Leading Complex Projects

CHAPTER 11DAVID YOUNG

People Do Projects

In February 2017 we had just wrapped up an engagement for a long-time client of ours and were enjoying a nice lunch discussing the leadership research that led to this book. As we discussed the characteristics of successful leaders, one person at the table inquired if we had interviewed David Young for our profiles. “You've got to interview David Young if you are going to talk about successful project leaders!” was the response we got when we said that we hadn't interviewed him. We found out at the same lunch, however, that David Young had already been retired from this company for about a year and a half at the time. Well, we tracked him down and he graciously agreed to sit down with us and provide his perspective on project leadership.

David Young has combined an analytical approach to project leadership with a high degree of emotional intelligence to produce an approach to managing complex projects that led to a very successful track record and whose aura still lingers in the halls of the company he worked for, even in his retirement.

We started our discussions with David describing his view of the role of a project leader. David explained that the “leadership [role] changes with time. If a project is big and complex, it can only be delivered by many people working together in concert, across many time zones, in many different companies. Leadership is about conducting that orchestra so that it is in tune, it is on the same beat, ...