Over at the Business Intelligence for Business People blog Tom Hudock considers the multitude of challenges that threaten projects and determines that leadership is the most critical factor in determining whether a project is successful or not.

Excerpt:

So what makes an unsuccessful project?
Some potential
culprits are: technology issues, budget constraints, timeline
constraints, user adoption and leadership can contribute to failure.
However, leadership stands out the most for me. A
leader or project sponsor can make or break the project. They give
direction, remove political roadblocks, manage the money… and
significant issues escalate to them for final decision.

Tom continues to debate whether IT executives or business executives make better project sponsors (he favors business and so do I).

Want to immerse yourself in leadership? Just your luck, the January 2008 Harvard Business Review is dedicated to Leadership & Strategy:

Read Tom Hudock's full post here.

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