Discover some of the best project management lessons you can learn from some of the world’s best ever business leaders.
It does not matter whether you are an experienced project manager or you are just starting out as a project management apprentice, you should never stop learning. There are always new project management training courses to take, new textbooks to read, and new sources to gain your inspiration from. So read on to discover some of the best project management lessons you can learn from some of the world’s best ever business leaders.
Richard Branson
Let’s start with Richard Branson, who is the founder of the Virgin Group. One lesson you can learn from Branson is the art of delegation. As a project manager, it can be very tempting to try and do everything yourself. However, you need to trust your team, and you need to be able to delegate tasks efficiently. Don’t merely give tasks to the first person that is available; you need to delegate tasks based on people’s skill set. Branson has often spoken about how delegation breeds confidence, enabling you to take a step back.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is another extremely successful leader who you can learn from. One of his greatest strengths was the ability to identify a need, and then determine what is required to fulfil this need. Gates has often used unconventional approaches to do this. For example, when they world was focused on hardware, Gates recognised that hardware could be made more productive through the use of software. This is something you need to replicate when managing a project. You need to determine what the project demands, what the team needs, and then you need to be willing to think outside of the box to fulfil these demands and needs.
Steve Jobs
Last but not least, we have the legend that is Steve Jobs. There are so many lessons we can learn from Steve Jobs, but we are going to focus on two in particular. The first is that you should always challenge your team to be their best. Jobs was notorious for challenging people to prove why their idea had merit and why it was worth pursuing. Whenever someone comes to you with an idea, they should be able to defend it and answer challenges. This will ensure the best ideas move forward while also ensuring people are more likely to work hard to make their ideas a success. Another lesson that is important is that you should never quit. Steve Jobs was relentless in pursuing his goals. He never stopped believing in himself. This is something you can definitely learn from.
As you can see, there are always some great lessons to be learnt by some of the world’s best business leaders. If you can follow the advice provided above, you are bound to notice a difference to your experience as a project manager. And, don’t forget to never stop learning; there are plenty of other lessons you can learn from different leaders. Study them and use them for inspiration.
