describes his lap31.com blog as being about ”laps in this race of a lifetime… of the laps we covered and the laps that remain… of struggles, commitment and leadership… of teamwork and trust… of learning from mistakes to creating success stories and winning… Are we prepared for what’s ahead?  Are we ready to lead?” 

You can reach Lazymale at lazymale@lap31.com.

I’d like to think that I am a very good driver, if not an expert. Even then once in a while, I miss a red light, I over speed and sometimes even make a wrong turn. Does that mean I should quit driving altogether? I don’t think so. I need to be aware of these errors and be careful. Similarly, it is not unusual to miss a project deadline. No matter how good we plan, we may still miss a deadline somewhere; someday. Should we be afraid to plan because we fear our plans would slip? Not at all. We have to put in our best effort and plan. Then we publish that plan, track its activities, anticipate slippages, re-plan and continue tracking. We all have to go through a process of learning before getting it right and we learn best by making mistakes. It’s okay to make mistakes because mistakes pave the way to success. What’s really important is recovering from our mistakes, being in control of the project even when the goings are tough, being confident of getting past the hurdles and most of all - being accountable.  Here’s how:

• Be Proactive (not reactive) by taking initiatives and converting it into actions
• Be Responsible by taking ownership of your actions
• Make Decisions without fearing its outcome and trusting your gut
• Be Confident of your decisions and your actions

You are a leader. While it is okay for a leader to make mistakes, it is not expected of a leader to make excuses, point fingers or play the blame game. Even if it is not your fault, it does not matter. You are accountable. You are accountable for the project that you planned for. You are accountable for your actions, your team’s actions; for everyone and everything in the project, the project that you own… and when you stand up - not to blame but to own, that’s when we see a leader in you.

Please visit http://www.lap31.com/ for more of the author’s experiences in leadership and project management.  Are you ready to lead?