Leadership skills – The key to strong project management

From motivating team members and facilitating clear communication to making critical decisions and navigating uncertainties, strong leadership is the core of successful project management. And these skills aren’t just valuable in project management, 40% of respondents in our 2024 research survey stated that personal leadership was the most important professional skill this year.

What are leadership skills?

Leadership skills are a set of abilities and qualities that enable individuals to guide, influence and inspire others. These skills can be developed and refined over time through experience, self-reflection and continuous learning.

Some examples of leadership skills include:

• Communication
• Motivation
• Decision-making
• Problem-solving
• Vision
• Empathy
• Delegation
• Strategic thinking

How can you improve your leadership skills?

Identify your strengths and weaknesses

Of the list above, which skills do you feel you currently do well, and which do you maybe struggle with. Once you can identify your areas of improvement you can place the focus on this as an area for development.

Expand your network

Observing others is a great way to improve your own skills. By expanding your network to encompass leaders you admire you’ll be able to watch how they handle certain situations, make decisions and overcome challenges. This is knowledge you can use to shape your own behaviour.

Practice, practice, practice

As a project manager, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to exhibit your leadership skills but it’s important to challenge yourself. Consider ways you can push yourself out of your comfort zone to help build on these abilities.

Embrace continuous learning

Effective leaders are always looking for ways to grow and improve themselves, setting a good example for their team. Reading books, attending industry events, and enrolling on training courses will all help to build your knowledge and skills.

Benefits of possessing good leadership skills

Possessing good leadership skills positively impacts various aspects of project management and contributes to overall project success. Improving your leadership skills will help you to:

• Develop a team of individuals who are more likely to be engaged, productive and motivated to achieving project goals
• Effectively communicate expectations, objectives and changes to reduce misunderstandings and conflicts
• Improve decision making that happens in a timely manner
• Enhance your relationships with stakeholders
• Build a culture of creativity, innovation and continuous learning

If you want to improve your leadership skills, training in PRINCE2® 7 is a great place to start. You’ll develop a good understanding of project management processes that will help you guide other team members. Plus, the methodology now includes a dedicated ‘people’ integrated element focused on developing these leadership and team management skills.

View our PRINCE2 7 courses and start your training today.