A Sit Down With Bant Breen on the Growth and Development of PMI Mile-Hi Chapter

I recently sat down with Bant Breen on The UNCAGED Show to discuss my career as president of PMI Mile-Hi Chapter, providing the premier environment where individual practitioners can enhance their professional growth in all facets of Project Management. This is an edited excerpt from our discussion.

Bant Breen:

Welcome to Uncaged. Today we're speaking with James McCoy. James, last time we spoke a lot about your role as the president of the Palmer Mile-High chapter and really the wealth of experience that you have in that broader kind of project management space. But today I think we're focusing on something else. Let's just talk about leadership. James, you've done an amazing job building organizations, and I know that every time we talk, you have very strong views on the kind of good things to do and not to do as a leader. And so, I thought we should try to get into that a little bit today. But before we start, James, maybe set it up for the audience. James is the president of the Mile-High chapter. He's had an active career in the project management space. He worked at SSP Innovations as a PPMO team leader. But, you know, before we jump into the leadership discussion, maybe just set up that PPMO space a little bit for our listeners again.

James McCoy:

Yeah, sure, Bant. You know, I would say that from a leadership perspective, it all started. I built and led the program management office for General Electric. I also manage the project management office for IBM and then also Siemens Business Service. I built and was the director of a PMO for an international consulting firm. And then now two roles, SSP Innovations as a PMO manager and leadership on steroids from a project management perspective. I'm the president of the Mile-High chapter, the 10th largest chapter in the world. A lot of programs with a lot of projects and programs that we do. So that's my background in the leadership space.

Bant Breen:

And I mean, that's an incredible background. Tons and tons of experience. And, you know, you've seen successful leadership. You've also seen it when it's not gone the way that it should go. So, you know, maybe let's get into it. When you look out, James, what are some of those skills that you think the modern-day leader needs to have?

James McCoy:

Yeah, that's a good question. I think like everybody. I have my hot topics in that answer. People are the number one resource in the world and always will be. Doesn't matter what technology comes by, doesn't matter the fears of AI or not. People are it. And when it comes to those skills or topics for the leaders in the business today I think all around showing up caring about others and effective communication skills.?

Bant Breen:

Yeah. And I know that you and I have spoken about communication and when that goes right and when it goes wrong and I just it's funny, it's one of those that as we get more fragmented, more digital, I guess things are speeding forward. It always comes back to communication. And, you've done it so well. How does a leader improve communications across a diverse and dynamic workforce?

James McCoy:

Yeah, that's a good question and I wish I could say that I've always done it well. But, you know, like everybody else, we all learn along the way and learn from mistakes. But I would say that some of the key strategies in improving communication skills. Again, I kind of hobbyhorse the caring about others, motivating and caring about others, but you know, it goes beyond that. It's more than just communicating and being open, showing that you care about others means that you actually listen. Having active listening skills, making sure there's clear and concise communication because in the diverse workforce today, it's always best in my mind to keep things simple in communications and understandable. That's how we learn and grow. I would say those are some strategies. And we also need to leverage the technology that we have and that changes ever-so-often.

Bant Breen:

I definitely agree with that. Thank you so much, James, for being on Uncaged. I really enjoyed our conversation, and look forward to having you back on the show.

To see the full interview on the Uncaged YouTube channel, go to:

https://youtu.be/_thoTbgLg6U