quantmleap

Over my professional career I’ve worked with many project managers, some junior, and some senior. One character trait I’ve come to observe with all of them was that when things got tough they were always around to make sure the ship kept steering in the right direction. Whether large scale or small scale projects; massive impact or subtle impact; project managers where always there to project authority, control and sense of calmness over their project teams. In a sense, one of the duties a project manager often needs to perform is being a source of confidence and security for people to look up to and know that everything will be just fine.

 It is with the above in mind that I followed the investigation into the events that transpired around the Victorian bushfire disaster that occurred last year. In that context, one of the investigations’ findings was that the police commissioner at the time, Christine Nixon, did not do what any other project managers I know would (and should) have done, that is to stick around and ‘be visible’ to the troops. For those not familiar with the story (as probably most international readers won’t), Christine Nixon, while heading the Victorian Police, exhibited a ‘hands-off” style of leadership, and as fires raged through large parts of the state, went out for dinner at a North Melbourne pub.

 The investigation referred to Mrs. Nixon’s behaviours as demonstrating “error of judgement” – and damn right it is. Running a police force, or any other job of authority and control requires not just the skills but also the attitude. I can’t imagine a situation where a project team is battling issues, pressing deadlines etc. where a project manager would just leave and let his/her team battle on their own. Even if you can’t fix the code, complete the specifications or run the jobs, you can still walk around and provide words of encouragements, make coffee and deliver the pizza.

 So, when it comes to a police commissioner who decided that going out for dinner is more important than supporting her troops – I’m not impressed and neither should you.

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