Effective Leadership: The Key for Project Success in Competitive Environment

Abstract

The application of leadership and management in the project execution is usually dependent on the type of project and the particular life cycle stage in which the project is being executed. There exists a wide range of projects which differ from each other in their characteristics. The projects which are large, complex, multidisciplinary and having technological uncertainties and challenges, confronts that achievement of goals and the deliverables are constrained by the time frame, budgets and market dynamics. These types of projects involve large and distributed project teams, comprising members from diverse disciplines. Also the implementation in such cases needs to be multi phased. In such a situation, the project success and business sustenance can be achieved only through an effective and dynamic leadership. Leading a project towards success requires the Project leader to get the work accomplished by the team members efficiently and effectively. It requires the Project leader to have a clear vision, clarity in reasoning, practical in scheduling and the ability to attract an efficient team. The leadership style should be flexible, sharing and innovative so as to bring about the project success. At the same time the leader should emphasize on team building and motivation so that the divergent members can work together as a team. The motivation behind undertaking this study is the interesting observation revealed in literature that the role of project leadership in coming years will be more fascinating, demanding and critical. The role of professionals working on projects as Manager, Coordinator, and Director are rapidly evolving from managing or directing to leading the projects. The function of project managers is rapidly evolving from managing or directing to leading the projects. This paper shall explore the significance of project leadership from literature and develop a framework for achieving Project success. This would further aim at identifying the key competencies of Project leader which drives towards project success.