Frank P. Saladis PMP,PMI Fellow
Manager / Leader / Volunteer

 Background
 AT&T Long Lines, BCS and Corp.
ITS
 Cisco Systems Professional
Services
 Past President PMI® NYC
Chapter
 Past Editor allPM.com
 Past Chair PMI Ed SIG
 Founder International PM Day
 PMI Person of the year 2006
 PMI Fellow 2013
 PMI DistinguishedContribution
2015

“TheValue of Project Management can be seen in any
skyline”
International Project Management Day – 4 November 2021

 What has been the very best thing about the past
year for you?
 What new skills or talents did you discover in
yourself?
 What projects made you feel most alive and why?
 What work contributions do you feel most proud
of?
 What did you do that most contributes to your
personal mission and vision?
 What's the most meaningful thing you did for
another person?

 If you could write one news headline about you
and make it come true, what would it be?
 What will be your number one focus during
these next six months?
 What would you have to believe about yourself
to make the coming months your best ever?
 What limiting beliefs would be useful to drop?
 How will you help others to be more
successful?
 What "Super Hero skills" would you like to
have to accelerate your success and others?

 Now, with fresh insights bubbling in your
brain, identify some action items. Get
moving, so that the next 6 months will be
your most enjoyable, productive, and giving
season of your life.

Seth Goodin

 What are your daily leadership activities?
 How do you plan and utilize your leadership
time?

Behavior Percent of time spent Ideal Percent of time
you should devote
Informing
Directing
Clarifying
Persuading
Collaborating
Brainstorming/ envisioning
Reflecting (Quiet time)
Observing
Disciplining
Resolving interpersonal conflict
Praising / Recognizing

 Is there a gap between what you actually do and
how you should spend your time and energy?
 What behaviors are taking up too much of your
leadership time?
 Where should you be spending your leadership
energy?
 What strategies can be employed to move you
closer to your ideal distribution of behaviors?

1. To do all aspects of my leadership duties well, I need
to improve _______
2. If I were better at _______, I would excel relative to
my peers
3. If I improved _______, I would resolve an ongoing
problem
4. Feedback from several sources indicate I should
improve _______
5. In the future, my organization will need more people
who are effective at _______
6. To advance to the next level of leadership within my
organization I should learn more about ______
7. The reasons why I should continue my personal
development include: ____________________

“I was going to buy a copy of The Power of
PositiveThinking, and then I thought:
What the hell good would that do?
Ronnie Shakes

 How are project managers perceived by other
managers, peers, and associates?
 Mudslinging –What are the perceived negatives
about project managers and project
management?

 Brand “you” - One word that describes you
 Honest
 Authentic
 Friendly
 What do you value? (in your place of business, in
your personal life)
 Know who you are
 Define your values
 Consistency is vital
 Know your customers

 What are the characteristics of the successful
project manager?

The Key Competencies of a Project Manager
1. Communications Skills-verbal, written
2. Leadership Skills
3. Organizing Skills-planning, time management
4. Interpersonal Skills
5. Negotiating Skills-Diplomacy and mediating
6. Team Building Skills
7. Technical Skills
Emphasis on
professionalism in
planning and execution

 Accomplishability: your ability to achieve and
deliver valued results.
 Value/cost: the value delivered perception
relative to the cost.
 Supply/Demand: the market dynamics of
your position, skills, etc.
 Likeability: how others perceive you.

 If you don’t focus on becoming indispensable,
your value will be limited and your worth in
society decreases every day
 You become less relevant!

A positive attitude and an awareness of how to
build brand 'you' are as crucial as your team
making skills.
AnnaTims

Importance
Urgent
Interruptions,
Some meetings
Fire drills
Crises, Pressing problems
Deadline driven projects,
True emergencies
Prevention
Maintenance
Relationship building
Recreation
Trivia, Pleasant activities
Easy stuff, Busy work
Low
High
High
High

 Some possibilities:
 Instill doubt that you can be replaced
 Create a sense of the risk your departure would
have on customer relations or profit
 Exploit gaps in the system – be the only one who
fully understands a process
(Caution - these actions may limit your ability
to grow)

 Our work must create value and bring a “gift”
to others each day
 In other words, what you do is appreciated and
people look forward to working with you
 We must overcome our “Voice of Judgment”
(The excuses that keep us playing small)
 We must “think indispensable”

 Inventory your value traits
 How are you different?
 What key skills, knowledge, or other factors
do you bring to your organization?
 What new skills should you pursue?
 How do you know you are valuable?
 The management of value

 Critical
 Vital
 Central
 Essential
 Necessary
 Required
 Crucial
 Obligatory
 Fundamental
 Key
 Must Have
 A Keeper YOU

 What is one thing that people associate with
you in service to your organization’s mission?
 Be excellent at it
 Make it a habit, not just a goal, to collaborate
with others and exchange knowledge
 Carry a spirit of generosity into your work
without undue worry that you will be taken
advantage of

 Never underestimate the importance of the
way you look (image, dress)
 Smile, be up beat, supportive, and positive
 Create a CV and update it with the things that
make you valuable
 Ask questions and learn from people in other
departments
 Create and sustain an active social media
presence (Linked in,Twitter)

 CreateValue and bring a “gift” to others
 Become an artist – a positive deviant, a
linchpin
 Refuse to be limited by business as usual
 Create a professional impression online
 Never allow anyone to tag inappropriate
pictures of you online

 That “extra” something you contribute each
day
 Smile
 Thoughtful gesture
 Kind action
 Teaching or mentoring
 ForgetWIIFM
 Find something that differentiates you from
others, something people will remember

 The Professional – Truthful, Ethical, Fair, Principles
 The Financial – Managing Cost, FinancialValue
 The Aesthetic – Quality and Customer Satisfaction
 The Social – Team building, relationships
 The Political – Influencing, managing conflict
 The Leader – Sets an example, create confidence,
motivates, builds loyalty

 Indispensable
 Delivering massive impact
 A mindset wrapped with skills and attributes
 Indispensable people are the types that you can
hand any project, put in nearly any role, issue a
challenge to, and they simply make things happen
by understanding what must get done and
adapting their skills accordingly.

 Irreplaceable
 Locked in a role
 Harboring a finite set of skills and knowledge mindset
wrapped with skills and attributes
 Keeping information from others
 A false sense that if you protect your area you will
have job security for life
 If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.You
can’t grow your company or your profile, because it
can’t move forward without you.You can’t grow,
move on, do different things, expand your horizons

 Do more than your job description
 Don’t wait for the “pat on the back”
 Anticipate needs
 Make yourself essential
 Display optimism, no whining or complaining
 Stay connected
 “befriend” your boss and associates
 Serve others, not yourself
 Strengthen your weak links

 Build your team to sail the ship without you.
Teach them everything you know, and hire
people smarter than you.
 Equip yourself to always bring something
powerful, unique, and pivotal to your work,
but make it a methodology, not a checklist
that’s unique to any one discipline.

 They are the ultimate in adaptability
 Thrive on whatever gets thrown at them
 Their skills and techniques are unique, and
ever-evolving.
Which means that few businesses can thrive for
the long term without them.

 They areAuthentic Leaders
 To lead is to measurably help others succeed –Tom
Peters
 No matter what the situation, the “great”
manager’s first response is to always think about
the individual concerned and how things can be
arranged to help that individual experience success
– Marcus Buckingham

Over deliver!
1. Be there first
2. Attitude – I’m here to win
3. Go to the next level – go for the championship
4. Play against someone better than you
5. Do a personal SWOT
6. Network
7. Understand your customer
8. Put your ego aside
9. Uplift your Brand – Don’t be “satisfied”
10. Give back
11. Be demanding but fair – no clock watchers
12. Know your team

 Network as much as possible
 Be excellent at something
 Create something useful
 Innovate – look for different ways to solve a
problem
 Make others feel good
 Share and teach, mentor and coach
 Commit to make a difference

 Final thoughts:
 No one is actually totally indispensable
 The real goal is to become a “go to” person
 Project managers should be sought after for their
wide range of skills and experience
Become
Invaluable

 P - Professionalism at all times
 R - Respect for all stakeholders
 O - Ownership of each assignment
 J - Judicial decision maker
 E - Excellence in execution
 C – Communicator
 T –Team player and team builder

 M - Motivator
 A - Action oriented
 N - Negotiator
 A - Always available
 G - Genuine commitment
 E - Energetic and empowering
 R - Responsible for success

 Frank P. Saladis PMP, PMI Fellow
 saladispmp@msn.com
 Check out my book “ Positive Leadership in
Project Management”

 Linchpin:AreYou Indispensable? Seth Goodin
 BrassTackThinking – IndispensableVs.
Irreplaceable
 Becoming Indispensable,Adele Scheele
 Becoming Indispensable – Lessons From
NASA and Oprah, Robin Sparks
 Dustin M.Wax, lifehack.org