Chapter News

Date:  February 6, 2024

Time:  1:00 - 2:00 PM (EDT) / 10 - 11:00 AM PDT

Virtual Event, Register on form in link

Speaker #1: Analyzing Project Political Landscape: Swimming with Sharks without Being Eaten Alive - Vijay Verma

Speaker #2:Steer the Wheel of Change: Adaptive Leadership for Project Managers - Christine Aykac

PDU: 1

Cost:  FREE

Steer the Wheel of Change: Adaptive Leadership for Project Managers
Christine Aykac
Adaptive leadership is a crucial aspect of effective project management. It involves the ability to anticipate potential challenges, respond quickly to unexpected developments, and navigate through uncertainty with ease. It requires a proactive approach to problem-solving and the ability to embrace change rather than resist it.
The Adaptive Leadership session is inspired by the Future of the Work 2023 report from the World Economic Forum. This transformative session aims to equip you with the knowledge to develop an adaptive mindset and attitude. The session will discuss Adaptive Leadership from three perspectives: Leader (Me), Team (We), and Organization (Us). This approach provides holistic insight into the Adaptive Leadership Framework, enabling leaders at all levels to create an agile environment for themselves, their team members, and their organizations.

Analyzing Project Political Landscape: Swimming with Sharks without Being Eaten Alive.
Vijay Verma
Most project managers have enormous responsibility but limited authority. Successful project managers must understand the dynamics of power and politics and the importance of managing stakeholders through leadership and influence.

The following are a few facts about politics in project environments:

• Politics are inevitable in project environments whether you like it or not.
• Ignoring the politics surrounding your projects can be detrimental to your project success.
• Analyzing your political landscape is essential to identify positions of your stakeholders.
• Stop being naïve and learn to become political sensible to deal with sharks.

So, What Should You Do?
This session focuses on analyzing your political landscape to navigate organizational politics effectively. Project managers must analyze the political landscape in their organizations to identify three political positions (Naïves, Sharks, and Politically Sensibles).
You will understand the important keywords for positive and negative politics, identify three political positions, and increase your leadership effectiveness. You will learn how to stop being naïve, protect yourself from “sharks,” learn to be politically sensible, and convert your adversaries and opponents into allies. You will learn many practical tips to become politically sensible and create a climate of more collaboration, teamwork, synergy, commitment, and motivation for getting things done and leading people to their peak performance by using the art of positive politics and minimizing the negative impact of politics.

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Christine Aykac
Learning Strategist / Coach / Trainer
Christine Aykac is a dynamic, engaging problem solver and change agent who brings realism, openness, and enthusiasm to practitioners globally. She has over 25 years of experience managing programs and providing assistance in utilizing technologies and knowledge assets. Christine’s experience enables her to utilize the best suitable methodology to ensure the teams’ success. Her objective is to spark positive change in the business world through thought-provoking dialog and interaction through her training materials, books, blogs, speaking and consulting engagements.

Vijay Verma
Professional Trainer & Coach in Leadership and Project Management
Vijay K. Verma, PMI Fellow, PMP, MBA, P.Eng, is an internationally known speaker, trainer and author with more than 40 years of experience in the area of Project Management. He has written the three-volume series originally published by PMI, which includes Organizing Projects for Success, Human Resource Skills for the Project Manager, and Managing the Project Team. After three successful books published by PMI, Mr. Verma wrote his 4th book “The Art of Positive Politics: A Key to Delivering Successful Projects” published in June 2018 by Multi-Media Publications Inc. He is working on his 5th book on “Leading with Purpose: Positive Power and Inspirational Influence” to be published in 2021. Mr. Verma received 2009 PMI Fellow Award, 1999 PMI David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award, and the 1999 PMI Distinguished Contribution Award for significant contributions to the project management profession. Mr. Verma has presented several workshops on project management in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa, China, and India with participants from a wide range of industries. His presentations have been attended by over 4000 professionals working in the area of Project Management and have helped enhance their skills and confidence in leadership, communication, influencing, managing politics, negotiating, managing conflicts, motivating stakeholders, , and creating high-performance teams in a cross-cultural, multi-generational, and virtual environments. Mr. Verma is currently an Emeritus and has worked for forty years in the area of Project Management at TRIUMF (TRI University Meson Facility), a federally funded Canada’s Particle Accelerator Center and Canadian National Research Laboratory at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Here he has provided project management services for projects varying in size, complexity, and diversity.