https://www.pm-podcast.com/539 - Leadership comes in many styles, and the podium of a conductor offers striking lessons for project managers. In this conversation, Itay Talgam brings his wealth of experience as a classical conductor to shed light on what leadership means when you are tasked with guiding a group of experts toward a shared goal. Using vivid stories about Riccardo Muti, Leonard Bernstein, and other legendary maestros, he shows how leadership style is not fixed but evolves with culture, context, and experience. Just as conductors must adapt to each orchestra, project leaders must adapt to the unique culture of their teams and organizations. The discussion emphasizes how authority and autonomy can coexist, why culture and leadership are inseparable, and how leaders can expand their own style without losing authenticity.

Project leadership, like conducting, often involves stepping into new situations where trust must be built quickly. Talgam shares his personal stories, including missteps and moments of learning, to illustrate the balance between demonstrating authority and acknowledging the contributions of team members. From the accidental project manager to the accidental conductor, parallels emerge that highlight humility, listening, and the importance of letting experts bring their full capability into the work. The conversation also examines the role of meaning and vision in uniting teams and customers, comparing the orchestra–audience relationship to agile projects where customers are an active part of the process.

The episode closes with insights into embracing gaps, staying out of comfort zones, and developing a language that unites project teams with their stakeholders. Talgam’s reflections reinforce that great leadership is not about knowing everything but about cultivating dialogue, trust, and the conditions for creativity. For project managers, these lessons translate into creating harmony across diverse skills, encouraging autonomy without losing direction, and leading teams to results that go beyond what any individual could achieve alone.

https://www.pm-podcast.com/537

Earn PDUs for This Episode: Visit https://www.pm-podcast.com/Earn-PDUs to see how many PDUs you can claim for your PMI certification renewal.

The most dangerous issue facing a Project Management Office (PMO) is not sudden collapse but a gradual decline in relevance and impact. In this conversation, Mel Bost, author of Understanding Project Practices and Processes, shares his insights from Chapter Four of the book, which focuses on PMOs and project performance. He explains why PMOs often fail to deliver consistent value, even when they are not technically “broken.” He highlights overlooked factors, from alignment with organizational strategy to a lack of meaningful performance measures, that contribute to slow underperformance. The discussion underscores that without proactive adjustments, a PMO can continue to operate while its value to the business quietly diminishes.

Mel provides practical perspectives on how PMOs can regain their role as enablers of project success. He emphasizes the importance of clear objectives, measurable outcomes, and integration with business strategy. Along the way, he addresses common misconceptions about PMO responsibilities and why focusing solely on templates and governance often misses the bigger picture. The exchange offers listeners actionable insights that can help strengthen PMO effectiveness and ensure that it does not drift into irrelevance.

The conversation is not about blaming the PMO or leadership but about recognizing the early signs of decline. As Mel notes, PMOs need to constantly demonstrate the value they bring to project delivery and organizational performance. Project managers, executives, and PMO leaders will all find guidance in this discussion on how to identify problems early and act before they become entrenched. If your PMO feels like it is “there but not quite delivering,” this episode provides the context and tools to course-correct.

https://www.pm-podcast.com/535

Earn PDUs for This Episode: Visit https://www.pm-podcast.com/Earn-PDUs to see how many PDUs you can claim for your PMI certification renewal.

Project managers often excel at delivering on scope, schedule, and budget, but struggle when asked to prove the value of their work to senior leadership. Barbara Kephart brings her extensive experience in project, program, and portfolio management to address this common challenge. She outlines a clear approach to bridging the gap between technical project reporting and leadership’s focus on business outcomes. Drawing from her career in both public and private sectors, Barbara explains how understanding the language of leadership and linking project metrics to strategic objectives can transform how executives perceive your contributions.

During the conversation, Barbara emphasizes the importance of knowing your audience and aligning your message to their priorities. She discusses the different value dimensions executives care about, from financial returns to customer satisfaction, and shares examples of how project managers can frame updates in ways that resonate. She also highlights the risks of overloading leaders with detail and the need to focus on what directly influences business decisions. Her guidance includes practical tips on how to select metrics that matter, tie them to organizational goals, and present them in a concise and compelling format.

Listeners will appreciate the practical nature of Barbara’s advice, as she shares scenarios where reframing project information led to stronger executive engagement and support. Whether you are preparing for a quarterly review, a portfolio prioritization meeting, or an impromptu hallway conversation with a sponsor, her insights provide a repeatable process for keeping leadership informed and invested in your work.

https://www.pm-podcast.com/536

Project managers know that skill building requires consistency, but finding the right structure can be a challenge. Olivia Pekny introduces PM Master Quest, a program built around 30 days of practical, daily challenges that strengthen core project management capabilities. Instead of long theory-based courses, participants apply short, focused tasks directly to their projects, turning everyday actions into learning opportunities. The design is simple yet powerful: take one challenge per day, reflect on the experience, and gradually develop the mindset and behaviors that effective project managers demonstrate. Olivia explains how the program helps professionals at all levels gain traction in areas such as stakeholder communication, decision-making, and team leadership while creating momentum through daily practice.

The conversation highlights why joining a structured challenge increases accountability and creates space for incremental improvement. Olivia shares why 30 days is an optimal timeframe: it is short enough to stay focused but long enough to form habits. Through a mix of practical tasks and reflective prompts, participants sharpen both technical and interpersonal skills. As Cornelius notes during the discussion, the approach turns project management learning into something you do rather than something you just read about. This also makes the program flexible, since each participant works with their own real-world projects as the foundation for growth.

Listeners also get a sneak peek into specific daily tasks. Examples include mapping a stakeholder influence grid, drafting a risk statement, or practicing concise status updates. Each is intentionally lightweight, but together they add up to a comprehensive training journey. Olivia emphasizes that the design of PM Master Quest supports real application, helping professionals avoid the “course shelf” problem where training is consumed but rarely used. By the end of the 30 days, participants not only expand their toolkit but also create a sustainable practice for continuous learning. For anyone looking to improve their PM capabilities without committing to lengthy study programs, this episode provides a practical path forward.

https://www.pm-podcast.com/534

Earn PDUs for This Episode: Visit https://www.pm-podcast.com/Earn-PDUs to see how many PDUs you can claim for your PMI certification renewal.

Leadership expert Shyam Ramanathan joins Cornelius Fichtner to unpack what great leadership looks like for project managers. Shyam brings over two decades in IT, an extensive leadership blog with 400 plus posts, and two books, “Maximise Potential” and “Maximise Potential 2.” He outlines a clear, three-part foundation for leading well, then connects it to day-to-day project work. You hear how vision sets the direction, how the ability to inspire moves people to act, and how leading by example creates credibility. Shyam ties these principles to project realities like reading the charter, clarifying scope and budget, selecting and positioning the right people, and building a balanced team through honest self-awareness.

• Sports as a leadership laboratory, including preparation habits, how top performers handle losses, and why grace in defeat signals true strength.
• Team leadership in practice, from “brilliant on the basics” to mentoring, using candor with management, and applying “disagree and commit.”
• Competition and winning, setting meaningful benchmarks, celebrating others, and keeping the cause bigger than the individual.
• How leaders slip, where greed overtakes ambition, and practical safeguards like journaling, early escalation, and mentorship.
• Ethics and accountability, financial integrity, respecting laws and culture, and why cross-cultural teams benefit from careful listening and example.
• The one trait Shyam puts at the top of the list, practical optimism, plus simple routines that keep it alive when crises hit.
• Stepping up beyond projects by asking for opportunities, strengthening communication, and, most of all, enjoying helping people succeed.

Throughout, Shyam uses memorable stories and clear language to make leadership actionable. You get direct guidance you can apply on your next project status call, during your next scope debate, or when you must ask for a team change. No tennis racket required.

https://www.pm-podcast.com/533.

Many project managers are trained to manage scope, schedule, and cost. But what happens when the project itself is the business? In this solo episode, Cornelius Fichtner introduces the Project Business Professional (PBP) certification and explains why it fills a major gap in traditional project management education. Drawing on his own recent experience earning the PBP credential, Cornelius walks through what makes project business fundamentally different from internal project delivery and why nearly half of all project managers are already operating in this external, client-facing space—whether they realize it or not.

You’ll hear how external projects introduce legal risk, contract complexity, financial exposure, and reputational stakes that are not typically addressed in PMP, CSM, or PMI-ACP training. Cornelius explains the scope and purpose of the PBP certification, which is designed to support those managing outsourced, client-facing, and cross-corporate projects. He shares his motivation for becoming certified, highlights what he learned, and outlines the value this certification brings to any project manager working at the intersection of business and delivery.

If you’ve ever been the prime contractor, the subcontractor, or customer in a multi-party delivery structure, the PBP equips you with the mindset and practical tools to lead confidently. And yes, it really does help when the client suddenly wants to "talk contract terms" and you know exactly what you're doing.

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This episode flips the script on traditional project management education by using memes to deliver real, applicable insights. Cornelius Fichtner selects seven past podcast interviews and distills their core lessons into memorable memes. Each meme acts as a springboard into deeper project truths, making this a visually rich episode that’s equal parts fun and functional. Topics span remote leadership, stakeholder communication, power skills, data literacy, and more. This creative format makes complex ideas stick and gives project managers simple reminders they can laugh at and learn from.

https://www.pm-podcast.com/531

Earn PDUs for This Episode: Visit https://www.pm-podcast.com/earn-pdus

Project teams often finish on time and on budget only to face silent rejection from users. Change-management practitioner Mario González joins Cornelius Fichtner to map out the “adoption gap” and how to close it. Mario manages public-sector projects and brings fifteen years of leading agile transformations. He explains practical ways to detect early signs of low adoption, measure real usage with crisp KPIs, and listen for informal feedback that exposes hidden concerns. Listeners learn why classifying stakeholders as supporters, neutrals, or resistors creates clarity and how to move each group toward active buy-in.

Mario outlines simple tactics that keep momentum strong: run quick user readiness surveys, pair training with hands-on workshops, and celebrate early wins that prove value. A lively section breaks down his stakeholder radar approach, which helps teams visualize shifting attitudes throughout the project. Late in the episode, Cornelius shares a two-button meme (“Engage stakeholders early” versus “Avoid awkward conversation until go-live”) and Mario explains why the first button always wins.

The conversation closes with advice on sustaining support after launch. Mario urges project managers to track login trends, refresh training content, and keep feedback channels open so resistance cannot rebuild. The result is a practical checklist listeners can apply on their next change initiative.