In this podcast, Dr. Rodolfo De Acutis, Global PMO Lead R&D at Nestlé,  and Joe Cahill discuss the leadership of emotions and the critical role of power skills for PMO and portfolio organizations.  Dr. De Acutis shares that project leaders and change makers face a range of emotional triggers when engaging with stakeholders that they will need to manage.  These triggers increase stress and can affect a project leader’s performance. He suggests a range of techniques leaders can use to reframe emotional responses, such as reflection and explaining the “why.”

Dr. De Acutis also discusses the challenges facing organizations as they recruit and build their project leaders and teams.  He believes that talent equals Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ).  Thus, effective project leaders need to balance their technical and leadership/interpersonal skills.  He strongly believes that project leaders still need strong technical skills, especially risk management, and need to incorporate approaches like agile and lean to respond to project characteristics which do not fit well with highly predictive approaches.  But to rally a team to produce its best results requires building trust and being transparent.

Dr. De Acutis closes with his focus on nourishing his own passion for knowledge and learning so he can continue to positively embrace the future of work.