In the world of project management, it's easy to get caught up in the technical side of things—budgets, timelines, scope, and deliverables. However, being a truly effective project manager (PM) means going beyond the mechanics of managing tasks and deadlines. It requires self-awareness, continuous growth, and a deep understanding of how your personal values and leadership style impact your team and the success of your projects.
One powerful tool for this type of introspection is the Body Biography: Defining a Project Manager activity. This exercise invites project managers to reflect on their motivations, beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses by using symbolic representations of different parts of the body. The heart, backbone, hands, feet, legs, eyes, gut, and head each represent different aspects of a PM’s work and personal beliefs. By exploring these metaphors, project managers can better understand themselves, align their leadership style with their core values, and foster stronger relationships with their teams and stakeholders.
The Heart: What a PM Loves Most About the Work
At the heart of every project manager lies the passion that drives them forward. For some, it’s the problem-solving aspect—untangling complex challenges and finding solutions. For others, it’s building teams or delivering results that make a tangible impact. The heart in this activity represents what a PM loves most about their role. Reflecting on this helps reconnect project managers to the joy and fulfillment they find in their work, which can reignite motivation during stressful project phases. Research in reflective practice shows that identifying and nurturing what brings fulfillment can reduce burnout and increase resilience in leadership roles (Schon, 1983).
The Backbone: What Motivates a PM the Most
The backbone represents what keeps a project manager standing tall, even in the face of adversity. This could be a commitment to excellence, the desire to achieve results, or a sense of responsibility to stakeholders and the organization. Understanding what motivates you is essential to maintaining focus and driving a project through to completion, especially when things get tough. Reflective practices in leadership have shown that self-awareness of core motivations leads to better decision-making and improved leadership consistency (Covey, 1989).
The Hands: What a PM Seeks to Control
Project managers are often balancing several spinning plates at once. The hands represent what a PM tries to manage directly, whether it’s the project scope, budget, timelines, or team dynamics. Reflecting on this can reveal areas where the PM may be holding too tightly, potentially stifling team autonomy. It’s important for project managers to recognize when to release control and trust their team members to step up. A study on leadership and team autonomy found that empowering teams leads to higher engagement and project success (Harvard Business Review, 2020). This reflection helps PMs foster a healthier work environment by letting go of micromanagement and focusing on strategic oversight.
The Feet: A PM's Fundamental Beliefs
A project manager’s feet symbolize the core beliefs and values that guide them. These could be values such as transparency, integrity, or accountability. These beliefs shape how a PM interacts with their team and stakeholders, and how they approach challenges. Reflective practice encourages project managers to regularly revisit their values to ensure they align with their actions. According to research on values-based leadership, when leaders act in alignment with their core beliefs, it builds trust and credibility with stakeholders (Goleman, 2004).
The Legs: The Virtues and Vices of a PM
Every project manager has strengths and weaknesses—virtues that propel them forward and vices that hold them back. The legs represent these qualities. Reflecting on your virtues, such as perseverance or empathy, can help you leverage them to drive project success. At the same time, recognizing vices, like impatience or indecision, allows you to work on improving those areas. Leadership research consistently highlights the importance of self-awareness in managing one’s strengths and weaknesses to become a more balanced leader (Dweck, 2006).
The Eyes: How a PM Appears to Others
How do others perceive you as a project manager? Do your team and stakeholders see you as confident, approachable, and supportive, or as rigid and unapproachable? The eyes represent the outward perception others have of you. Research into stakeholder engagement emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence and perception in building strong relationships. Regular reflection on how others view your leadership style helps you adapt to better meet the needs of your team and stakeholders (Project Management Institute, 2021).
The Gut: The PM's Inner Self
The gut represents the project manager’s inner self—your instincts and intuition. How often do you rely on gut feelings to guide your decisions? Reflecting on your instincts, and how much you trust them, can help you balance intuition with data-driven decision-making. In leadership, especially in complex projects, intuition plays a key role in navigating ambiguity and uncertainty (Klein, 2003). Trusting your gut, while also validating it with concrete data, is a skill that PMs develop over time through experience and reflection.
The Head: What a PM Learns Throughout the Project
Finally, the head symbolizes the knowledge and wisdom gained over the course of a project. Every project presents new lessons, whether through successes or failures. Reflecting on these lessons—what worked well, what didn’t, and why—aligns with the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, a fundamental approach in project management. Continuous learning is a key component of reflective practice, enabling PMs to improve their skills and approach with every new project. According to PMI, lessons learned are a critical aspect of project closure and should inform future endeavors (PMBOK® Guide, 2021).
Encouraging Self-Awareness and Growth in Project Management
The Body Biography activity invites project managers to engage in reflective practice, an approach proven to be vital for effective leadership. Donald Schon’s pioneering work on reflective practice underscores the critical role that self-awareness and introspection play in professional growth, particularly in dynamic fields like project management. By exploring symbolic representations of their core values, motivations, and areas for improvement, project managers can deepen their understanding of their leadership style and decision-making process. This reflective exercise not only helps PMs identify their strengths and weaknesses but also fosters a mindset of continuous improvement, ultimately leading to more impactful leadership and stronger project outcomes.
Reflective practice also enhances stakeholder engagement and communication, two essential components of successful project management. Studies show that project managers who regularly engage in self-reflection are more effective in managing stakeholder relationships and navigating team dynamics (Harvard Business Review, 2020). When project managers develop a deeper understanding of themselves, they are better equipped to empathize with others, improving communication and collaboration within their teams. Incorporating reflective exercises like the Body Biography: Defining a Project Manager activity into project management training programs enhances both technical and soft skills. By fostering emotional intelligence, these exercises enable PMs to manage the complexities of leadership, stakeholder engagement, and decision-making with greater clarity and confidence, aligning with PMI’s emphasis on continuous learning and self-awareness in leadership development (PMI, 2021).
At Solarity, we understand that reflective practice and commitment to the “people work” of project management can be challenging. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate living as an authentic, effective leader in a way that leverages the best practices of project management. Not only can we assist project managers explore their core values, motivations, and leadership strengths, but we can provide the training, learning, and development experiences that enhance self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and leadership skills, helping your team grow in both technical expertise and soft skills. Invest in your leaders and improve project outcomes with our personalized, high-impact training solutions.
Solarity, a HealthTech Solutions company, offers a range of classes tailored to help professionals excel in these critical areas. Our courses are designed to equip you with advanced techniques in PMP exam prep and best practices, stakeholder analysis, effective communication practices, and leadership principles that are essential for success in today’s complex project environments. Our expert-led classes provide practical, actionable insights and hands-on training that will empower you to build strong employee training programs, navigate continuous improvement for your workforce with confidence, and lead your projects to success.
Why Choose Solarity?
Expert Instructors: Learn from experienced professionals who bring real-world insights and cutting-edge knowledge to the classroom.
Tailored Learning: Our courses are designed to meet the specific needs of project managers and leaders in the public and private sectors.
Practical Focus: Gain practical skills that you can immediately apply to your projects to drive better outcomes.
Flexible Options: We offer both in-person and online classes to fit your schedule and learning preferences.
Join us at Solarity and take the next step in your professional development journey. Learn how to effectively engage stakeholders, communicate with clarity and impact, and lead with confidence. Visit our website at Solarity: A HealthTech Solutions Company to explore our course offerings and register for our upcoming classes today!
References
Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House, 2006.
Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam Books, 2004.
Harvard Business Review. “The Power of Empowering Your Team.” HBR, 2020.
Klein, Gary. The Power of Intuition. Doubleday, 2003.
Project Management Institute. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). 7th ed., PMI, 2021.
Schon, Donald A. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, 1983.
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