Listen to The PM Podcast

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Episode Summary

Leadership expert Shyam Ramanathan joins Cornelius Fichtner to unpack what great leadership looks like for project managers. Shyam brings over two decades in IT, an extensive leadership blog with 400 plus posts, and two books, “Maximise Potential” and “Maximise Potential 2.” He outlines a clear, three-part foundation for leading well, then connects it to day-to-day project work. You hear how vision sets the direction, how the ability to inspire moves people to act, and how leading by example creates credibility. Shyam ties these principles to project realities like reading the charter, clarifying scope and budget, selecting and positioning the right people, and building a balanced team through honest self-awareness.

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One Playlist. Sixty Free PDUs. Zero Hassle.

We’ve made it incredibly easy for you to earn your Professional Development Units (PDUs) using Spotify. In this episode, Cornelius Fichtner explains how you can listen to 60 hours of curated podcast content from The Project Management Podcast and self-report those hours as free PDUs with PMI.

Here’s how it works:

• Step 1 – Download the Tracking Spreadsheet: Use this spreadsheet to track your learning ➡️ Download Spreadsheet
• Step 2 – Listen and Track: Open the Spotify playlist, start listening, and log your progress in the spreadsheet ➡️ Open Spotify Playlist
• Step 3 – Self-Report with PMI: Use PMI’s CCRS platform to self-report your earned PDUs ➡️ Report at PMI

Need More Help?

Visit our detailed instructions and FAQ at Earn 60 Free PDUs on Spotify..

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Episode Summary

Genocide survivor, educator, and leadership consultant Dr. Emad Rahim joins host Cornelius Fichtner to share the S.A.L.T. model—Survive, Adaptation, Love, Transformation—a framework he forged while rebuilding his life from the Khmer Rouge killing fields to the executive boardroom. Rahim explains why acknowledging a “survival state” is the first step toward meaningful change and how project managers can move beyond firefighting into strategic growth by embracing adaptation through value-based decisions. He highlights the critical role of supportive networks (“love”) in sustaining momentum and shows how transformation becomes attainable when leaders combine clear goals with short- and long-term wins.

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Episode Summary

Project managers know that clear schedules and smart strategies cannot guarantee success. Jackie Barretta, award-winning CIO and author of Primal Teams, shows how emotion sits at the heart of team performance and why leaders who understand this outpace those who ignore it. Drawing on twenty-five years in Fortune 500 IT leadership and consulting, Jackie explains how authentic emotional awareness activates sharper thinking, faster creativity, and stronger collaboration, turning ordinary groups into high-performance engines.