People And Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast

When Emotions Are Rising On Your Project Let’s say you’re sitting in a meeting tomorrow for a project you are leading. You’re looking to get sign-off and, based on the pre-meetings you had with key stakeholders, the meeting should go smoothly. But seemingly out of the blue, a key stakeholder speaks up and starts sharing objections. Right there in front of everyone, which includes your boss, by the way. Things are starting to derail and you can feel some anger starting to build up. If we could see a thought bubble over you, you might be saying, “I can’t believe they’re sabotaging this! They didn’t bring any of this up when we talked about it before the meeting! They’re throwing me and my project under the bus!” That’s a pivotal leadership moment right there. Maybe for you, it’s a demanding boss. Or a deeply emotional situation outside of work. The critical issue is this: How do we respond? Does it help, or do we make it worse? How do we navigate the emotional rollercoaster of leading teams and projects—and fam