Passion, Persistence, and

Patience
Passion, Persistence, and
Patience
Key Skills for Achieving Project
Success

Alfonso Bucero
Passion, Persistence, and Patience: Key Skills for Achieving Project Success

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 Dedication
I wanted to thank my best friend Randall L. Englund for his encourage-
ment to write this book. He always helped me with his feedback, com-
ments, and advice along my professional life. This book is also dedicated
to three different project influencers:

• All upper managers, executives, and project managers

­practitioners who helped me directly or indirectly to get this
project happen, contributing with their opinions, criticism,
experiences, and real practices.
• To my editor who sponsored me on this project, offering
their commitment and support from the start to the end
of this project.
• To my wife, Rose, who always supported and encouraged me
to get this project finished.
• To my two sons and daughter who always encouraged me to
move forward.
• To Dr. Ralf Müller who encouraged me to finish my PhD and
opened my mind to the academic world.

I encourage you to share with me your opinions, ideas, feedback,

and real stories in order to improve futures editions of this book. Today
is a good day to start reading it, but I am sure that tomorrow will be
even ­better.
 Abstract
A number of research studies about project manager skills needed in the
future say that soft, or people, skills are core necessities during the next
10  years at least. Enthusiasm, persistence, and patience of the project
managers are three key skills to achieve more successful ­projects in orga-
nizations. All best practice recommendations and key ­success criteria
point to the importance of keeping enthusiasm, being ­persistent, and
­cultivating and exerting your patience, but few sources exist about how
to develop those skills.
The aim of this book is to inspire and encourage project practitioners,
executives, and beginners in the project management field and to develop
passion, persistence, and patience inside them in order to be contagious
with project stakeholders in organizations. The target audience are project
managers, project leaders, and facilitators. The second audience are execu-
tives or managers who are, or will be, sponsors of a project or program. In
reality, almost everybody does projects of some sort and will benefit from
the guidelines presented.
This book portends a positive impact on project practitioners through
sharing real examples, case studies, and checklists. The ideas and stories
being told intend to help a reader increase his or her enthusiasm in man-
aging projects, become aware of the need to insist and be perseverant
when managing team members and other project stakeholders, and culti-
vate his or her patience through practices offered by the author.

Keywords
communication; dedication; effort; enthusiasm; influence; leadership;
passion; patience; persistence; soft skills; teamwork
 Contents
Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xiii

Chapter 1 Passion, Persistence, and Patience������������������������������������1

Chapter 2 Developing Passion, Persistence, and Patience���������������25
Chapter 3 Sustaining My 3Ps��������������������������������������������������������41
Chapter 4 Be Contagious��������������������������������������������������������������55
Chapter 5 Learning Something Every Day������������������������������������75
Chapter 6 Growing Up Your Relationships������������������������������������99
Chapter 7 Taking Care of Your Career�����������������������������������������115
Chapter 8 Using Your Courage����������������������������������������������������141
Chapter 9 Go for It!��������������������������������������������������������������������159
Chapter 10 Conclusions����������������������������������������������������������������173

About the Author��������������������������������������������������������������������������������181

Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������183
 Foreword
Little did I know that a decision I needed to make in 1992 would have a
huge impact for me over the next quarter century. As chair for an i­ nternal
project management conference at Hewlett-Packard Company, I had
reviewers’ inputs for proposed papers submitted by practicing project
managers. One paper in particular was on the borderline—it came from
a Spanish author whose English was clearly not his native language and
reviewers gave it marginal scores. I sensed there was something valuable
in the content and so accepted the paper to be presented. The author,
Alfonso Bucero, went on to work hard on his presentation and writing
skills and managed to consistently share his passion, persistence, and
patience about the project management profession. He also became a
­customer, client, and colleague for the HP Project Management Initia-
tive, where I worked at the time. Now, I claim Alfonso as co-author,
co-facilitator, and best friend.
When editing chapters for Creating the Project Office: A Manager’s
Guide to Leading Organizational Change, Dr. Robert J. Graham and I
pondered what made Alfonso’s chapter, “Implementing the Project
Office: Case Study,” so valuable. Was there one thing he did that consti-
tuted success for the Spanish project office he implemented? No. What he
did was practice passion, persistence, and patience. His examples amply
illustrated how these traits guided him to address real-life challenges
and opportunities.
Having worked with Alfonso now for many years, I believe I have
come to know the man and his works. However, every time I read one
of his books or blogs, I learn something new. This is a remarkable skill—
continuously learning innovative ideas and practices and articulating why
and how to implement them through the stories he tells. This book about
his 3P’s is no exception.
Values that Alfonso and I share in common is that all leaders need to
create healthy environments for people to consistently and ­sustainably
achieve project success; sponsors can do a better job of g­uiding and
xii Foreword

s­upporting project teams; and project managers can expand their

people skills. An organic approach to project management means
­
­people adapt effective concepts from nature to make organizations more
­project-friendly, leading to greater value-added and economic results.
All this comes together when project managers become more complete
through adopting, adapting, and applying skills from multiple disciplines.
Alfonso’s thought leadership, educational offerings, and writings are
timeless contributions, providing lessons that enhance and carry others
throughout their careers. His works withstand the test of time, and his
message keeps evolving about environments, competencies, and attri-
butes required to meet the dynamic needs and direction of the future of
project management. He presents, consults, coaches, and mentors project
managers and executives, focusing on people skills and creating environ-
ments for successful projects. He especially focuses on a positive attitude
as a huge factor in personal effectiveness. Yes, today is a good day and
tomorrow will be better when the lessons shared by Alfonso are firmly
rooted in everyday actions.
His books and seminars continue to delight readers and audiences
by providing a systematic, energetic, and inclusive focus on the set of
skills and attitude needed for success when managing today’s projects.
The message is powerful and clearly articulated. It applies to emerging
and experienced project managers alike. As you read this book and apply
its principles, I believe you will be inspired to broaden and deepen your
skills to the point of achieving more project success more of the time.
I thank Alfonso for letting me share my comments and provide my
points of view on the subject. Believe me, he has written a precious
book. I wish your reading to be as useful and inspiring to you as it is for
me. I encourage you to put the thoughts into action; reap the benefits
derived from personal effectiveness and move forward to improve project
­management in every aspect of your life.

Randall L. Englund, Executive Consultant

October 2018
Englund Project Management Consultancy
St. George, Utah, USA
www.englundpmc.com
 Introduction
Why to write a book about passion, persistence, and patience? Because
it has been my motto over the years, because I believe in that, and I felt
the need to share my experiences about it with the project management
community. Over the years, I have managed different projects and with-
out being conscious of it, I was contagious to many people through my
passion, persistence, and patience, working on the project management
business, contributing as a professional association volunteer, and deliver-
ing public talks worldwide.
The behavior and reactions you have in your job, at home, and with
your colleagues and friends has an impact on the lives of the people around
you. You, as a project manager, need to be enthusiastic, persistent, and
develop patience in order to get good project results. In fact, if you want
to make a positive impact on your projects, you need to be enthusiastic
with all your project stakeholders. That way people will feel better valued
and loved by you. Without enthusiasm, there cannot be good project per-
formance. If you are a project manager, you need to be enthusiastic with
your team because if not you will demotivate them. No matter what your
professional or personal goals are in life, or what you want to accomplish,
you can achieve them faster, you can be more effective, and the contribu-
tion you make can last longer if you learn how to become an enthusiastic
person, getting across enthusiasm.

Your Passion
I have observed that passion is very curious. Even though we can affect
almost everyone around us, our level of influence is not the same with
everyone. For example, when you have a team meeting with your team
members and present an idea to them or suggest, do they all respond
in the same way? Of course, not. One person may think all your ideas
are inspiring. Another may view everything you say with skepticism. You
can identify which one you have to influence over. On the other hand,
xiv Introduction

the skeptic who resisted your idea may be more accepting to it if it were
­presented by an executive.
If you pay attention to people’s responses to yourself and others, you
can see that people respond to one another according to their level of
enthusiasm. I consider passion like a specific application of influence.
Passion does not come to us instantaneously; it grows by stages.
We are influenced by what we see. Several times I had the opportunity
to share with an audience of more than hundred people my experiences as
a Project Management Institute (PMI) volunteer, and I spoke with all my
energy for one hour. I never get tired when I am enjoying what I do, and
I love speaking on public. Many of the attendees approached me after my
speech and gave me their business card to keep in touch with me. Some
of them said, “you made my day.” I was touched. It has not been the first
time that happened to me. We are able to generate positive emotions on
people not because we are great, just because we really believe and do
what we preach. I always encourage people at professional congresses to
participate and present their experiences in front of others. I always tell
people about my experience presenting my first paper on project manage-
ment in an international congress and how the reaction of the attendees
encouraged me to continue presenting again and again and again.
Enthusiastic people give value to other people. I don’t know what
kind of enthusiasm for the profession you have today when you are read-
ing this book. Your actions may touch the lives of hundreds of people, or
perhaps your enthusiasm may be infective for two or three team members
or colleagues. The number of people is not what is most important. The
key point is to remember that your level of influence is not static. I want
to help you become a project manager of high enthusiasm. You can have
an incredibly positive impact on the lives of others. You can give a lot of
value to them.
I don’t know exactly what your dream is in life or what kind of legacy
you want to leave. But if you want to make an impact and develop a pas-
sion for your profession, insist again and again if you believe your aimed
objective is achievable and apply your patience to achieve it. You can do it
because you are excellent. I mean if you believe you will be able to exceed
your project stakeholder’s expectations.
 Introduction xv

Definitions
I found several definitions of passion from different authors: the first
one was the state of being acted upon or affected by something exter-
nal, especially something alien to something alien to one’s nature or one’s
­customary behavior. Another definition is a strong or extravagant fond-
ness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. My definition of passion is the
feeling of positive desire to achieve your aims.
Persistence may be defined as the willingness to keep going even when
the odds are bad and our enthusiasm has waned; or the fact of continuing
in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. My
definition is never giving up when you believe you can achieve your goals.
The definition of patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay,
problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious; or the
bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without com-
plaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like. My definition of patience is
to deal with life without losing your temper and with positive attitude.
I need to say that all three concepts play in concert and I applied it
during my life and professional career. They worked and are still working
for me. Try it and you will learn something.

Book Structure
This book integrates different pieces to develop and sustain passion,
­persistence and patience as a project manager.

Outline

Each chapter highlights thoughts and real stories about a particular

­subject linked to my 3Ps (passion, persistence, and patience). Here is an
outline of what is covered:

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: This chapter introduces the concepts of passion,
persistence, and patience and how they have been part of
my skill set as a project practitioner over the years m
­ anaging
xvi Introduction

­ rojects in organizations. At the end of this chapter, an

p
­assessment tool is provided.
• Chapter 2: Explains how to develop passion, persistence, and
patience for personal, project, and organizational success,
sharing real stories and case studies. An action plan prepara-
tion is explained by the end of this chapter.
• Chapter 3: How to sustain and maintain passion, persistence,
and patience is clearly explained in this chapter. Through
exercises and real stories, the reader will be able to sustain
those skills for achieving successful projects.
• Chapter 4: This chapter give you clues, suggestions, and ideas
about how to be contagious and infect people positively being
more enthusiastic, having more persistence, and developing
more patience. An assessment tool is included in this chapter.
• Chapter 5: How to learn something from anybody else is the
focus of this chapter. Learning from peers, colleagues, bosses,
and customers. This chapter explains the concept of learning
from anybody every day.
• Chapter 6: This chapter is focused on how to get your rela-
tionships growing up because the development of your three
Ps (passion, persistence, and patience). An assessment tool is
also provided in this chapter.
• Chapter 7: Develop your professional career, working on
your professional vision. Planning for your professional career
success is the purpose of this chapter.
• Chapter 8: Use your courage and assess it. Go beyond your
comfort zone and development of your courage are explained
in this chapter.
• Chapter 9: This chapter is focused on taking action, reviewing
your plan, and just doing it. In this chapter, some “never give
up” best practices are told.
• Chapter 10: Summary and conclusions and preparing an
“action plan.”

Through the whole book, I’ll be emphasizing the importance of being

positive and developing a positive attitude when trying to develop your
 Introduction xvii

3Ps skills as a project manager. All the best practices and ideas shared in
this book are based on my particular experience and on my interaction
with other project professionals worldwide. Only I am responsible of the
content of this book.

Pe
ion

r
sis
ss

ten
Pa

c
e
MOTIVATION

Patience

You will be familiar with the iron triangle, also known as a triple con-
strains for a project. I want to define my motivation triangle for project
success. The sides of my triangle are: Passion, Persistence, and Patience.
These are three basic skills to be developed in order to be motivated and
motivate your project team members and stakeholders. It takes time and
practice, but you can do it because you need to be excellent as a project
practitioner. Did you enjoy your reading so far? I hope so. If your answer
is positive, please move forward to Chapter 1. If not, please close the book
and try it again tomorrow because I need great professionals like you are
who are able to give me feedback about the use of 3Ps.
 CHAPTER 1

Passion, Persistence, and

Patience
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of
­enthusiasm.
—Winston Churchill

Long time ago I adopted passion, persistence and patience as my motto.

Perhaps because everything I did in my life needed to use, develop, and
sustain those qualities. I was born in a Spanish family, not a rich one,
but with the support I needed. I was constantly observed and the center
of attention of my relatives as I was growing up, had a happy childhood,
attended a good school and learned French as my second language. I always
was passionate about reading, learning, and researching on new subjects.
My scores at the primary school were very good, so my parents always sup-
ported me when I asked for a book, training course or something related
to learn. In fact, my father was always very supportive on that subject, he
believed that I needed to be well prepared for my future and he encouraged
me to be focused on being trained and educated to get a University degree.
Everything was great during Primary and Secondary School but when
I started to study at the University, I started to fail some times and I
learned from failure to failure. I did not pass the first time in some sub-
jects, so as I had the enthusiasm to move forward and, needed to use my
persistence and my patience to progress in order to obtain my degree.
That was not a path of roses, it was challenging and difficult but I was
determined to do it. My degree consisted of five calendar years plus the
final degree project. It took me seven years because I got a job at the third
year of my studies, so I had less time to study and needed to develop my
discipline and persistence to keep going on. It was the first time I was
conscious of when you have passion about something, persistence and
patience need to be cultivated to achieve your goal.
2 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

After a couple of years working for a multinational organization in

Spain I discovered that project management was my passion. I believe
passion is a priceless quality that makes everything different in our lives
(Bucero 2010). Professional life is always difficult and challenging but
when you have passion for your profession, that enthusiasm raises your
excitement and interest to move forward. It has happened to me during
my whole life. And that is the main reason why I am writing this book.
I strongly believe that you need to convert your dreams into reality. You can
do it without any doubt only if you believe you can. That is the p­ rinciple I
have been following as a professional during the last 37 years and it worked
for me, so why not for you. I hope my real stories about my 3 Ps will help
you to reflect and learn to build up a better future.

Passion
I truly believe passion makes the difference between success and failure in
our lives. In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple after a 12-year absence.
The company he had cofounded was running out of cash and close to
bankruptcy. Jobs held a staff meeting and explained the role passion
would play in revitalizing the brand:

Apple is not about making boxes for people to get their jobs done, although
we do that well. Apple is about something more. Its core value is that we
believe that people with passion can change the world for the better.

The simple phrase—“people with passion can change the world”

(Entrepreneur Network July 2015)—holds the secret to entrepre-
neurial success. Many times your body language shows your emotions
­(Figure 1.1). Several years later, in 2005, Jobs returned to the theme in his
famous commencement speech at Stanford University. “You’ve got to find
what you love,” Jobs said. “The only way to do great work is to love what
you do. If you have not found it yet, keep looking. Do not settle. As with
all matters of the heart, you will know when you find it.”

What Passion Can Do for You?

Passion is very important. Following your passion is the secret to over-

coming the setbacks all entrepreneurs face and it builds strengths and
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 3

Figure 1.1  Passion for project management

resistance against the inevitable naysayers who will question your vision.
I still remember when I left Hewlett-Packard in 2002 many of my col-
leagues told me sentences like: “where are you going Alfonso, you have a safe
job here” or: “It is raining cat and dogs outside, business is very difficult to be
able to survive,” or “you are bad on sales, you will fail.” My answer was “I love
you too.” I started a new company focused on my passion (project man-
agement). So, I did not care of the “naysayers” and I survived, I achieved
my vision and created a Project Management Consulting company where
I am still working for sixteen years ago. It is also an essential ingredient
in successful communication. If you are not passionate about your ideas,
nobody else will be. I believe that every professional needs to have a pur-
pose (Englund and Bucero 2012), my purpose is: “to help organizations
to change their attitude to achieve better project and organizational success”
When I created my own company on 2002 I reflected about the
“why.” I mean, why did I need to start up a company working on project
management? My answer was: because I needed to help companies to
understand better the project management discipline in order to manage
better and better projects for organizational success. I had passion to do
that, I worked on designing and implementing a portfolio of products
and services every year. On 2010 the financial crisis affected my company
results and I lost some money. My passion for project management was
there, I understood that I needed to make a difference on the market.
4 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

Then I defined my company purpose as: To help organizations to develop

and sustain a positive attitude managing projects for organizational success.
As an entrepreneur I am passionate—but not about the products I sell
and deliver to my customers, but about purpose and mission. I am pas-
sionate about changing the world or disrupting an established category.
For example, Steve Jobs was not passionate about computer hardware. He
was passionate about building tools that would help people unleash their
personal creativity. “Someone who is passionate will immerse themselves
in a field. They want to know everything they can about it,” says Francisco
García, the founder of -A-Hair Stylist Workshop. In a recent conversa-
tion, Francisco told me how much he admired Steve Jobs as someone who
followed his passions, wherever they would lead.
Francisco said that passion is a fundamental trait he looks for when
deciding who to hire for his business. He listens carefully to the words
people use. There’s no rush to create a business you’re not passionate
about just to be rich, he said. It will not work in the long run. You need
to have your heart in it. The heart is what’s going to drive you to make the
most money. Follow your passion and make a difference.
I do this passion activity all the time in my workshops, projects, and
events (a picture of me talking and smiling is shown in Figure 1.2). I get

Figure 1.2  Alfonso Bucero showing his passion in a public talk

 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 5

on stage and I speak and facilitate with excitement, energy, and passion.
One of the exercises I do, in order to demonstrate that passion is import-
ant, is just to change my communication style for a while. I become dull,
bored and show a true lack of passion and energy. It is amazing to see
everyone’s reaction in the room. They hate it! I do this to demonstrate
why passion matters. We have something called Mirror Neurons. We
automatically pick up the emotions of others.1 Have you experienced sit-
ting in your office and someone who has had a crap morning has just
walked it and literally lumped it all over the office. They have been cranky,
down or upset; and the whole energy in the room has changed. I am sure
you felt it.
Passion is about believing in what you do, inspiring others to believe
in it, and loving why you do what you do. Simon Sinek who wrote one
of my favorite books “Start with Why”2 said—“People don’t buy what
you do, they buy why you do it.” And I verified that on the delivery of
my services as a PM consultant. I always take care of the people around
me to get across the message of enthusiasm on everything I do. I do not
need to make any special effort because it is natural, is coming from
my mindset.

What Inspires Your Employees or Project Stakeholders?

Everything is about people—us, the individuals. Everyone needs to get

personally inspired. Having a clear, common dream and purpose that
every employee can identify with is the best way to motivate. Passion
requires courage, even young-like energy, to keep your eyes on your goal
and do all you can to achieve it.
This is exactly how you need to see your staff: as individuals and,
first of all, human beings. As a leader, your task is to inspire and encour-
age positive attitude rather than to be a mere supervisor, as cited in

1
  Totterdell, P., K. Niven, and D. Holman. 2010. “Our Emotional Neighbour-
hood—How Social Networks Can Regulate What We Feel.” The Psychologist 23,
pp. 474–77.
2
  Sinek, S. 2009. Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take
Action. New York, NY: Portfolio.
6 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

Figure 1.3  Smell the inspiration

­ igure 1.3. Ask your people to smile more. I remind them that every day
F
in the morning when they are brushing their teeth the need to smile and
repeat “I am excellent.” Please smile more and more every day and you
will enjoy much more moments in your life. Furthermore, you will show
your happiness to anybody else and be contagious.

Why Should You Measure Passion?

What you cannot measure, you cannot lead! (Zak 2009). This well-known
fact also applies to passion. If you want to see enthusiasm as one of your
goals, you also need to decide how you will measure it.
One main reason to measure your passion is that it inspires the whole
staff to rethink their level of passion. When the staff’s focus is on ­passion
and on how to increase it, the level will increase for sure. Soon the whole
staff will start to think new ways to strengthen their enthusiasm or p ­ assion
together. Passion is contagious. Please ask yourself:

• What is the level of passion do I have in the tasks, or in the

project am I managing?
• Is that level enough or can you improve it?

The answer to those questions will give you some clues, about what
is the amount of passion you are putting at work. Measure your passion
temperature and you will always discover some ways to improve.
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 7

How Can You Measure Your Passion?

The aim of a passion survey needs to focused on the following subjects:

• Measuring the present state of passion

• Understanding the factors effecting passion and prioritizing
them
• Increasing passion at the workplace

Measuring passion needs to be attached to already existing processes.

In practice, this means that measuring is continuous, results are followed
in some common meeting and the points for improvement are actually
put into practice.
Every company can decide the most suitable cycle for their measur-
ing. It is important, however, that measuring is continuous. In general,
the survey is worthwhile to complete at least once a month to actually
keep track of how things are going. As the whole staff answers the survey
once a month, the survey should not be too long. And the questions need
to be considered precisely.

What to Ask?

The target of a survey is always an individual—that is, the survey measures

every individual’s passion separately. Good themes to cover are individu-
al’s passion for their work tasks, and their sense of freedom, responsibility
and inspiration.
Some suggested questions are:

1. Does your staff feel energetic and passionate at work?

2. Do they work on tasks which bring them joy, accomplishments and
challenges?
3. Do they have the chance to work in a flow state, without interrup-
tions and giving their whole effort?
4. Do they feel proud of their work, the company’s vision and future?

When the results are ready, the first thing to focus on needs to be
the factors increasing passion: the ones that are best fulfilled and are
8 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

considered to be the most important factors by your staff. You need to

try to focus on understanding why those factors have such an impact
on passion.
When you have the facts on which factors increase passion, and why,
it is time to consider the obstacles standing in the way of inspiration. You
need to choose one or a maximum of two challenges and aim at solving
the reasons for why they decrease passion.
The best way to gain true understanding is to have a discussion about
the results openly with all of your project stakeholders. The discussion
needs to be held in an open and trusting environment without blaming
anyone. It is the only way to make progress and take steps forward, as
a one motivated, harmonious and enthusiastic team. Now, it is time to
measure your staff’s passion.

How to Assess Your People Passion

The following questions will help you to assess the level of passion you or
you people have:

1. What’s your dream job?

2. Why are you applying for this position?
3. What do you love to do?
4. What do you dislike?
5. Where do you see yourself in five-year time?
6. Tell me about a time in your current or previous work where you
were intensely motivated? Where you were bored?
7. What things in life do you do where you lose track of time?
8. Why have you chosen this industry to work in? (​Do they show an
interest in your industry and company?)
9. ​What research have they done on your company?
10. Do they display general enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and try
new things?

The crucial thing here is to watch where the person lights up/comes
to life which is often indicated by faster speech, eyes and body language
and so on. Also, when they over talk, it can indicate a subject they are
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 9

passionate about. If you are dealing with more of an “analytic” as opposed

to a more “expressive” person this can be a little harder to gauge.
I want to share a funny story with you that illustrates how signifi-
cant is to show your passion when are interviewed for a job position.
I still remember that interview when I needed to hire a new software
programmer for my project team. He was a little bit nervous but very
assertive in his answers to my questions but, when I asked him: what do
you dislike earlier in the morning? He said the main think I do not like
in the morning is to get up to go for work. He made me laugh, I could
not avoid it. He was not passionate about his potential job, so I decided
not to hire him.

Persistence
One of the definitions of persistence is the fact of continuing in an opin-
ion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition (Mukwevho
2013). Others define it like the fact of persist or the quality to insist.
Being persistent is a skill that can help you to achieve a goal, get what you
wish and can even be a means by which you assert yourself in the face of
stubborn or difficult people.
The application of persistence to any task, interaction or goal is often
what distinguishes between those who are successful and those who fail in
any endeavor. Indeed, a lack of persistence or “giving up too soon” is one
of the most common reasons for failure in any endeavor. We are complex
creatures. Hope and anguish can coexist and still create something truly
amazing. Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your
feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting, until you achieve
that important goal. I surprise myself every day.
People give up too soon because they have wrong expectations of
themselves and the outcome. They expect the way to be easy, and they are
surprised when they find the reality to be the opposite. Their enthusiasm
quickly melts and they lose heart. Then, start your journey with the right
expectation. And don’t underestimate the amount of time required either.
Let me share with you one of examples of persistence: I am PMP
(Project Management Professional) certified but I did not pass the PMP
exam the first time. I was so arrogant my first time and thought that I
10 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

Figure 1.4  Winners never quit

did need not study just because I had 15 years of project management
experience and, thought it would be enough to pass but it was not. I tried
again a second time because I had it as a clear professional objective to
be certified, but I was managing a project far away home and started to
study very late every day, getting fall sleep most of the days, so I did not
pass the second time I tried it. Finally, I passed the exam the third time
because I studied enough and, dedicated effort and time (winners never
quit as showed in Figure 1.4.
Remember, there is no such thing as cheap success. Expect a hard way,
not an easy one, and you will be mentally prepared when you encounter
the reality. The size of your commitment should be proportional to the
size of your desire. You will be blown away by what you can achieve if you
don’t lose hope in yourself. Einstein persisted and stayed with problems
longer to make sure he found exactly what he was looking for. He once
said “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

What Persistence Can Do for You?

Being persistent can contribute to personal and professional success,

but you need to be sure that you are dealing with achievable objectives.
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 11

Persistence, has a lot to do with your success in life and business. Per-
sistence is omnipotent. Calvin Coolidge once said “The slogan press on
has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” Talent
and genius cannot take the place of persistence. The value of persistence
comes from a vision of the future that’s so compelling you would give
almost anything to make it real.
Persistence of action comes from persistence of vision. When you’re
super-clear about what you want in such a way that your vision doesn’t
change much, you’ll be more consistent — and persistent — in your actions.
And that consistency of action will produce consistency of results. Every
obstacle is an opportunity to improve.

I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step. If that is
of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at
a time is not too difficult. I know that small attempts, repeated, will
complete any undertaking.
—Mandino, 2007

When you work on any big goal, your motivation can wax and wane.
Sometimes you’ll feel motivated; sometimes you won’t. But it’s not your
motivation that will produce results — it’s your action. The decision to
persist. To make progress even when you don’t feel like it. Persistence
allows you to keep taking action even when you don’t feel motivated to
do so, and therefore you keep accumulating results.
On March 2006 I started my studies to get a MSc in project manage-
ment by the Zaragoza University. It took me three years instead of two
because I am a business man always travelling across the oceans, but I
had a clear objective of accomplishing my goals and used my persistence
spending one more year than planned to achieve my MSc, and I got it
by the end of 2008. By the end of 2009 I decided to study to obtain my
PhD but I was not able to be registered at the University because of a
big workload that year. On 2010 I was registered as a PhD student and I
defended my project on July 2011, then I got the license to research on
2012. During 2013 and 2014 I tried to advance on my research but my
thesis supervisor did not give me enough or right support, so I got lost
and demotivated. Every time I met my supervisor he told me: “Alfonso you
will never achieve your PhD because is not your first priority.”
12 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

That situation forced me to move to another university (MU). Then I

restarted my research at that University on 2015, it seemed that I would
get the support I needed. My mentor was better, I continued traveling
outside my country of residence and I was not able to advance as much
as I wanted. Finally, by June 2017 I had to present my thesis report but
I did not get enough data from my surveys according to the University
requirements. I was frustrated because I had worked a lot on that and I
felt much more focused on my objective. Then that University did not
allow me to continue. For a couple of months, I was demotivated but I
reflected upon, contacted some colleagues who already have a PhD and I
am now registered in ISM University.
In only two months my concentration, understanding and focus have
changed positively. My supervisor is encouraging me all the time and
now I know that I will achieve my objective. It is clearer now, so what I
need is hard work and good supervision to achieve my goal. After four
months with that supervisor I was able to submit my first research paper
to an International Research Conference, and two months later I was
notified that my paper was accepted thanks to the support and encour-
agement received from him. He made a difference because he explained
very clearly how to write a research paper. It took me some time because
my background is not academic but I did it.

What Inspires Your Employees or Project Stakeholders?

People who persists no matter the obstacles, sooner or later are bound to
succeed. Despite the setbacks, it’s in your best interest to turn obstacles
into stepping stones. Don’t choose to complain, or worse, to just give up
(Bucero 2010). These choices do nothing to get you across the finish line.
When your team members or other project stakeholders have clear objec-
tives and expectations giving up is not an option. If I had to select one
quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being highly related
with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence.
A lack of persistence or “giving up too soon” is one of the most common
reasons for failure in any endeavor. A little more persistence, a little more
effort is sometimes what you need to get closer to the goal. Once you
create a belief that there is an obstacle you cannot overcome, you stop
looking for solutions.
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 13

The greater the achievement you seek, the more likely you will persist
to achieve it. I always defended that “ambition is the path to success.
­Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” Persistence in the service of a
higher goal calls out many other virtues in you. You will push yourself to
beyond what is comfortable to achieve your chosen goal. And you should
know why you want your goal in the first place. And your why must be
bigger than the obstacles. The bigger your “why” the better. Persistent
people have a goal or vision in mind that motivates and drives them.
Reaching this goal becomes the focal point of their life and they devote
a greater percentage their energies and time toward reaching it. To stay
persistent, break that big goal down into smaller pieces. Smaller pieces are
easier to manage and easier to accomplish, and they’ll give you a feeling
of accomplishment sooner.
In one project I managed in Granada (South of Spain) I had fifteen
project stakeholders. Several of them were resistant because nobody
informed them about how the change that project was provoking would
be affecting them in their jobs and positions. As a project manager
I needed to get as many allies as possible to be successful in that project.
Then I used my persistence explaining to them one by one how much
their organization needed the contribution of everyone. I found resis-
tance because of political interests among some of them, but again I spent
a lot of time with them treating them for dinner or having some Spanish
tapas from time to time. It was very hard at the beginning but after a
couple of months everybody was understanding that all of us were doing
a special effort in the benefit of the project. Using my persistence in this
real case was one of the keys for project success. Most of my project stake-
holders were business unit managers and finally through my persistence
I got them working as a team.

Why Should You Measure Persistence?

Because many people give up so soon. Then you need to measure how
many times you are still pursuing your goal, failing and trying it again.
Persistence is important in your life as a project practitioner and you
need to measured (see Figure 1.5). It will mark how well you accomplish
tasks that you set for yourself. It will determine whether you are going to
finish or quit before you have actually reached your goal (Vujicic 2011).
14 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

Figure 1.5  Measuring persistence

You may have many great ideas for your business, projects or personal
life. However, if you do not have persistence to see them through, it is a
waste of time to get started. Do you know how to measure your degree
of persistence? Before beginning any task or setting a goal, you need to
understand your level of persistence and commitment. It is not exactly
easy to measure your own persistence. If you are going to be honest with
yourself, the only way to measure your persistence is during a task. Then
you can measure your persistence level based on when or if you give up.
This could take days, weeks, months, and even years. Most people do
not have that much time to waste just to find out their persistence levels.
Instead you can ask yourself a few questions that can help you figure out
your level of persistence.

How Can You Measure It?

Cal Newport over at Study Hacks, wrote an interesting article where he

claims that “getting started is overrated” (Newport 2008). He argues that
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 15

too many people get started without commitment. As a result, they waste
valuable time and energy on pursuits that they will give up after a few
months of haphazard effort. Action without persistence is a waste of time.
Continuing from Cal’s idea, I think it’s useful to ask yourself what your
level of commitment is to a project or goal before starting. Measuring
persistence is not easy. The only true way to know your persistence level
is to work on a project and see when you give up. If you quit a goal after
two years, your degree of persistence is two years.
Unfortunately, most of us do not have years of our lives to waste just
to measure the level of commitment to a new project. Although it won’t
measure the real thing, I think there is a thought experiment that comes
pretty close to pinpointing the actual value. Are you willing to work for-
ever? Pick any goal you want to measure your persistence for. Now, ask
yourself how long you would be willing to work on the goal, without any
positive feedback. How long would you be willing to work on a project,
without being able to see any results from your efforts?
That length of time, I believe, is a rough estimate of your commit-
ment to a project. Notice I didn’t ask how long you would be willing to
work on a project. Instead, I asked, how long you would be able to work
in a vacuum, devoid of any knowledge that you were making progress. If
you want to get in shape, ask yourself how long you would be willing to
go to the gym every day, if you didn’t lose a single pound, didn’t increase
at all in strength, or didn’t look any different. How long would you be
willing to last?
If you want to start a business, ask yourself how long you would be
willing to keep experimenting and producing without earning a single
dollar of revenue. Or receiving any indication that your business would
continue. Persisting Forever is Stupid (Young 2016). Obviously, working
forever without any results means you’re doing something wrong. Either
you’ve picked an impossible pursuit (try flying by flapping your arms) or
your approach is completely broken.
However, as a thought experiment, this question is still valuable.
There are going to be periods in the pursuit of any goal, where you will
completely lack positive feedback. You won’t have any motivational fuel
to encourage you forward. The question is based on how long you feel
you can continue in spite of this total absence of results.
16 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

How to Assess Persistence

In order to evaluate how persistent, you are, ask yourself the follow-
ing questions:

1. When the going gets tough do you keep going?

2. Do you see projects through to completion… even when the process
becomes boring or monotonous?
3. When you hit roadblocks, do you hang in there to find a solution?

Let’s just be frank here for a moment. Being persistent is not easy. In
fact, very often it is hard. It’s often so much easier and sometimes more
appealing to give up. Think about the last time you went on a fitness kick.
You’re doing really well … then winter arrives and the allure of the warm
done and an extra half hour in bed is so much more inviting than the
wet, dark and cold morning. Those who persist (and yes, I admire you)
end up with the health, fitness and vitality that we were striving for in the
beginning when the motivation was high and the weather warm.

Patience
What is the meaning of patience? It can be defined as the quality of being
patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain,
without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like. I also found it
as an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when
confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.
Many good things really do come to those who wait. Having patience
means being able to wait calmly in the face of frustration or adversity,
so anywhere there is frustration or adversity we have the opportunity to
practice it (see Figure 1.6). Yet patience is essential to daily life—and

Figure 1.6  Patience

 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 17

might be key to a happy one. Having patience means being able to wait
calmly in the face of frustration or adversity, so anywhere there is frustra-
tion or adversity—for example, nearly everywhere—we have the oppor-
tunity to practice it. At home with our kids, at work with our colleagues,
at the grocery store with half our city’s population, patience can make
the difference between annoyance and equanimity, between worry and
tranquility. Religions and philosophers have long praised the virtue of
patience; now researchers are starting to do so as well. Recent studies have
found that, sure enough, good things really do come to those who wait.
Some of these science-backed benefits are detailed in the following, along
with three ways to cultivate more patience in your life.
The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a series of studies on
“delayed gratification” in the late 1960s and early 1970s led by psychol-
ogist Walter Mischel, then a professor at “Stanford University. In these
studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided
immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period,
approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and
then returned. (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow, but often
a cookie). In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who
were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better
life outcomes. A replication attempt with a more diverse sample popula-
tion over 10 times larger than the original study failed to support the orig-
inal study’s conclusions and suggested that economic background rather
than willpower explained the results.
As a project practitioner I found that the organizational environment
factors may also help to increase or decrease your patience as a project
manager.

What Patience Can Do for You?

This finding is probably easy to believe if you call to mind the stereotyp-
ical impatient person: face red, head steaming. And sure enough, accord-
ing to a 2007 study by Fuller Theological Seminary professor Sarah A.
Schnitker and UC Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons, patient
people tend to experience less depression and negative emotions, per-
haps because they can cope better with upsetting or stressful situations.
18 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

They also rate themselves as more mindful and feel more gratitude, more
connection to mankind and to the universe, and a greater sense of abun-
dance. I thank God every day for being healthy, having a great family, or
even for not gaining a customer proposal but learning from it.
Patience comes in many different stripes. One type is interpersonal
patience, which doesn’t involve waiting but simply facing annoying
­people with equanimity. Another type of patience involves waiting out
life’s hardships without frustration or despair—think of business gener-
ation, I have a small company but we need to generate some sales every
month to survive in business. There are some months where sales are not
coming but we continue seeding and then the flowers grow up, I mean,
some sales come. Unsurprisingly, in Schnitker’s study, this type of coura-
geous patience was linked to more hope.
Finally, patience over daily hassles— I usually go through traffic jams
several mornings per week—seems to go along with good mental health.
In particular, people who have this type of patience are more satisfied
with life and less depressed.
These studies are good news for people who are already patient, but
what about those of us who want to become more patient? In her 2012
study, Schnitker invited 71 undergraduates to participate in two weeks of
patience training, where they learned to identify feelings and their trig-
gers, regulate their emotions, empathize with others, and meditate. In
two weeks, participants reported feeling more patient toward the trying
people in their lives, feeling less depressed, and experiencing higher levels
of positive emotions. In other words, patience seems to be a skill you can
practice—more on that next—and doing so might bring benefits to your
mental health.
Patient people are better friends and neighbors: In relationships with
others, patience becomes a form of kindness. Think of the best friend
who comforts you night after night over the heartache that just won’t go
away, or the grandchild who smiles through the story she has heard her
grandfather tell countless times. Indeed, research suggests that patient
people tend to be more cooperative, more empathic, more equitable, and
more forgiving. “Patience involves emphatically assuming some personal
discomfort to alleviate the suffering of those around us,” write Debra R.
Comer and Leslie E. Sekerka in their 2014 study.
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 19

Evidence of this is found in a 2008 study that put participants into

groups of four and asked them to contribute money to a common pot,
which would be doubled and redistributed. The game gave players a
financial incentive to be stingy, yet patient people contributed more to
the pot than other players did.
This kind of selflessness is found among people with all three types of patience
mentioned earlier, not just interpersonal patience: In Schnitker’s 2012 study,
all three were associated with higher “agreeableness,” a personality trait
characterized by warmth, kindness, and cooperation. The interpersonally
patient people even tended to be less lonely, perhaps because making and
keeping friends—with all their quirks and slip-ups—generally requires
a healthy dose of patience. “Patience may enable individuals to tolerate
flaws in others, therefore displaying more generosity, compassion, mercy,
and forgiveness,” write Schnitker and Emmons in their 2007 study.
On a group level, patience may be one of the foundations of civil
society. Patient people are more likely to vote, an activity that entails wait-
ing months or years for our elected official to implement better policies.
Evolutionary theorists believe that patience helped our ancestors survive
because it allowed them to do good deeds and wait for others to recipro-
cate, instead of demanding immediate compensation (which would more
likely lead to conflict than cooperation). In that same vein, patience is
linked to trust in the people and the institutions around us.
Patience helps us achieve our goals: The road to achievement is a long
one, and those without patience—who want to see results immediately—
may not be willing to walk it. Think of the recent critiques of millennials
for being unwilling to “pay their dues” in an entry-level job, jumping
from position to position rather than growing and learning. In her 2012
study, Schnitker also examined whether patience helps students get things
done. In five surveys they completed over the course of a semester, patient
people of all stripes reported exerting more effort toward their goals than
other people did. Those with interpersonal patience in particular made
more progress toward their goals and were more satisfied when they
achieved them (particularly if those goals were difficult) compared with
less patient people. According to Schnitker’s analysis, that greater satisfac-
tion with achieving their goals explained why these patient achievers were
more content with their lives as a whole.
20 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

Patience is linked to good health: The study of patience is still new,

but there’s some emerging evidence that it might even be good for our
health. In their 2007 study, Schnitker and Emmons found that patient
people were less likely to report health problems like headaches, acne
flair-ups, ulcers, diarrhea, and pneumonia. Other research has found
that people who exhibit impatience and irritability—a characteristic of
the Type A personality—tend to have more health complaints and worse
sleep. If patience can reduce our daily stress, it’s reasonable to speculate
that it could also protect us against stress’s damaging health effects.

What Inspires Your Employees or Project Stakeholders

Patience is connected to trust, hope, faith, love and good character.

I found ten Bible verses showing some of the aspects of patience. Being
humble, gentle and patient are good skills. You need to be tolerant with
your team members but at the same time you need to demonstrate them
you have enough authority.
I managed a large project for the Ministry of Work in Spain. I was
the project manager who worked for an important multinational firm
but all my team members (35) were subcontracted and with a low level of
experience. However, all of them had a great attitude and were committed
to learn. At the beginning the team performance was really poor. Then
I needed to apply my patience with them, listening to them as my first
priority. I learned a lot from them about their feelings, as they worked
for other company outside their home office and having me as a project
manager from a multinational company.
It took me at least three months to start working as a winning team. I
allowed them to fail some times because I understood they were unexperi-
enced people, but I gave them feedback every week in a sustained way and
they became good team members. I was patient with them understanding
that their motivations were not mine. I talked to them face to face so fre-
quently, organized some parties from time to time to tell jokes and laugh
for a while together. The project was 18 months long, and by the end of
the project I became their real boss because I earned their trust. And the
best reward for me was when my team said: “we want to work with you
again in the next project.”
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 21

Why Should You Measure Patience

Obviously, patience has a limit, so you need to measure it, understand

what your level is, and prepare a plan to move forward. You need to know
the elements that affect your patience to keep it under control. If you, as
a project manager, are getting nervous you may affect the level of patience
of your team.
As a leader you need to keep your project in control, so you need to
develop a high level of patience to manage your project team members
and stakeholders.

How Can You Measure Your Patience

In yourself and others, impatience, is easier to determine afterwards.

A few instances of not meeting deadlines, and consistently rushing at the
last minute, to be somewhere or do something when you have had more
than ample time to prepare for it, indicates a chronic lack of patience.
The psychology behind these actions is usually rooted in some sort of
internal “impedance”3 like a fear of failure, or total disinterest and lack
of curiosity in the event or thing to be done, or the past experience of
finding the thing boring beyond human endurance. If you or another is
a very patient person then you are by your natural temperament, already
inclined thru genetics, or you have made mental adjustments to the fail-
ures you have no doubt experiences when you were not patient, or you
have a strong desire to have a very successful outcome in all respects.
Pouncing, knee jerking, and other instant reactions, stimulus/response
reflexes, are a sure indication of a dearth of patience in our behavior.
One of the dangers I have to lose my patience is when as a project
manager I am communicating among my team by oral and written com-
munication and I do not obtain any response. I usually give a couple of

3
  Impedance. [im-peed-ns] Electricity. the total opposition to alternating current
by an electric circuit, equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the
resistance and reactance of the circuit and usually expressed in ohms. Symbol: Z.
Impedance | Define Impedance at Dictionary.com
https://dictionary.com/browse/impedance
22 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

days to respond my messages but after that when I do not get any news or
response I am getting nervous. My reaction is usually trying other method
or communicating to other people around it in order to get my message
received but it get me crazy some times.

How to Assess Your Patience

I found several questionnaires that try to address how to evaluate your

patience. Some of them are very focused on stressing situations and they
relate patience with the level of stress you can manage.
As a project manager you need to cultivate your patience with your
team members, your manager, your project sponsor, your customer. In
any case you need to take into account that you need always to work on
the benefit of the project. I want to share with you some questions I rec-
ommend you in order to assess your patience:

1. How do you feel when your sponsor is not giving feedback to you?
2. How do you feel when your team member is not asking you any
questions?
3. What is your feeling when your team has a problem that is very
difficult to solve?
4. How do you feel when your customer is complaining you regarding
a delay in a milestone or product delivery?

Chapter Summary
I would like to remind you some important ideas shared in this chapter
about Passion, persistence and patience.

Passion

• I truly believe passion makes the difference between success

and failure in our lives.
• Passion is very important. Following your passion is the secret
to overcoming the setbacks all entrepreneurs face and it builds
 Passion, Persistence, and Patience 23

resistance against the inevitable naysayers who will question

your vision
• Passion is about believing in what you do, inspiring others to
believe in it, and loving why you do what you do
• Passion requires courage, even young-like energy, to keep your
eyes on your goal and do all you can to achieve it
• If you want to see enthusiasm as one of your goals, you also
need to decide how you will measure it
• When you have the facts on which factors increase passion,
and why, it is time to consider the obstacles standing in the
way of inspiration

Persistence

• Being persistent is a skill that can help you to achieve a goal,

get what you wish and can even be a means by which you
assert yourself in the face of stubborn or difficult people
• The greater the achievement you seek, the more likely you will
persist to achieve it
• Persistence is important in your life. It will mark how well
you accomplish tasks that you set for yourself
• Those who persist end up with the health, fitness and vitality
that we were striving for in the beginning when the motiva-
tion was high and the weather warm.

Patience

• Having patience means being able to wait calmly in the face

of frustration or adversity, so anywhere there is frustration or
adversity we have the opportunity to practice it
• Patience helps us achieve our goals, it is linked with good
heath, patient people are better team members and colleagues
• Patience is connected to trust, hope, faith, love and
good character
24 Passion, Persistence, and Patience

References
Bucero, A. 2010. Today is a Good Day: Attitudes for Achieving Project Success.
Ontario, Canada: Multimedia Publications.
Englund, R.L., and A. Bucero. 2012. “The Complete Project Manager: Building
the Right Set of Skills for Greater Project Success.” Paper Presented at PMI
Global Congress 2012—EMEA, Marseille, France. Newtown Square, PA:
Project Management Institute.
Mukwevho, A. 2013. Burning Desire. Grooming Man Human Development.
Mandino, O. 2007. The Greatest Salesman in the World. Jaico Publishing House.
Mischel, W., and Ebbesen, E.B. 1970. “Attention in Delay of Gratification.”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(2), 329-337.
Vujicic, N. 2011. Life Without Limits. Australia and New Zealand: Allen &
Unwin.
Young, S. 2016. 7 Must-Know Strategies to Learn Anything Faster. E-book
Zak, P.J. May 19, 2009. The Moral Molecule. Gruter Institute Squaw Valley
Conference 2009: Law, Behavior & the Brain. Available at SSRN: https://
ssrn.com/abstract=1405393
 Index
Action, C.A.R. technique, 123 Education, career and, 136–138
Assessment tool Everything-is-success perspective, 59
career, 129–131
courage, 150–156 Functional communication, 109
happiness, 67–72
learning, 92–93 Happiness assessment tool
willingness, 168–170 behavioral approach, 70–71
biological approach, 70
Business unit meetings, 103–104 discovery of, 69–70
implicit measures, 71
Career measuring subjective experiences,
breaking the cycle, 115–116 68–69
C.A.R. technique, 123 other reports, 71
education and, 136–138 overview of, 67–68
income and, 138 self-reports, 71–72
interview, 124 Harmonious passion, 28–29
job as audition, 125
market knowledge, 126–127 Imagination, 161–163
monitoring progress, 127–129 Impedance, 21
network building, 126 Interview, 124
planning, 116
professional assessment tool, Job as audition, 125
129–131
project management perspectives,
Keeping busy, tips/tools for, 163–167
117–121
purpose and vision, 129
résumé, 121–122 Learning
Career lattice, 121 assessment tool, 92–93
C.A.R. technique, 123 from Boss’ behavior, 80–83
Circumstance, C.A.R. technique, 123 key deficiencies, 76–77
Connecting disposition, 46 from peers and colleagues, 83–85
Courage role as project manager, 78–80
assessment tool, 150–156 self-assessment, 93–97
behaviors to develop, 147–150 from stakeholders, 88–92
computing quotient, 156 from wife/partner, 85–88
developing, 145–147 Long-term commitment, 44–45
developing 3 Ps, 142–144
obstacles for, 144–145 Mindfulness, 46–47
overview of, 141–142
Creativity, 64–65 Network building, 126
Creativity gap, 66 Networking
Crossroads, 110 crossroads, 110
184 Index

functional communication, 109 finding, 32–35

overview of, 108–109 importance of, 10–12
rating customer, 111–112 inspiring of, 12–13
strategic relationship matrix, 111 measure of, 14–15
power of, 60–61
Obsessive passion, 29 reasons for measure, 13–14
rules of, 61–62
Passion Positive attitude, 55–60, 62–66
assessing of, 8–9 Professional career perspectives
attributes of, 44–46 marketplace, 119–121
conclusions, 177 organizational, 117–119
definition of, xv personal, 121
description of, viii–xiv Project manager
developing, 29–32 becoming, 135–136
finding, 26–29 project management certificates,
harmonious, 28–29 137–138
importance of, 2–5 responsibilities, 133–134
inspiring of, 5–6 secret of career, 134–135
keys to sustaining, 47–48 skills, 131–133
measure of, 7
obsessive, 29 Questing disposition, 45–46
positive attitude and, 62–64
reasons for measure, 6 Rating customer, 111–112
suggested exercises, 49–52 Relationships
suggested questions of, 7–8 business unit meetings, 103–104
Patience managing contacts, 99–103
assessing of, 21 networking, 108–112
best practices to developing, 38–39 sharing thoughts and ideas,
conclusions, 177–178 104–108
cultivation of, 36–39 Result, C.A.R. technique, 123
definition of, 16, xv Résumé, 121–122
importance of, 17–20
inspiring of, 20
measure of, 21–22 Self-assessment
reasons for measure, 21 benefits of, 94–95
strategies for, 37–38 essentials of, 95–97
Persistence importance or reasons for, 93–94
assessing of, 16 Strategic relationship matrix, 111
conclusions, 177
definition of, 9, xv Willingness
description of, 9–10 assessment tool, 168–170
developing, 35–36 developing, 167–168