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Earn PDUs for This Episode: Visit https://www.pm-podcast.com/earn-pdus to see how many PDUs you can claim for your PMI certification renewal.

Constant change, evolving stakeholder needs, and dispersed teams can twist even the best-planned projects into knots. Leadership expert Kevin Eikenberry (Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group and author of Flexible Leadership) joins Cornelius Fichtner to unpack a practical roadmap for staying effective when everything around you shifts. Drawing on three decades of coaching leaders in more than 50 countries, Kevin explains why rigid command-and-control approaches snap under real-world pressure, how “flexors” help you bend without breaking, and where to start if your calendar already looks like a game of Tetris.

Key takeaways you can apply immediately:

• Several leadership flexors that let you pivot style without losing consistency.
• Real stories of project managers who used flexibility to rescue schedules, calm chaos, and keep sponsors smiling.
• Why remote and hybrid environments amplify the need for agility, and how to meet that challenge head-on.

If the word “flex” conjures images of gym selfies, don’t worry because this episode sticks to mindset over muscle. Eikenberry walks through some of his nineteen “flexors”, which are behaviours like curiosity, humility, and decisiveness, which let leaders stay consistent while still adjusting to the moment. He explains how to read the room, choose the flexor that best fits the situation, and communicate that choice so the team sees a clear through-line rather than mood swings. Real examples from his consulting work show how applying the humility flexor turned a tense status meeting into a collaborative problem-solving session, while a quick shift to the decisiveness flexor kept a software rollout from stalling when scope turbulence hit.

By the end, you’ll have a clear action list for assessing your current flexibility, choosing one flexor to practice this week, and measuring the payoff in team engagement and on-time delivery. Grab your earbuds, a notepad, and maybe a stress ball, because leading change just became a little easier.

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The Project Management Institute (PMI) has introduced a new validation rule in the Continuing Certification Requirements System (CCRS) self-reporting form that automatically treats any number in the activity title as a PDU claim code. When the rule is triggered, for example by “Episode 525 - The Unofficial Project Manager” or “PMO Symposium 2025,” the form displays an error and blocks submission until the title is edited. This affects all self-reported learning activities whose names contain digits.

Follow these steps to submit your Project Management Podcast PDUs without triggering the error:

• Log in to your PMI CCRS account.
• Select Report PDUs › Online or Digital Media.
• Type “Project Management Podcast” as the provider and click outside the dropdown.
• Paste or type the episode title, then delete any numbers (for example, change “Episode 525 - The Unofficial Project Manager” to “The Unofficial Project Manager”).
• Enter the remaining details (dates, PDU totals, description) and submit the form.

Although not mentioned in the video, we understand PMI’s intent: some practitioners mistakenly use the self-report form when they actually have a PDU claim code. A targeted validation that flags strings resembling real claim codes, usually a fixed eight-digit sequence, would address that issue without blocking every title that contains a simple number. We hope PMI refines the rule so customers can record PDUs quickly and accurately.

https://www.pm-podcast.com/526

Earn PDUs for This Episode: Visit https://www.pm-podcast.com/Earn-PDUs to see how many PDUs you can claim for your PMI certification renewal.

Project environments rarely slow down, yet outstanding leaders keep schedules intact, teams motivated, and stakeholders confident even when interruptions pile up. Leadership strategist Robert Heath Sr. joins the show to explain how he transforms shifting priorities into opportunities for greater impact. A former Marine officer and combat-tested communications expert, Robert now advises Fortune 500 firms on building cultures that thrive under pressure. He shares field-tested techniques that help project managers cut through noise, protect focus, and make decisions at speed while maintaining team morale.

Listeners hear why chaos-proof project leadership starts with defining success, how clear intent stabilizes priorities, and which daily habits train teams to execute without drama. Robert illustrates every principle with vivid stories—from landing critical infrastructure projects during geopolitical turbulence to guiding remote software teams through relentless change cycles. He stresses practical actions: shorten feedback loops, frame risk as data, and rehearse recovery scenarios, so teams treat disruption as routine rather than a threat. By the end you will hold a solid understanding for steering any project through uncertainty and still hit your milestones.