LEADERSHIP

LEADING HIGH-STAKES ADVENTURES • 23
afford for my project to fail. My next assignment depends on
this assignment’s results. I’ve grown accustomed to living indoors
and eating on a regular basis.
Large or small, failures leave a stain on the cape. I want big
projects that everybody knows about and cares about. And
when it comes to priorities, I want the projects at the top of
the “imperatives” list.
Climb. The higher the better. Scramble to the top of your
organization’s stack of high-adventure projects and assume the
pose. You can. High exposure is the superhero’s best friend.
Your best friend.
Sidekicks, Stakeholders, and Success
In projects, you can’t succeed alone. It takes an effective
project team with a variety of skills and expertise to succeed
even on small, “less complex" projects. (Is any project simple?)
And like all effective work groups, project teams are most effective
when goals, roles, and responsibilities are clearly understood,
in sync, and fully committed to—Clarity; Action;
Purpose; Enthusiasm.
Just as superheroes have sidekicks (trustworthy teammates),
projects have stakeholders (ideally, also trustworthy
teammates—but we’ll chat about that later). My all-time favorite
sidekick is Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy.
If you’re not familiar with Rocky and his teammates, you can
check out their intergalactic team dynamics at the link below. Be
prepared to chuckle, you’re about to see team behaviors you’ll recognize.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1441049625/