Everyone has a reason for doing what they do. Some people know their passion at the age of 5, and follow it for the rest of their lives. Some people stumble into employment that fits them like the final piece to a puzzle.

My love affair with project management was something of an evolution, and it was a fit that I have grown into. It’s definitely not a job that a 5 year old envisions, but somehow it fits with many of the things I have valued since I was not much older than that.

I am a self-proclaimed jock. I’ve played team sports since I was 5, refereed since I was 11 and coached since I was 12. I believe in all of the lessons we learn about from our coaches, teammates, or classic sports films. I not only believe in these lessons, I’ve carried them with me throughout my career.

First—and most obviously—I believe in teamwork. I believe that 99% of the time, a good team can solve problems better than the individual. Teams generate not only more ideas but also many different ones. There are creative thinkers, logical thinkers, analytical thinkers and dreamers. And most groups have at least one devil’s advocate to uncover possible problems with proposed solutions. No single person can possibly break down a problem from all angles—but a team can. Project management is all about working within the constructs of a team—and I love that. You can’t be a good project manager unless you are a good team player. You can’t be a great project manager unless you are also a great team leader.

This brings me into my second point—a good team needs a good leader, and oftentimes there is actually more than one. On a successful team you have the captain, the coach, and at least one other player that can spark a team’s intensity when they need it most. I’ve played all of those roles on different teams, and they all come with different responsibilities. Being the project manager is most like being the coach—you need to encourage someone else to step up as the captain. Your captain could be a tech lead, a designer, anyone that people trust and want to work with.  The captain’s job is to lead by doing whereas my job is to lead by inspiring. I can pull the team together and guide them by being a strategist, organizer, and manager. But I am not the one playing the game and therefore I only have a certain amount of impact on the outcome. The players need a leader that will take the ball when the game is down to the wire and orchestrate that last minute play. As a project manager and coach I want to help them find that leader, and then give that leader the tools that she/he needs to sink that final shot or score that final goal. And it’s not just about molding the captain, but everyone else as well. On a good team everyone understands their roles and are proud of the parts they play in the game—whether it’s being the star, the 6th man off the bench, or the practice player.

A team understands selflessness, and a good coach embodies that selflessness. The best coaches do what they do for the love of the game. A good coach will design the play for the final shot in their playbook, and
then sit in… the shadows? That’s right—the coach doesn’t usually get credit for that last second shot. After all, the coach might teach the strategies but they cannot implement them. And a good coach understands,
recognizes and embraces the concept of selflessness. The coach’s job is to make glory accessible for their team, and then to step back and enjoy that glory from a bit of a distance. This isn’t always easy, but there is a
certain wonderment in watching someone else succeed and knowing that you helped them get there. For me, there is nothing quite as satisfying. I basked in the glory back in my day, and it was a great feeling. But it doesn’t compare to watching a player that I’ve coached bask in their own glory—that, to me, is true success.

And that is why I do what I do. No project is perfect, but it is my job to help my team work through the imperfections. We won’t win every game—but a champion learns from their losses and uses it to shape their game plans in the future. Our game plan is to win. When we do, my favorite part is watching my team soak in their success.