1. What is the key lesson that this author is sharing?

2.Why is it such an important lesson? (aka "benefits")

3.What are tangible steps you can take to incorporate this into your own practice?

Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' x Homepage - George Brown Co X Homepage George Brown Co X l + v C' i |earn.georgebrown.ca/d2|/|e/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q El {I I I] . E ,. q Google M Gmail DSL Bright Home... @ The World of Psycm T Lobbleop Hat a Blackanrd...Couri.. . Myfiles-OneDrive Ii Email-Kardesa J.., $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - 8 Print 0 Download a Open DocReader H3 q 'I' 4/ 143 0:343 + 100% v I >> M Everyone Is a VIP! By Mark Hollingworth the people I work with as VIPs: Very Important People. Early in my career as an engineer in a unionized workplace, I spent most of my time trying to get the seven experienced technicians who reported to me to do what I wanted. If] were to do the physical work, they could le a grievance against me. Years later, I still do nothing. I just participate in conversations with others in the hope that we can ultimately make the right decisions and implement them. In general, other people implement the decisions taken. They are my VIPs, They get the job done. The most important lesson I ever learned was to treat What most companies state on their websites and in their annual reports is true: \"Our employees are our most important asset." Most employees, however, do not feel that they are treated that way. Being treated as a VIP is not a onesided arrangement. In return, all employees must assume the role and responsibilities required by VIPs. 143 Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' x Homepage - George Brown Co X HomepageGeorge Brown Co X l u Dashboard x I + v C' i |earn.georgebrown.ca/d2|/|e/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q El {I I I] . E ,. q Google M Gmail DSL Bright Home," @ The World of Psycm T Lobby | Top Hat a Blackanrdi..Couri.. . My files - OneDrive Ii Email - Kardesa J.., $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - 8 Print 0 Download a Open DocReader 144 ones + 100% v I >> The Keys to Our Success 1\"0 ~ They must adopt and build on the shared Vision of mm. the company. T .,, e - They must have a clear, hut exible, Implementation plan. - And they must have the People skills required to motivate their team to achieve the accepted vision and implement the plan. Again, VIP. Easy, right? The remainder of this chapter in the book is the story of how one young project manager learned the \"VIP" lesson on his one day off work while working on a project in a strange city. I trust you will enjoy it and learn the VIP lesson along with him as his day progresses. Everyone Is a VIP A young project manager (PM) nally had a day offfrom leading a big project in a city he was visiting for the rst time. He had worked night and day since he arrived and had not given much thought to how he would spend his free time. On the morning of his minivacation, he went down for breakfast as usual in the hotel restaurant and found himself sitting next to another hotel guest. After hearing that the PM had the day free, his breakfast companion replied that he intended to spend the day at the City Art Gallery and asked the PM if he would care to join him. The idea of spending the day at the gallery was attractive, but something about the man made the PM uneasy. He was unsure he really wanted to spend his one day off with him, He politely declined the offer. Once nished breakfast, the PM walked into the hotel lobby. A tour guide approached him and asked ifhe could be ofservice. Smiling, the PM replied that it was hie day Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' x Homepage - George Brown Co X HomepageGeorge Brown Co X 1 u Dashboard x I + v (3' |earn.georgebrown.ca/d2l/Ie/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q El {I \"E? I I] . E ,. q Googie M Gmail DSL Bright Home... a The World of Psyc... T Lobby | Top Hat a BlackBoard...Cour... . My files - OneDrive Ii Email - Kardesa J... $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - 8 Print 0 Download 0 Open DocReader q 'i' 4/ 145 07348 + 100% v I >> i 2% ll off, and he was looking to make the most of it. The guide, of course, immediately began to suggest many ideas from a 0 long list of visitor activities. Still, the PM had no idea how he really wanted to spend his day. The guide tried his best to offer suggestions but eventually gave up, wished the PM \"W a good day, and went off to help other hotel guests. The PM then strolled out of the hotel and stood on the front steps, enjoying the View. Another guest exited the hotel, halted next to him, and asked if he was lost. The PM replied that he was not, but admitted that he had not yet decided what he wanted to do that day. The woman . responded by inviting him to join her on a trip to the shopping mall. Having nothing better to do, the PM joined her. The woman walked rather quickly, taking shortcuts through car parks and down back streets. She obviously knew where she was going and how to get there. Arrlvmg at the shopping mall, the PM realized that it held little interest for him and so proffered a friendly good-bye to the woman. He felt a little frustrated that he had wasted the early part of his day. He looked around and saw crowds of people rushing in different directions. They all seemed very busy. pressed for time, and eager to get where they were going. The PM observed them with some amusement, but also with a little envy. They all seemed so focused on their goal. He had no idea where he was goingiand even felt a bit lost. Amid all the activity, he caught the eye of a Woman desperately trying to catch the attention of a passerby. \"Do you know how to get to the Houses of Parliament?" she asked. \"I'm afraid I don't,\" he answered. Undaunted, she replied, \"I have been trying to get there since I arrived in town, but still don't know how to get there. Would you like to come with rue?" \"Um, no thanks," he replied, taking his leave of the woman. Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' X Homepage - George Brown Co X HomepageGeorge Brown Co X 1 u Dashboard X I + v mu. DSL Bright Home... @ The World of Psycm T Lobby | Top Hat a Blackanrd...Cour... . My files - OneDrive Ii Email - Kardesa J... $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> C' i |earn.georgebrown.ca/d2l/Ie/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q m {I ,. q Google M Gmail Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - Prim 0 Download a Open DocReader H3 q If 4/ 146 09348 + 100% v I >> i {1 At a loss for a better idea, the PM decided to go on ll his own to the City Art Gallery. The PM approached a passerby and asked her if she knew the way to the gallery. 1=40 The woman had only good things to tell him about the gallery's wonderful design and the great works currently on display. Enthused, he asked again how to get there. She began to give him vague directions before admitting rather sheepishly that she had never been there but had heard great things about it just recently from her friends. Somewhat disappointed, the PM thanked her and walked away, He asked two more people if they could help, but they, too, could not provide directions. Finally, he entered a nearby hotel to seek directions. The concierge was chatting to two other hotel guests. The PM overheard their conversation, and he was intrigued. He immediately had a good feeling about the guests and recognized that they were in a similar position to his. Indeed, it seemed that the PM had quite a few interests in common with these fellow tourists, including art. The PM introduced himself, and it soon became clear that the three visitors would have much more enjoyment spending the day together than if they went their separate ways. With the concierge's help, they made a list of activities they all wanted to do and developed a clear plan of how to get to each different attraction. By the time they assembled their itinerary and left the hotel, all three were excited about the great day they had ahead of them. During the morning, they explored and enjoyed some fascinating places on their list and a few others that they discovered and entered as they were passing. Unfortunately, while stopping for lunch at a restaurant, they learned that the City Art Gallery, which they had planned to visit in the afternoon, was closed for the day because of unforeseen repair work, While all three were disappointed, they soon realized that they would now have more time to visit other interesting tourist sites in the area. After they nished their lunch, the three companions ll 146 Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' x Homepage - George Brown Co X HomepageGeorge Brown Co X 1 u Dashboard x I + v (3' |earn.georgebrown.ca/d2l/Ie/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q El {I \"E? I I] . E ,. a Google M Gmail DSL Bright Home," a The World of Psyc... T Lobbleop Hat a BlackBoard...Cour... . Myfiles-OneDrive ti Email-Kardesa J... $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - 8 Print 0 Download 0 Open DocReader q 'l' 4/ 147 07348 + 100% v I >> _ 11 - mam naulngwartn {3 1! {IN jumped on a bus to take them to a historic chateau on the edge of town. By the end of the day, the PM and his two new companions had spent a wonderful day together and had formed a friendship that would undoubtedly lead to more meet-ups in the future. The PM returned to his hotel exhausted but feeling very satised with his onerday minivacation. As usual, the PM sat down later that evening to write in his journal and reect on the lessons of the day. He recognized that every person he had met that day had something to teach him. He quickly realized that he had trusted some people he had met, but not others. For example, he knew that he had made the right decision not to spend the day with the man he had met over breakfast. The required level of trust had simply not been there. He also understood that the tour guide could not help him because he himself had not given enough prior thought to what he was really looking for. The PM ultimately realized that the reasons he had gone along with his two new friends and had enjoyed the day so much could be summed as follows: ' First, they built a shared vision of where they wanted to go. By taking the time to converse with one another before heading out, they developed a common goal and understanding of what they all wanted to get out of the day. They identied and discussed the many attractions and activities the city had to offer before coming to a collective decision ;:' A about what could best be achieved in a single day. It was an ambitious objective but motivational and feasible. By the time they set off. no one had imposed his or her vision on the others. - Second, they developed an implementation plan focused on getting them where they had decided to go, yet they remained exible enough to modify it as Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' X Homepage - George Brown Co X HomepageGeorge Brown Co X 1 u Dashboard X I + v mu. DSL Bright Home... @ The World of Psycm T Lobby | Top Hat a Blackanrd...Cour... . My files - OneDrive Ii Email - Kardesa J... $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> 0' |earn.georgebrown.ca/d2l/Ie/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q m {I ,. q Google M Gmail Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - Prim 0 Download a Open DocReader q If 4/ 148 09343 + 100% v I >> llll N', the day unfolded. The PM realized that during their initial conversation, they had established a series of guidelines based on their shared personal objectives. interests, and personalities. These guiding principles directed them during the day, particularly when their original plan was affected by unpredictable outside inuences. This had proved essential after they discovered that one of their underlying assumptionsithat the City Art Gallery would be openhad proved false. l ~ Third. the three companions formed a great team for the day by being trustworthy, being open to the others' ideas, and through having open dialogue Each knew that any one of them could simply walk away if they could not agree on the decisions made or failed to achieve a \"win-win" for all concerned. As a result, a true feeling of fellowship and camaraderie developed. The PM realized that much of the day's success depended ,e on their building a common, realistic, yet exciting, Vision; identifying a clear but exible plan of Implementation; and creating a team of three great People who communicated well together on all issues. \"VIP,\" said the PM, smiling to himself. He realized that, on his free day in the city, he had succeeded in identifying the three key skills that form the essence of a great project management team and distinguish a great team leader. He had met people with great vision, but no plan. He had seen scores of busy, er preoccupied people, but with whom he shared no common vision. He had also met a man over breakfast with a good vision and a plan but who lacked that essential \"P" factor. The PM knew that all three were imperative if he wanted to become a great project team leader. Did he himself have these three VIP skills and attributes? * , _ 148 Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' X Homepage - George Brown Co X HomepageGeorge Brown Co X 1 u Dashboard X I + v mu. DSL Bright Home," @ The World of Psyc... T Lobby | Top Hat a Blackanrd...Cour... . My files - OneDrive Ii Email - Kardesa J... $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> 0' |earn.georgebrown.ca/d2l/Ie/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q m {I ,. q Google M Gmail Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - Prim 0 Download a Open DocReader q If 4/ 149 09343 + 100% v I >> Already, even during his short career, how many times had he witnessed team leaders and members talk a wonderful vision of what they would doibut who, at the end of the day, had no real implementation plan and produced very little? The cliche about the need to \"walk the talk\" existed for a reason. How many times had he also come across teams where each person worked hard but without any shared vision or where the team as a whole was going? These teams always underperformed or delivered undesired results in the end. He also knew that there were many teams out there with great visions, goals, and objectives, and a detailed plan for what needed to be done to achieve them, but because of hidden agendas, internal team conicts, poor communication, and low motivation and trust, they would never achieve anything of note. Perhaps, he considered, by building his VIP abilities and by being a role model for such behavior, he could help his team members at work feel and behave like VIPs too. What a team he would have if all the members behaved like VIPs, and in return, they were treated as VIPs! Every corporate website and annual report says that employees are the company's most valuable asset, but how many employees feel they really are VIPs? The young PM was determined to be the rst to make this slogan a reality for his team members. In his journal, he summarized his new learning. He wrote, \"Everyone is a VIP." .. \"Vision\" means creating a clear shared vision of who we are and where we will be two to three years from now. \"Implementation" means having a rigorous but exible plan, road map, project portfolio, PMO, and so on, that show how to get to the vision. \"People\" means assembling and leading the team who buy in to the vision and implementation plan and who make a full commitment to making sure the necessary work is done. '7 1A0 Required Reading: "The Keyst X Required Reading: "The Keys' X Homepage - George Brown Co X HomepageGeorge Brown Co X l u Dashboard X I + v C' i learn.georgebrown.ca/d2l/Ie/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View Q G '1': I I] . E ,. q Google M Gmail DSL Bright Home," a The World of Psyc," T Lobby | Top Hat a Blackanrdt..Court.. . My files - OneDrive Ii Email - Kardesa J.., $ Microsoft Teams 0 TextBooks >> Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - a Print 0 Download a Open DocReader 150 ands + 100% v I >> The Keys to Our Success Excited, he headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner. He could hardly wait to get back to his project the following day. Ten Questions to Consider about Your VIP Skills Vision 1r Do you have a clear vision of who you are and where you are going in life? 2. Do you explore all possible options before making a decision, or do you choose the rst solution that comes to mind? 3. Have you built a shared vision with your team members about where the team is going? Implementation 4. Do you have a clear plan and key performance indicators in place for your team, which establish the steps required to achieve your vision? 5. Does your implementation plan assume you know how the future will unfold'.7 Will it still be workable if uncertainties and major changes occur? 6 Do you put tight rules in place that your team members must follow, or do you establish guiding principles that provide them with the latitude to deal with problems appropriately. as they arise? Required Reading: "The Keys to X Required Reading: "The Keys to X Homepage - George Brown Col X Homepage - George Brown Col X Dashboard X + C learn.georgebrown.ca/d21/le/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View GHOAI ... G Google M Gmail DSL Bright Home... The World of Psyc Lobby | Top Hat BlackBoard...Cour... My files - OneDrive o Email - Kardesa J... i Microsoft Teams 1 TextBooks Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - & Print Download Open DocReader 151 of 348 - + 100% People 7. Do people feel free to express their true thoughts and feelings in the meetings you chair, or do they censor themselves and say what they think you want to hear? 8. Does your reward system reward the behaviors you seek to promote within your team? 9. Are you really worthy of being trusted? VIP 10. Would your colleagues and team members at work agree that you really treat them as VIPs? Mark Hollingworth, MEng, EMBA Mark is the president of 51 Strategic Affairs and an expert in strategic Business Outcomes leadership. He has worked as a management consultant, workshop leader and facilitator, educator, and ontological coach to the profit and not-for-profit sectors in Montreal Canada, for more than twenty-five years. Mark's mission is to help "people, companies, and society prepare for the future." He is the strategic planning process leader, guide, trusted supporter, and devil's advocate to ensure that individuals and organizations make the best decisions possible-and that those decisions result Candied Prodine "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project in concrete action and change 151Required Reading: "The Keys to X Required Reading: "The Keys to X Homepage - George Brown Col X Homepage - George Brown Col X Dashboard X + C learn.georgebrown.ca/d21/le/content/23907/fullscreen/1118366/View GHOAI ... G Google M Gmail DSL Bright Home... The World of Psyc Lobby | Top Hat BlackBoard...Cour... My files - OneDrive o Email - Kardesa J... i Microsoft Teams 1 TextBooks Required Reading: "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project Managers - & Print Download Open DocReader 152 of 348 - + 100% The Keys to Our Success In the past five years, he has worked with companies such as Cogeco, Hydro-Quebec, Genfoot, Imperial Tobacco, Kruger Inc, Linamar, Metso Minerals, RioTintoAlcan, RSM Richter Chamberland and Standard Life and has worked abroad with clients in Abu Dhabi, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the US, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, and so on. Mark is a faculty lecturer in the School of Continuing Studies and a program leader in the Executive Institute at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University where he leads the "Strategic Planning & Execution" and 'Creativity & Innovation to Create Value" seminars. He is author of the book Growing People, Growing Companies: Achieving Individual and Organizational Success in the Knowledge Economy (2003) and, since then, has also had several articles published in the Ivey Business Journal. Business Outcomes Mark Hollingworth, MEng, EMBA President 5i Strategic Affairs Inc. Faculty member The Executive Institute, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University E-mail: Mark. Hollingworth@5istrategicaffairs.com E-mail: Mark.hollingworth@mail.mcgill.ca Website: www.5istrategicaffairs.com audited Reading "The Keys to Our Success" Lessons Learned from 25 of Our Best Project LinkedIn: mark-hollingworth Phone: 450-510-5024