At the end of Chapter 1, there is a letter to future project managers. Discuss the nuggets of advice and how they apply to you and your journey to become that future project manager. Explain each of the 5 nuggets in your own terms and how they apply to what you can do or are doing to become that future project manager.

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• Believe in the leader that you are and never stop learning. The discipline of project management offers project managers the opportunity to lead with delegated authority for a specified period. To advance in your role, you need to embody the qualities akin to that of an ambassador assigned to a nation for a designated time. It is imperative to settle quickly into the environment in which you will work, and spend time immersing yourself in the nuances of the business to build credibility. Be prepared to familiarize yourself with stakeholders' interests and their motivations. You will need to engage with key decision makers and diplomatically use your influence to advance the work. Influence is your authority as you manage those above you, beside you, your team, and external parties. At all times, communicate value and continually make a business case for a project in various presentations and forums. However, that message will need to be tailored to the audience you address. Producing situational reports will be critical to enable strategic business decisioning. Taking these actions will prepare you and your stakeholders in the event your project goes in a different direction. Your investment in learning will give you the confidence to handle any situation you encounter. It is not enough to be the smartest in your profession - rather, apply your project management leadership skills in the context that best serves the business leaders and customers.
• Be a champion for achieving organizational goals as much as you are a champion for your project: While projects are becoming more dynamic you should expect to manage and deliver outcomes without a specific end date. Projects need to pivot quickly to be able to address planned and unplanned conditions. Stay focused on delivering benefits, and the other project variables - such as scope, schedule, and funding - will follow. Learn what benefits are important to your leaders and customers, then navigate with that end-goal in mind throughout the project. Be aware that some projects may benefit the organization when stopped or canceled versus completing.
• Go beyond the basics when measuring success: One of the most important activities a project manager performs is collaborating with stakeholders at all levels to define and measure project success. When defining what success should look like, go beyond known and expected performance metrics such as tracking progress on budget, scope, and schedule, and define assessment criteria and metrics that will help you and the stakeholders vigorously evaluate if the resources and investments are delivering on the business strategy and outcomes. Your role is to stress upon business leaders the importance of assessing if there still is business value to continue the work based on point in time conditions.
• Data rules and analysis reigns. Most everything we do produces data and leaves a digital footprint. Automation of metrics can transform data into useful information to enable better decision-making. However, metrics alone are not enough to make informed decisions. Rather, metrics, coupled and analyzed with project context, organizational priorities, stakeholder input, and risk tolerance thresholds enable timely decision-making with relevant information.
• Elevate the value of project management by embracing diverse methodologies. With expectations to increase time to market for delivering business and customer value, project managers need to recognize the importance of blending diverse practices from other disciplines into a cohesive project management approach. If these practices prove to add greater value than only relying on traditional project management practices, embrace them, scale them, and incorporate them into your project management approach. Further, do not fret. As automation streamlines routine project management tasks, this will free you to focus on maximizing the business value of your project.