Last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending PMI Maine’s Professional Development Day. It was a great event, striking a nice balance between skill-building, engaging speakers, and peer networking opportunities.
Kevin Hancock, CEO of Hancock Lumber, was our first speaker. He shared how his sudden case of spasmodic dysphonia transformed his leadership style from a traditional top-down approach to one rooted in servant leadership. He backed his transformation with both qualitative and quantitative data, showing significant improvements in productivity and employee morale. His reflections on how the world is becoming increasingly decentralized particularly resonated with me, it’s something I often think about and view positively.
Next up was Ben Tasker, Associate Dean at Southern New Hampshire University, who shared excellent insights on integrating AI into project management workflows, complete with practical examples. His prompt engineering framework, CHARGE, was especially useful, and I’ve already started integrating elements of his approach into my current AI workflow.
Our keynote speaker, James Haven, shared his work combating human trafficking through the Blue Campaign. I was struck by how clearly project management principles can be applied to something as important, complex, and multi-layered as his work.
Finally, Annmarie Curley delivered a thoughtful presentation on how humans are biologically wired to resist change, how that resistance shows up in our projects and daily interactions, and what we can do to approach change from a more mindful, objective place. Her talk resonated deeply with me, connecting with several other works I’ve read over the years on the psychology of change and leadership.
Overall, it was a well-programmed and inspiring day. I appreciated the diversity of speakers and came away with new skills and insights I can weave into my day-to-day work.