Andy Kaufmann
Andy is a project management & leadership keynote speaker and the host of The People and Project's Podcast. I've enjoyed being a guest on Andy's show a couple of times and highly recommend listening in. Andy's style is very dynamic and his interest is primary in leadership and interpersonal skills.
Everything in project management rises and falls on leadership
"My project came in on time because I learned how to calculate critical path by hand", said no project manager ever!
I remember sitting through a long and expensive project management training session early in my career. There were templates. Tools. Models. Formulas. It was impressive, a bit overwhelming, and--in the end--almost useless. When I went back to my team and tried to implement some of the ideas, the reaction was more like, "Wow. Andy just came back from training. This will pass!"
The technical aspects of project management can clearly be helpful. But over and over I've had to learn the hard way that it's the people side of PM that makes all the difference. Once I realized I had to manage up, develop relationships with stakeholders, and learn how to influence, everything changed. Once I learned that my leadership could empower the team or significantly hold it back, our results significantly improved. I intend no hyperbole when saying that everything in project management rises and falls on leadership. How we lead and how we develop leaders around us will be our legacy.