Recently, Kathy Smith, a project manager for a large industrial construction organization, was assigned to oversee a multimillion-dollar chemical plant construction project in Southeast Asia. Kathy had earned this assignment after completing a number of smaller construction assignments in North America over the past three years. This was her first overseas assignment and she was eager to make a good impression, particularly given the size and scope of the project. Successfully completing this project would increase her visibility within the organization dramatically and earmark her as a candidate for upper management. Kathy had good project management skills; in particular, she was organized and highly self-motivated. Team members at her last two project assignments used to joke that just trying to keep up with her was a full-time job. Kathy wasted no time settling in to oversee the development of the chemical plant. Operating under (continued) CaSe STuDy 4.1 In Search of Effective Project Managers Pureswing Golf, Inc., manufactures and sells a full line of golf equipment, including clubs, golf balls, leisurewear, and ancillary equipment (bags, rain gear, towels, etc.). The company competes in a highly competitive and fast-paced industry against better-known competitors, such as Nike, Taylor Made, Titleist, PING, Calloway, and Cleveland. Among the keys to success in this industry are the continuous introduction of new club models, innovative engineering and design, and speed to market. As a smaller company trying to stay abreast of stronger competitors, Pureswing places great emphasis on the project management process in order to remain profitable. At any time, the company will have more than 35 project teams developing new ideas across the entire product range. Pureswing prefers to find promising engineers from within the organization and promote them to project manager. It feels that these individuals, having learned the companys philosophy of competitive success, are best equipped to run new product introduction projects. For years, Pureswing relied on volunteers to move into project management, but lately it has realized that this ad hoc method for finding and encouraging project managers is not sufficient. The failure rate for these project manager volunteers is over 40%, too high for a company of Pureswings size. With such steady turnover among the volunteers, successful managers have to pick up the slackthey often manage five or six projects simultaneously. Top management, worried about burnout among these highperforming project managers, has decided that the firm must develop a coordinated program for finding new project managers, including creating a career path in project management within the organization. Questions 1. Imagine you are a human resources professional at Pureswing who has been assigned to develop a program for recruiting new project managers. Design a job description for the position. 2. What qualities and personal characteristics support a higher likelihood of success as a project manager? 3. What qualities and personal characteristics would make it difficult to be a successful project manager? 138 Chapter 4 Leadership and the Project Manager her normal work approach, Kathy routinely required her staff and the senior members of the project team to work long hours, ignoring weekend breaks if important milestones were coming up, and generally adopting a round the-clock work approach for the project. Unfortunately, in expecting her team, made up of local residents, to change their work habits to accommodate her expectations, Kathy completely misread the individuals on her team. They bitterly resented her overbearing style, unwillingness to consult them on key questions, and aloof nature. Rather than directly confront her, however, team members began a campaign of passive resistance to her leadership. They would purposely drag their feet on important assignments or cite insurmountable problems when none, in fact, existed. Kathys standard response was to push herself and her project team harder, barraging subordinates with increasingly urgent communications demanding faster performance. To her bewilderment, nothing seemed to work. The project quickly became bogged down due to poor team performance and ended up costing the project organization large penalties for late delivery. Although Kathy had many traits that worked in her favor, she was seriously lacking in the ability to recognize the feelings and expectations of others and take them into consideration. Questions 1. Discuss how Kathy lacked sufficient emotional intelligence to be effective in her new project manager assignment. 2. Of the various dimensions of emotional intelligence, which dimension(s) did she appear to lack most? What evidence can you cite to support this contention?