Leadership Qualities in Project Management

Abstract

This article is aimed at researching the phenomenon of leadership, analyzing the qualities of project leaders and defining the key qualities that project managers should have to effectively manage teams and achieve maximum results. The article defines that in order to ensure effective management of the project team with dynamic changes in the external environment, the project manager must be not only a director, but also a leader at the same time. It is precisely the leadership qualities of the project manager, which provide the ability to coordinate the team’s work in such a manner that certain results be achieved, i.e., the expectations of the main stakeholders be fulfilled or exceeded. The article examines the most characteristic traits inherent in leaders, which are highlighted by various researchers of the «traits theory». It is determined that of importance for a project manager is not only certain traits of the leader, but also professional competence. The criteria for assessing the level of competence of project managers in accordance with the ICB4 standard, as well as the necessary skills in relation to the individual competence of «Leadership», are specified. The main qualities and skills of the leader-manager according to the latest version of the PMBOOK project management standard are also considered. The research carried out by the authors resulted in distinguishing the most important qualities of the leader, which, combined with the necessary professional knowledge and skills, will allow project managers to become successful and effective in team cohesion to achieve the best results in project activities. The traits allocated as result of the research, such as responsibility, perseverance, ability to cooperate, kindness and others, will allow project managers to be successful leaders of their teams and to effectively manage projects and programs.