This may piss off 80% of Project Managers
Project Witness or Project Leader: Which Are You?
👋 Hey, Kyle here! Welcome to The Influential Project Manager, a weekly newsletter covering the essentials of successful project leadership.
Today’s Overview:
The two-word label your boss already uses for everyone on your team, plus a 5-question audit to find out which one you are
A Monday morning meeting that finally broke a VP I know (you’ll recognize at least one person in the room)
Why Project Witness work is first on AI’s chopping block, and 3 moves that keep you off it
Project Witness or Project Leader: Which Are You?
Filed under: Leadership & Managing People, Project Management, AI
You can tell a lot about a company by how its leaders talk about their team.
Do they sound like a breath of fresh air? Or like they’re about to be replaced by AI?
Do they talk about them like adults? Or, like they’re running a jobsite daycare?
After running project portfolios with 40+ PMs, I’ve started to notice that almost every single person falls into one of two categories.
Let’s unpack the two, figure out which one YOU are, which ones you’ve hired, and why the future is going to be incredibly kind to one and quietly brutal to the other.
I shared this with my team this week. You might not see the people around you, or yourself, the same way after reading this…
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Now back to the meat…
The Hard Truth
If you spend enough time around executives and senior project leaders, you start to realize many sound like adult babysitters:
“I have to check on my team constantly.”
“If I don’t remind them, nothing gets done.”
“I’m chasing status updates like I’m collecting permission slips.”
But some are different. Some sound more like they’re leading a high-performing team:
“I know things are moving even if I’m not in the room.”
“They flag issues early.”
“They bring me options, not just problems.”
Over time, I’ve started referring to these two categories of project professionals as Project Witness Employees and Project Leader Employees.
A project witness monitors problems and tracks them. They don’t understand what is going wrong and lacks the ability to fix it.
A project leader will anticipate problems in the future and do what it takes to prevent them.
A Tale of Two Meetings…
A VP of Operations of a mid-size construction company I know recently told me about a Monday morning meeting with his team that finally broke him. He’d sent a clear message on Friday:
“On Monday, I need:
Updated 3-week look-ahead
Outstanding RFI/submittal log reviewed
Updated risk register based on last week’s performance… Just the top 3 issues.”
Monday arrives. They hop on a call.
Superintendent: “I started the look-ahead but wasn’t sure which trades to prioritize, so I haven’t finished it yet.”
Project Engineer: “I didn’t get to the log because I was waiting to see which items you wanted.”
Project Manager: “I have some notes but not the top 3 yet; I wasn’t sure what format you wanted.”
Twenty minutes in, he realizes he’s not running a project meeting. He’s running circle time.
He’s handing out crayons and snacks, not paying professionals to solve problems. This is Project Witness Energy:
If you’re not standing in front of them —> nothing really moves
If you don’t clearly assign tasks —> tasks evaporate
If you don’t ask for an update —> there isn’t one
The work might get done eventually, but only via constant nudging, checking, reminding, and clarifying. That’s meeting #1.
Then there’s the other kind of meeting…
Contrast that with another project executive I know. Before he even logs on, his inbox has:
A short write up from his PM: “Here’s the 3-week look-ahead, three constraints, and which one I think we need to address by Wednesday.”
A note from the project engineer: “RFI log attached. I prioritized the critical flow items and flagged the two that need your expertise.”
A message from his APM: “Cost report below. Three issues, one surprise, one thing I want to address in Tuesday’s meeting.”
They still have the meeting. But it’s about decisions. They tweak, they choose, they commit. If he had to step out for the day, the team would still move.
These are the Project Leader Employees. They don’t run the project or company. But inside their lane, they act like the adult in the room: noticing, communicating, deciding.
Let’s look at the side-by-side comparison:
You tell me which one sounds more valuable to your construction business?
Where are you on the Project Witness Index?
Let’s start with the uncomfortable question:
Are you on your boss’s project witness list?
The Project Witness Index (self‑audit)
Score yourself 1-5 on each:
1 = never, 3 = sometimes, 5 = often.
My manager has to ping me for updates, rather than me proactively updating.
I regularly ask, “What do you want me to do next?” instead of proposing next steps.
I wait for direction when something breaks rather than suggesting a plan.
I’m surprised by deadline expectations or priority shifts I probably should have seen coming.
Other people notice my mistakes before I do.
Add it up (max 25):
20-25 → You are a Project Witness. You might be competent, but you are not low‑maintenance.
13-19 → Mixed bag. Some Project Leader behaviors, some Project Witness habits. A lot of untapped upside.
5-12 → Low Project Witness. You’re doing better than most; your boss likely exhale‑smiles when they see your name on the calendar.
Now flip the lens.
The Project Leader Score (self‑audit)
Again, 1-5:
I often bring my manager a problem plus at least two proposed solutions with context.
I set my own deadlines (within reason) and communicate them clearly.
I send proactive updates about important work without being chased.
I can explain how my work connects to a bigger project or company goal.
When something breaks, I lean in early rather than duck.
Total:
20-25 → Project Leader. You are trusted, even if no one has said it out loud yet.
13-19 → You’re on your way. The foundation is there; you need reps and a bit more courage.
5-12 → Either you’re new, checked out, or hiding. All fixable, but not if you tell yourself you’re already crushing it.
If your Project Witness Index is higher than your Project Leader Score, you’re increasing your boss’s management load. Good news is you can change. And you’d better, with tough love, fast. Because in the world we’re stepping into, “expensive to manage” is career‑threatening.
Who have you actually hired?
Now flip the script. As an owner or project executive, you likely already know which team members drain you and which ones make you feel better. You just may not have the language for it.
I’ll give you some.
Reminder…and I’m going to hold your hand as I say this… this is all your fault. You’re allowing this standard, and you aren’t giving enough good feedback (or taking the necessary action) when people don’t meet the level of a Project Leader. That means you can fix all of this.
The Management Load Formula
For each person who works for you, think about a typical week.
R = How many times do you have to remind them about tasks, deadlines, or updates?
U = How many unsolicited useful updates do they send you?
P = How many times do they bring a problem plus a proposed plan?
F = How many fires do they cause that you have to clean up?
S = How many fires do they stabilize without pulling you in?
No need for perfect numbers, just a gut sense. Then ask yourself, honestly:
Is this person’s presence raising my management load or lowering it?
I once had a team member who technically hit their deliverables. But every deliverable was a wrestle. I had to nag, chase, and re‑clarify. They were “performing” on paper, but cost two extra hours of my week.
Another wasn’t perfect on metrics (yet), but they constantly sent updates, spotted risks early, and took messy problems off my plate. Over a year, the second person produced less immediate output but gave me back dozens of hours of brain space.
Guess which one got promoted, and which one got replaced by a tool and a contractor.
Why AI will eat Project Witness work first
Now we get to the uncomfortable, inevitable part.
Think about what Project Witnesses spend most of their time doing… Checking boxes.
Much of it is exactly the work that AI and automation are already creep‑crawling into. THIS IS A GIANT RED FLAG.
Software is now happy to check boxes for a fraction of the cost, zero sick days, and no attitude. Meanwhile, Project Leaders spend their time on what AI still struggles with:
Deciding which issues matter this week
Navigating nuance between subcontractors, owners, and design teams
Handling emotionally ugly situations with tact
Seeing second‑order consequences of decisions on the schedule
Translating chaos into a clear plan that the field will actually follow
Taking responsibility when a call turns out to be wrong
Agents will make suggestions and run tasks. Project Leaders will weigh their priorities, design the inputs and outputs, argue with them, and choose.
The future will look like:
A small number of high-ownership humans with Project Leader behaviors
A swarm of agents and automations doing the repetitive, structured, define‑and‑do tasks.
Contractors and specialists called in for spike work.
If you’re a human who needs Project Witness‑level supervision, you are sitting
in the one part of that picture that is getting narrower every quarter.
Project Managers: How to move from Project Witness to Project Leader
If you read this and thought, “Well, this is no bueno… I might be more Project Witness than I’d like to admit,” good. Now you know, and after you learn this 3-step fix, you’ll be able to change course.
Start bringing “problems + plans”
Send the “Adult Update”
Choose a lane and quietly own it
When your behavior consistently says, “I’ve got this,” people start giving you more “this.”
Construction Leaders: How to move your team from Project Witnesses to Project Leaders
If you’re a project executive or owner, you’re probably already naming names in your head. “This person is absolutely a Project Witness.” “This one is a quiet Project Leader.” “This one could go either way.”
Here’s how to make that useful instead of resentful:
Step 1: Map your team into three buckets:
Project Witnesses: Need direction, supervision, and reminders.
Developing Project Leaders: Have potential and some adult behaviors.
Project Leaders: Own their lane and operate like the adult in the room.
Step 2: Be honest about roles
Some roles can stay daycare-like and be gradually automated. Don’t build your strategy on them.
Some people are ready to be handed a box and told, “You own this now.”
Some people need a clear path: “Here is what Department Chair behavior would look like for you in the next 90 days.”
Step 3: Invest where leverage is:
Give Project Leader Employees more clarity, context, and upside.
Give developing ones coaching and specific behavior targets.
Redesign daycare-level roles with an eye toward automation and tighter scoping.
Project Witness → Developing → Project Leader
You don't need everyone to be a star. You do need to know who is a witness and who is an leader.
Final Thoughts
Quick story-time.
One time, a senior project manager was fed up. He walked his project manager into the trailer, pointed at the schedule on the wall, and said, “Here’s the mess. I’m gone for the afternoon. When I come back, I want progress.”
The PM immediately tried to drag him back into Project Witness mode. “What’s the priority? Schedule or RFIs? How detailed?”
The Sr. PM drew a line down the middle of the whiteboard. One side: “Tasks that need supervision.” The other: “Problems that require judgment.”
“The first side is going to software.” He tapped the other. “This is the only reason a human has a job. I’m leaving to find out which side you’re on.”
The PM flailed, waited, then finally did the one adult thing: picked priorities, made calls, sent a note. “Here’s what I’m doing and why. If it’s wrong, I’ll fix it.”
That’s it. That’s the bar now.
You don’t have to run the whole jobsite. But if you still need someone to hold your hand every time you cross the trailer, an AI agent is coming for your job, and it won’t ask about the snack order.
I love you, builders… So I’m here to bully you into being better. Because no one else will.
Until next week,
Kyle
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The financial parallel here is striking. Project Witnesses in the field create Project Witnesses in the numbers — jobs where cost to complete never gets updated, variances never get explained, and the finance team finds out something went wrong at the end rather than the middle. The behaviors you're describing aren't just a leadership problem, they're a margin problem. Really well framed.
Businesses run like a daycare seem to always stagnate or fail. And its a leadership issue. Because training and delegation is a skill.