Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Leadership of complex projects
3. Methods
4. Key transitions and iconic moments
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion
Declarations of interest
References
Abstract
This research contributes to a dearth of research into leadership that focuses explicitly on senior leaders of complex projects. It identifies five transitions that were seen as essential as these project leaders developed their capacity to lead, including transitions towards: orchestrating dialogue between the right people, at the right time, about the right issues; guiding collaborative meaning-making to align key stakeholders; drawing on practical wisdom and judgment to progress complex project challenges; developing a range of power sources, and sensing a pathway through power dynamics; and negotiating project success for key stakeholders based on a broad concept of value. Instead of merely seeing this as the development of new skills, we argue that these transitions are manifestations of an increase of a more deeply rooted capacity to deal with cognitive and emotional complexity. This difference matters as learning a new skill requires a very different approach to stepping up an order of constructive development. A constructive developmental perspective appears particularly helpful for understanding how senior project leaders of complex projects learn to deal with the relentless onslaught of challenges that their projects can bring.