At the IPMA World Congress Berlin 2025, David Hudson presented “Project Leadership – The Conundrum,” a session that resonated with many of us who live the challenges of leading projects every day. Hudson reminded us that leadership is not a formula or a fixed trait. Instead, it is a paradox: a balancing act between aspiration and perfection, between leading and influencing, and between what we know, what we can do, and who we are under pressure. Far from discouraging, this message is liberating because it shifts leadership away from flawless control and toward navigating complexity with courage, humility, and humanity.

Leadership Beyond Authority

Projects are temporary organisations, often operating under pressure with diverse people, cultures, and disciplines. In this environment, leadership cannot rely only on hierarchy. Influence matters as much as authority.

Hudson illustrated this with French and Raven’s five bases of power—coercive, reward, legitimate, referent, and expert. Effective project leaders rarely depend on one base alone; they blend them according to the situation. Leadership here is less about commanding and more about enabling. This is the conundrum: leaders must constantly adapt, influencing as much as they direct, listening as much as they speak.

Competence: Knowledge, Skills, and Aptitude

Hudson framed leadership as competence, a perspective that aligns directly with the IPMA Ecosystem and its Individual Competence Baseline (ICB). Competence is not one-dimensional; it combines knowledge, skills, and aptitude.

• Knowledge is what we learn: theories, frameworks, and technical concepts like negotiation models or cost management.
• Skills are what we practise: behaviours such as listening actively, framing proposals clearly, and managing concessions.
• Aptitude is who we are in action: patience, emotional balance, confidence without arrogance, and resilience in the face of pressure.

While knowledge can be taught and skills refined through practice, aptitude requires self-awareness, mentoring, and a supportive culture. Negotiation shows this triad in action. Knowledge gives us models like BATNA and ZOPA; skills let us apply them in real situations; aptitude determines whether we remain calm, empathetic, and effective. Without this balance, leadership becomes fragile.

Human Limits and Affirming Practices

One of the most refreshing parts of The Conundrum was the acknowledgement of human limits. Leaders are not superhumans. Our memory, attention, and perception are finite. We are prone to biases such as confirmation and anchoring. Even emotional and cultural intelligence has boundaries. Recognising these limits is not weakness—it is wisdom.

By acknowledging limitations, leaders can design processes and teams that compensate for them: structured decision-making, feedback loops, and diverse teams that reduce blind spots. Tools like the Johari Window remind us that self-awareness and openness to feedback are not optional but essential.

Hudson also highlighted the value of affirming practices: celebrate difference instead of erasing it, listen to learn instead of to reply, empower rather than fix, respect communication styles, adapt environments instead of forcing people to adapt, and respect self-regulation strategies that help colleagues remain resilient. These small habits are deeply human and make leadership not just effective but inclusive.

From Insight to Action with the IPMA Ecosystem

The challenge, of course, is turning these insights into action. This is where the IPMA Ecosystem becomes crucial. The ICB provides a shared framework to describe competence, certification ensures recognition and benchmarking, and IPMA’s global community enables exchange and learning. Together, these elements help organisations move from isolated training to systemic capability building.

By embedding Hudson’s vision into this Ecosystem, leadership development becomes more than a one-off intervention. It becomes a continuous process that nurtures knowledge, skills, and aptitudes, respects human limits, and fosters inclusive practices.

Conclusion: The Value of the Conundrum

Project Leadership – The Conundrum leaves us with a powerful message: leadership is not about perfection or control. It is about navigating paradoxes, acknowledging human limits, and creating environments where people and projects can thrive. The conundrum is not a problem to solve—it is the essence of leadership itself.

By embracing it, project leaders move from chasing unattainable perfection to enabling aspiration. They lead not just with expertise, but with humanity. And that is precisely the kind of leadership the IPMA Ecosystem supports: competent, inclusive, and transformative.