Mastering the Leadership Role in Project Management

A bold new approach for leading projects to remarkable results

Successful leadership in project management is an ongoing process of learning. This year’s conference features world-renowned expert and author Alexander Laufer.

Disruptive change in almost every industry means we must go beyond traditional approaches to plan-driven management.  We realize bold steps and new ideas are needed—to educate, empower and encourage managers to embrace novel methods to project success. 

This essential, half-day conference—designed specifically for executive-level leaders—showcases the best-of-the-best practices to ‘unlearn’ outdated concepts, and provides a framework to solve even the toughest challenges in the 21st century workplace. 

Discover vital leadership principles crucial to successful project leadership regardless of industry, project goals, or stakeholders.

This conference will provide an exclusive environment to gain significant, new and inspiring insights.

By the end of the conference you will understand:

• Why most projects are over-managed and under-led
• Why most common models of project management are a liability rather than an asset
• What practices are necessary for our dynamic environment
• How you can develop your project managers to become project leaders

Speakers

Dr. Alexander Laufer is a chaired professor of civil engineering at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, where he has also served as the dean of the faculty. Currently he is also a visiting professor and the Director of the Consortium for Project Leadership at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has served as editor-in-chief of the NASA Academy of Program and Project Leadership magazine and a member of the Academy’s advisory board; as director of the Center for Project Leadership at Columbia University; and as a member of the editorial review board of the Project Management Journal.

Dr. Laufer is the author or coauthor of eight books. The most recent are Mastering the Leadership Role in Project Management: Practices that Deliver Remarkable Results and Breaking the Code of Project Management.

Click to view Dr. Laufer's presentation slides»

Dr. Jeffrey Russell (Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, NAC, F.NSPE) is Vice Provost for Lifelong Learning and Dean of the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously, he was professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, cofounder of the Construction Engineering and Management program, and Pieper Foundation Chair in Servant Leadership in the College of Engineering. His primary research areas are decision analysis and construction process improvement.

Recipient of numerous national and regional awards for his research, Dr. Russell has published more than 200 technical papers and three books: Constructor Prequalification, Surety Bonds for Construction Contracts, and Perspectives in Civil Engineering. He served as editor-in-chief of the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering and as founding editor-in-chief of the ASCE publication Leadership and Management in Engineering. Presently he chairs the ASCE Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice, which is charged with defining the future education requirements necessary to practice civil engineering at the professional level. Dr. Russell holds a BS in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MS and PhD from Purdue University; he is a registered professional engineer in Wisconsin.

Click to view Dr. Russell's presentation slides»

Agenda (Apr 30, 2013)

7:30am	Registration
8:00am	Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:15am	Keynote: The Role of a Project Leader (Do successful project leaders behave more like hedgehogs or like foxes?) with Dr. Alex Laufer, Director, Consortium for Project Leadership, UW-Madison
9:15am	Break
9:30am	Panel Discussion: Project Leadership Practices in an Environment of Constant Change (Coming to grips with chaos and disruption)
10:45am	Break
11:00am	Developing Project Leaders (What can you do to streamline and accelerate the development of your project leaders when most of the "training" is on the job) with Dr. Jeffrey Russell, Vice Provost for Lifelong Learning and Dean, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Continuing Studies, Executive Director, Consortium for Project Leadership, UW-Madison.
11:30am	Questions and Answers
11:45am	Concluding Remarks and Closure

Register

Register online» or call 608-262-2451 by Apr 26, 2013.

Access past presentations

The inaugural event of the UW Consortium for Project Leadership took place November 2012 in Chicago. It featured Drs. Laufer and Russell plus 5 more highly capable speakers from the Department of Defense, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, NASA, General Electric, and the Lean Construction Institute. Click for their presentations»

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations received through April 24 will incur a $20 nonrefundable administrative charge. Cancellations after April 24 will incur the full registration fee. Substitutions are welcome; please contact us»