Leadership and Management: Harold Kerzner vs John Maxwell

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Table of Contents

Laws of Leadership
Dr. Kerzner’s book
References

Laws of Leadership

The law of the picture is applied in several ways among children. For instance, the advances in information and communication technology have made children emulate a lot of what they see on television and still pictures (Maxwell, 2005). There are myriads of TV programs and entertainment scenes such as cartoons that are adored by children. In the long run, these children tend to behave like the characters they interact with the audio-visual media.

Also, the law of the picture can be applicable among children through their life experiences. For example, children who live in war-torn countries tend to develop war-like traits. On the same note, a peaceful environment enhances modest growth in character.

According to the law of the buy-in, people are largely not interested in the kind of vision created by a leader. They are instead fascinated by the type of leader (Maxwell, 2005). I once found myself in the above situation when I was assigned a small team to lead at the workplace. Although I had impeccable leadership qualities from the very beginning, I found it quite challenging to pass across some of the best ideas I had for the community outreach team.

My group was supposed to attend a week-long community outreach program aimed at sensitizing the local population on the importance of regular medical screening. As a team leader, I was charged with the responsibility of drafting rules and regulations that would guide members. One of the rules stated that no team member would be allowed to overindulge in drinking and other leisurely activities. Out of the 25 members, only 4 individuals supported the latter rule. They put across several proposals on how the rules would be made better.

The law of victory can be best applied by involving all the team members in deliberations and decision making processes. One of the gravest mistakes that most leaders commit is deciding all important issues on behalf of the team (Maxwell, 2005). All the divergent views must be shared out among all team members before any proposals are fully adopted.

Dr. Kerzner’s book

Most of the performance measures indicated in the table are indeed valid especially if they are followed to the letter. For example, a performance appraisal should be carried out by a qualified person who heads the given project. However, other external appraisers should be included in the performance appraisal procedure because the superior official who heads a project may have personal interests in the project that can hinder his or her effectiveness (Kerzner, 2009).

Secondly, all sources of performance data should be availed from both human resources and project managers since they are directly in charge of the daily monitoring of a project. The primary measures indicated in the table are not exhaustive enough. Worse still, they ought to be listed in terms of their intrinsic importance to project management. Successful completion of a project should be pegged on the efficiency of the team that is charged with running the project.

Therefore, it is vital for all the primary measures to focus on overall project efficiency. Later on, primary measures may dwell on issues such as technical implementations, major milestones, schedules, and trade-offs. Nonetheless, measures presented in the table provide the most likely direction that any project should follow (Kerzner, 2009).

All the additional considerations may not be necessary for a real environment where a particular project is being carried out. For example, the difficulty of various roles involved in project management should be visualized beforehand by project managers since certain difficulties may not be easily predictable especially before the project kicks off. In other words, the top officials should manage the project using the set objectives.

Besides, responsibilities that stem from the management should be stipulated at the beginning of the project. In any case, managerial responsibilities should be well known to avoid cases of random decision-making processes. The latter may mislead the project if not taken care of early enough. Therefore, managerial responsibilities in the given list should be replaced with factors such as sustainability and future endeavors of the project.

How should a project manager handle a situation in which the functional employee (or functional manager) appears to have more loyalty to his profession, discipline, or expertise than to the project? Can a project manager also have this loyalty, say, on an R&D project?

Extreme loyalty towards an individual’s area of expertise may jeopardize the well-being and successful completion of a project. The stipulated aims and objectives of a project should supersede any other kind of commitment among employees or other functional managers especially if the project has not been completed. Therefore, a project manager should guide the rest of the team on the need to remain loyal to the project alone. It is equally not advisable for a project manager to develop such kind of loyalty when the mainstream project is still in progress (Kerzner, 2009).

Does a functional employee have the right to challenge any items in the project manager’s non-confidential evaluation form?

A functional employee can challenge any provisions in the evaluation form since he or she is important as a decision-maker in the project.

What is an effective working relationship between project managers themselves?

Project managers are supposed to maintain a continuous flow of communication whenever they are working on a particular project. An effective working relationship cannot be attained in an environment where there is a communication breakdown. Besides, project managers should pass all the major decisions as a team. Needless to say, they ought to develop a consultative approach when implementing major proposals affecting the project (Kerzner, 2009).

In the most successful projects, project managers lead by example and also remain focused within the set objectives. It would be an exercise in futility if project managers pursue divergent objectives. Finally, project managers ought to uphold high levels of integrity, dignity, and respect while co-working as a team. These qualities boost the morale of one another since each one of them feels valued and honored.

Must everyone in the organization understand the “rules of the game” for project management to be effective?

Indeed, the success of a project will only be made a reality if all team members work as a unit with a common understanding of what is to be done. This begins from the point of decision making. All the team members must understand the rationale of all decisions passed and how they will be relevant in the project. Moreover, understanding the rules of the game goes beyond adhering to mere rules and regulations. Members of the team should demonstrate high levels of devotion and commitment throughout the lifespan of a project (Kerzner, 2009).

References

Kerzner, H. (2009). Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling (10^th ed.). New Jersey: John Willey and Sons.

Maxwell, J. (2005). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (10^th ed.). New York: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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