E26 Ruth Pearce from Project Motivator and Michael Donnelly from Silicon Valley Bank
In this episode of Project Management Office Hours Joe Pusz, PMO Joe, and his guests Ruth Pearce and Michael Donnelly discuss using Strengths Based Project Management, progressing from good to great project management, building successful PMOs, and Ruth’s book, “Being a Project Motivator, Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management.” Ruth and Michael have great chemistry and the discussion flows easily between them as we get insights, tips, techniques, and tools. This is a can’t miss episode to learn Why you need to be more than a technically competent project manager.
Ruth shares with us the essence of her book, that building effective teams and leading successful projects is made easier utilizing Character and Strength-based Project Management. Ruth guides us in practical application such as how to observe the 24 character strengths within your team and how to engage your team. The natural powers of observation allow us to share character strengths and help our teams connect and grow through appreciation.
Michael shares his story and career path which has led him to his current PMO leadership role. Along his journey he has had many successes and he provided several examples which PMO leaders can easily adopt. Are you a Partner of Choice within your organization? Listen to Michael’s powerful story on his courageous leadership to engage his stakeholders. He also shares barriers he has encountered and how to overcome these challenges.
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Michael Donnelly is a PMO leader with over 20 years’ experience driving enterprise solutions. From a start up to a Fortune 50 company, from technology to banking industries, Michael leverages different cultures and learnings to elevate teams.
He promotes the art and science of managing projects and has helped transform teams by coaching practical PMI, agile, lean, and leadership techniques.
Michael is a Senior Manager with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). For more than 35 years, SVB has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators.
Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.
The time has come to disrupt project management. Project Motivator’s processes are well-established, our approaches well-known. It is time to focus on people. We at Project Motivator believe that at fifty years old, our profession is ready to take a new position in organizations, and in the world. The organization is passionate about the future of project managers as influencers, and forces for good in organizations and teams. Their purpose is to build engaged teams who will run through walls for each other, led by an impassioned, empathic, socially intelligent project or program manager. 
Experience, and evidence, shows that this happens when colleagues feel seen and heard, when they feel that failure is not a dirty word, when they feel safe to challenge the status quo and when they know their strengths, they are appreciated for their strengths, and they are encouraged to use and grow their strengths in everything that they do.
Ruth Pearce’s motto is Be Hopeful, Be Strong, Be Brave, Be Curious. Her principles are: 1. Create experiences that are supported by evidence and experience. 2. Focus on strengths – use strengths to tackle growth opportunities. 3. Build learning experiences through training, modeling and coaching. 4. Explore everything and be open to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences. 5. Share, collaborate and support others. 6. Keep learning and make it FUN!
Ruth has over 25 years of continuous project and program management experience, she trained as an economist, a lawyer, a mediator, and a coach. She holds her PMP and ACP certifications, is certified in various personality assessments, is accredited by the International Coach Federation and is a Certified Coach Trainer with the Center for Coaching Certification. She is also a Thrive Programme consultant, offering coaching for those who want to overcome stress, anxiety, and phobias.
Connect with Ruth on LinkedIn and Twitter.
ABOUT PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE HOURS SERIES
Project Management Office Hours is intended to provide Project Management professionals a place to drop in and discuss Success Stories, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned. Project Management Consultant Joy Gumz has shared with us, “Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides the light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”
Each of us has a unique story to tell, but collectively we share a message that organizations who embrace Project Management Best Practices perform better than those which don’t. Organizations which align Projects to Strategy perform better. Organizations with Engage Executive Sponsors deliver better results. Organizations which measure Project Management performance outperform those which don’t.
During our Project Management Office Hours, we hear directly from Industry leaders how to make an impact in our profession. How we, collectively, will Advance Project Management Best Practices, One Listener at a time!
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ABOUT YOUR HOST
Joe Pusz started THE PMO SQUAD to bring real world PMO Leadership experience to the consulting space and to advocate for Project Management through his blog PMOJOE.com. The old saying is “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Following this mindset Joe left Corporate America in 2013 to start THE PMO SQUAD and work with fellow Natural Born Project Managers to advance Project Management Best Practices.
THE PMO SQUAD focuses exclusively on PMO and Project Management consulting. Corporate America is full of Accidental Project Managers running projects who haven’t been trained to be PMs. To help solve this problem THE PMO SQUAD is on the Leading Edge with PMO As a Service. PMO As a Service allows our clients to focus on their respective core competencies while THE PMO SQUAD delivers Project Management expertise. Contact Joe at 678-591-7868. Follow The PMO Squad on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
