Testimonials and Endorsements

Important contextualised contribution to the development of competence in the so-called soft skills, hard to master, but an indispensable component of effective practice in a profession whose time has come.

The scope of the project management profession is very broad and often the softer skills are neglected, yet it is the people and teams that make the difference. We have heard the adage ‘What are the top three areas of project management?’ – 1 Communication, 2 Communication and 3 Communication! Whilst this is intended to be light hearted there is some logic here. Peter has linked NLP to project management which will certainly support the communication topic and Peter’s background, experience of a number of sectors, cultures and organisations provides the credibility to deliver.

Even in IT projects, soft skills are very important and Peter, a well respected author and speaker, has shared his insight on this resulting in an extremely useful guide on behavioural competences.

Even in IT projects, soft skills are very important and Peter, a well respected author and speaker, has shared his insight on this resulting in an extremely useful guide on behavioural competences.

As Project Managers, there is a continuing need to take our skill base to the highest level. This book will surely add to your skill set, particularly in the challenging area of ‘soft skills’.

I first spoke with Peter about three years ago about the need to develop self awareness and soft skills in project managers in order for them to become better leaders, and I was impressed with Peter’s application of NLP at the time. It appears that this conversation seeded a book, and an excellent one too. Well done!

I was introduced to the world of Neuro-Linguistic Programming via my involvement with sports coaching. This exposure to NLP illustrated to me what a fantastic tool this could be for the Project Management profession. We generally recognise that our people are our greatest asset and that we operate in a world where relationships are key, however, so called ‘soft skills’ can often be the hardest to master. With NLP our people can learn to be even more effective in their dealings with their teams, clients and key stakeholders. The release of Peter’s book is perfectly timed and fills a large void in the market.

Soft skills are the difference that makes the difference in leadership of change. Getting change to work well is really all about people. Peter tirelessly promotes this in project management, both through Alchemy, and more specifically in this book, which is a major contribution to the discipline.

To be effective, project managers must learn the language of the boardroom. Peter and this book will help you to do that.

Consistent feedback when we released early drafts of PRINCE2 was the need to describe those vital behavioural competences (or soft skills) that project managers require for successful project delivery. But it is not the remit of PRINCE2 to describe such skills as PRINCE2 is just a method, so we took the approach of sign-posting the additional competences that those involved in projects require. At last there is now a book that describes those skills, and more importantly in a way that puts them in context of project management. This book provides practical and easy to follow guidance on how to apply NLP techniques to a Project Manager’s every day work. I recommend every Project Manager reads this book (in addition to PRINCE2!)