A profession built on endurance: inspiring, training, and empowering a project team

We often confuse inspiring with impressing. The myth of the leader — visionary, dominant, first across the finish line — rarely withstands the reality of project mode, where you lead people under pressure over time. This talk offers another lens: that of endurance, tested and shared through my experience as a runner in ultra-distance events (~160 km). The narrative is grounded in a proven framework. It walks through the predictable stages of team development — from forming to storming, then to norming and performing (Tuckman & Jensen; Sashkin & Morris) — and the leadership actions specific to each (Lewis). We then address what research says about well-being in project management, psychological safety, inclusion, and team resilience (Pavez; Carmeli; Jaiswal & Dyaram), because the primary risk of a project is human, not technical. Three behaviors stem from this, directly applicable to the PMO and IT teams: welcoming bad news more warmly than good news, defending a sustainable delivery pace, and coaching rather than commanding.

Objective

Distinguish inspiring from impressing and recognize the predictable stages of team development, in order to adapt their leadership stance to each stage rather than panicking at the first sign of turmoil. Leverage three key protection drivers — psychological safety, sustainable delivery pace, and coaching — to simultaneously protect the well-being and performance of a team under pressure. Perform a simple diagnostic on their own team's maturity and cohesion, and step in at the right time.

Speaker

Xavier Fognini