IT Project Management - life on the front line

Hands up if you've ever heard someone say: "We don't have a fear-and-blame culture." And keep them up if the reaction of the 'doers' was to roll their eyes and mutter something sarcastic. It's a nice phrase to trot out at a senior leadership conference or to write in your 'best employer of 2020' application, but if you have to say it, it's probably not true. And repeating the mantra won't make it any more true. In fact, people might respect you more if you were honest and admitted that there is blame and where the boundaries lie.  At least in that scenario, the individual knows where they stand. Instead, we often have the jarring dissonance of hearing our leaders say one thing and seeing them act entirely differently. As a leader (especially a senior leader): When you stand at the front of a room and tell the assembly that there is no fear-and-blame, look at their faces.   If they mostly appear too scared to dis