A while ago, I returned to a school I attended to collect my certificates. On getting there, I was hit with nostalgia when I saw some of my former teachers.
I asked myself
“Why did I never come back to say a simple thank you to them for teaching me?”.
That day I decided that I will always drop a thank you note for those that were instrumental to my journey. That mindset made me appreciate the work of my lecturers. Some might argue that those who held you to the highest standards of academic rigour should not be thanked because of the difficulty that comes with it (in fact some people stay angry at them for this), but I differ because I believe that you are as valuable as the degree of difficulty you surmount in any field or area. Our lecturers were thorough and demanded the highest level of originality and ethical compliance. Some may not have liked it, but I did because I knew that if I followed through, I will be better off for it.
I had shared with the community that it was needful to maintain these relationships, and also say thank you as a community to the people that contributed to our journey. Some welcomed it, some did not but that didn’t matter.
We decided to plan an event that will do three things: celebrate relationships, share our thanks to those who were instrumental to our journey, and to use that as a small-scale work experience project to practice our project management skills in a new environment. It will tough but we did it. The team put in their all – time, effort and money, and I experienced again the power of a united few.
The event happened, and it was successful. During the event, we announced the work experience project we were going to execute on a yearly basis, and thankfully we secured a partnership with a UK based charity to plan the next project.
I must say that pulling off a project in a new environment is not as seamless as it may seem. New environment, multi-cultural space, and different kinds of stakeholders. It was interesting and a lot of lessons learnt.
I learnt that as you lead,
You will need to develop strong, intuitive communication skills that transcend barriers. Mainly because the structure of the idea in your mind will not automatically translate into the same pixels in the minds of others.
Consequently, you must consistently and intelligently communicate with stakeholders until everyone has the same pictures. Project management will make you reflective leader if you do it right.