Pattie Vargas
Master of Arts in Organizational Management, 2005
What is one of the most ignored characteristics responsible for the success or failure of your project? Project manager and motivational speaker, Pattie Vargas says it’s people management skills.
In her book, “Extreme Project Manager Makeover,” Pattie discusses why the ‘soft skills’ of project management are necessary to ensure success. She says people management skills are no longer ‘nice-to-have,’ they are essential and should not be ignored because that can result in big-time project failure.
“Accept the fact that you are a leader. If you are going to manage a team, you are the leader and you can’t be looking for somebody else to [do it], so you need to develop those leadership qualities,” she states.
Pattie, who earned a Master of Arts in Organizational Management, says the bottom line is not about how you as a manager prefer to communicate and how your team should adapt to your management style—it’s about how you as a leader, need to flex and adapt to ensure the success of those you are leading.
Pattie is the principal and consultant for The Vargas Group, a strategic employee management and organizational leadership firm. You can order her book, “Extreme Project Manager Makeover” on thevargasgroup.net.
