Contrary to the opinion of many people, leaders are not born. Leaders are made, and they are made by effort and hard work.—Vince Lombardi (professional football coach)

I have had the opportunity to work for some truly great leaders, and I now find myself in leadership roles in which it is my duty to mentor junior-, mid-, and senior-level scientists and engineers. A few weeks ago, I was thinking about what constitutes a competent program manager/principal investigator (PM/PI). These terms are almost synonyms, where program manager pertains more to management and/or engineering and principal investigator pertains more to science and research. However, they do provide a similar function in the management of projects. The following is what I came up with as a response to this question: what makes a solid, a good, and a great PM/PI? This answer is provided through the eyes of a government laboratory branch head, division head, industry leader, and academic leader—all roles I have fulfilled.

A solid PM/PI is responsible for cost, schedule, and performance and “owns” the program. That is, he/she is personally responsible for these three aspects of a program. Is the program executed within the cost that was proposed? Is the spending rate of the program correct so that the program does not run out of funding and is healthy for the program duration? Are the invoices associated with the expenses paid and are the invoices submitted to the customer on time? For the schedule component, are the steps according to the work plan progressing appropriately? Is the technical progress sufficient to execute the entire program within the period of performance? Are there mitigation paths to technical problems that will result in an on-time program delivery? Finally, performance is really associated with the work result. Does the device, system, or measurements provide what was promised? Does the work product exceed program requirements? For a PM in engineering, performance is critical and meeting program requirements is extremely important if you wish to be well regarded as a PM. For a PI in science, sometimes the work result is “best effort,” and negative results can be as important as positive results. However, work that exceeds expectations is always welcome and can enhance the career of a PM/PI. A solid PM/PI should take ownership of all these facets of the program.

In order for a solid PM/PI to earn a reputation as a good PM/PI, he or she must have constant interaction with the customer. The good PM/PI keeps the customer informed frequently (at least once a week and, when appropriate in critical times, every few days). The PM/PI provides both good news and any bad news. Bad news should be shared in a timely manner so that it does not sink the program, and it should be provided with potential solutions so that an informed correction can be produced as a result of analysis and discussions. A good PM/PI is sought out by the customer when new program opportunities present themselves. I have seen personally how a lack of good customer interaction results in program confusion, diverging program approaches, poor program execution, and even program cancellation.

OK, so now let us talk about a great PM/PI. A great PM/PI accomplishes all of the above and develops an outstanding reputation over time but with one additional trait. As a program is being executed, a great PM/PI develops the plans and lays the foundation for either a follow-on program or another separate program. A great PM/PI always has future work in mind and is developing the next funded program. In fact, these managers become so desirable as a result of past successes that customers seek them out to offer them programs. These are the ones who eventually become government, academic, and industry leaders.

As usual, this is an opinion piece—and I have very strong opinions. But, I can tell you that if you are a new PM/PI or think you will become one, if you follow these guidelines and live by them, there is a very good chance that you will achieve more success. In the next few months, I am also going to provide some guidelines for being a solid, good, and great scientist or engineer. Again, it will be from a leadership point of view, which I think might be more valuable than from a colleague point of view because it might show the way to future advancement.

I hope this is helpful and I hope you are having a great summer.