Jenita Johnson

According to a Gallup poll, employees who feel their opinions count are 4.6 times more likely to perform their best work. 🌟 Do you remember this famous quote from Dale Carnegie? "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get others interested in you." By showing interest in team members, stakeholders, and their perspectives, you can have better collaboration, trust, and successful project outcomes. Do you agree? Message me if you want to add your thoughts! Follow me for more tips and tricks on project delivery and elevating customer satisfaction. #ProjectManagement #Leadership #RelationshipBuilding #CustomerSatisfaction #Teamwork #Success

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😃 Are you ready for this? After getting away for a few days to see family I haven’t seen in over 2 years, I’m back and about ready to roll out another series! The topic for this series? 🎉 Common PMO Mistakes! This series will have 15 parts to it—15 nuggets of wisdom to help PMOs succeed and ultimately provide HUGE VALUE to orgs. 💰💰💰 Who should be interested in this upcoming series? If you are any of the following: 🎯 Work in a PMO 🎯 Lead a PMO 🎯 Work on project teams 🎯 Work in a department that has project work 🎯 Lead an org or department 🥳 Stay tuned for this series starting next week! 👉 While I have the series planned out, like any good project professional, I can be adaptable! If you have an area you want me to consider addressing, let me know in the comments! ____________________ 🌟 Want a leader for your business who can help transform your PMO into a strategic IMPACT DRIVER that can solve your greatest organizational issues? Today can be your lucky day! Reach out to me and let’s discuss what I can do for your org to support its goals and objectives! _________________ 🔔 Ring the bell to follow me on LinkedIn for topics on #ProjectManagement, #ProgramManagement, #PMO, #BusinessTransformation, #CareerTips, and #Leadership. #ProjectManager #ProgramManager #BusinessAnalysis #BusinessAnalyst #ProjectManagementProfessional #PMOLeadership #PMOLeader #PortfolioManagement

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Just finished the course “Leadership Foundations: Leadership Styles and Models”! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/eyxfujRw

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Just finished the learning path “Become a Six Sigma Yellow Belt”! #businessprocessimprovement #yellowbelt #leansixsigma #businessanalysis #rootcauseanalysis

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Just passed the PMP certification exam

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For those who are following my progress, I finished the Certified Technical Architect program. Completed week 9 thru 12. Also, this morning, I defended/finished my Capstone Review. Thank goodness this is nearly over. Key dates - started January 24th was the kickoff and I defended May 13th - 110 days. We covered the following: ✅ Week 9 - Integration Leading Practices, Plarform Data and Integrations, and Integration Protocols and IntegrationHub ✅ Week 10 - Design and Optimize Intelligent Workflows, Process Automation Designer, and Citizen Developer ✅ Week 11 - Testing Leading Practices, Performance Optimization, and Go-Live Preparation ✅ Week 12 - Presentation Skills Refresh and The Power of Slides ✅ Capstone Review - 2 presentations with a Certified Master Architect and a Certified Technical Architect. The last 4 to 6 weeks was more difficult than I would like to admit. My wife, manager, mentors, freinds, and the Impact squad helped me get across the finish line. Without a great support crew, I would have failed for sure. As part of my capstone, I created 2 final presentations to defend. It seemed like an impossible task to complete. The presentations were never good enough, I literally edited them until the final hours this morning. I changed strategies on how to present them at 2 AM. This experience was harder than any of my other professional certifications. Even though I am confident That I will pass….there is a little voice in the back of my head that says you can still fail one or both presentations…..you fail one, you get a chance to defend that one presentation and still pass within a resonable time. You fail both, you have to do it all over again….I will be dammed if I have to go through this experience again🤣🤣🤣 To my “NOW Alchemist” team good luck 🍀 defending this week! As stated by my colleagues this was hard as hell. I want to thank my Cohort for an excellent program. My delivery manager is awesome…I won’t name him unless I pass. 👍🏽 I learned a lot about ServiceNow and how awesome it is as an Enterprise Platform…it’s not just a tool. Also, I learned how to make exciting presentations….that will captivate audiences. In two weeks I should know if I passed 👍🏽or failed👎🏽 Wish me luck 🍀 More cool badges! #servicenow

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Just passed my PMI ATP PMP trainer certification.

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The actual test of leadership is guiding your leaders to avoid a crisis and then serving your leaders when a crisis is unavoidable.

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Earning a project management certification (e.g. PMP, PRINCE2) takes time and hard work. While there is value in these certifications, in my experience in the tech world that value usually doesn’t include helping you get a job, gaining higher pay, prestige, or even making you a better project manager. That doesn’t mean certification isn’t worthwhile… but I don’t think it’s worthwhile for the reasons people often assume. After more than a dozen years as a member of Hiring Committees at Google, I can say that what matters to most hiring managers at big tech companies is not whether a job candidate can do a Gantt chart or Earned Value diagram, but whether they can get their team organized, keep everyone informed, persuade people, collaborate across orgs, and so on.  Bottom line, hiring managers want someone they’re confident can do the job they’re hiring for. Resumes, college diplomas, job titles, and… certifications, which show you can study and succeed at tests, don’t really move the needle for them when it comes to confidence. While getting a PMP might not “punch your ticket” for advancement in tech, it nevertheless can be beneficial in some situations: + Common frameworks and vocabulary. + PMI and other certifying groups provide you with a professional community outside your job, with discussion groups, conferences, and more. + Certification can give you a better understanding of a baseline of practice and a view of the variation in practice between companies. This awareness can spark creativity on your part, suggesting different ways to do things that folks at your own company might not have considered. The message here is that certification has benefits, but if you choose to pursue certification, it should be because it’s something you want for yourself, not something that will get you a better job. It’s a lot like deciding whether you should pursue an advanced degree: the degree itself likely won’t make a difference to your employer, but it might give you insights and connections that enable you to deliver results you wouldn’t have otherwise—and that would be useful to your employer! Read more at

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Effective delegation empowers your team and frees you to focus on strategic tasks. Trust your team with responsibilities, provide guidance, and let them shine. #Delegation #Leadership #Teamwork

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"Servant-leadership is all about making the goals clear, and then rolling your sleeves up and doing whatever it takes to help people win." ~ Ken Blanchard Today I was reminded of the importance I place on the concepts of servant-leadership. I don't want to be a bystander as a vision becomes reality. Not because I don't trust people to make it. But because I want to help. I want to be part of it! If I can contribute to the team's success, I'm there! I'll always remember my very young Project Manager days when I concluded that on all projects "people" was the biggest risk. I became a Change Practitioner. Then I learned, I evolved and was given the opportunity to lead teams. My perspective changed. I realized "people" aren't a risk.... They are the greatest contributor to success! And it all hinged on the environment. When enabled, supported and motivated, 99% of people want to contribute to success. Together we can always go further than where any one great leader can get to alone. The greatest ship in the world isn't worth much without sailors. If I design a ship, I want to help build it and I want to contribute to people wanting to be in that ship!

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Have you ever wanted some rational, kind and unbiased feedback? I’m here to suggest a way to get it. I spent a lot of years on the road consulting and training in Lean Six Sigma. Training that kind of topic – consisting of the basics AND specifics of continuous improvement – is a joy and a sorrow. Joy because you are teaching people skills and tools that you know can improve their day-to-day work and life. Sorrow because they KNOW you understand about the need for improvement, and they will gladly give you candid feedback on the end-of-course evaluations. When I first started training, I hated those evaluation forms. Some of the trainees were just eager to finish up the class and head out for the week. But oh-so-many of them took the opportunity and the wide amount of space we provided to let me know how I could do better next time. This always came at the end of my week too, so I would pick up the envelope of evaluations and head straight to the airport. If I had some time – which I often did – I would sit at the gate and read them. Then I would fume and ruminate for the entire flight home. On one trip, I ran into some traffic on the way to the airport and was seriously delayed. I got to the gate with only minutes to spare and went straight down the jetway to the airplane. I knew the evaluations were in my briefcase in the overhead. But it seemed like a hassle to get them. And I wanted to just unwind a bit from the long week. So, I didn’t look on that Friday. And I didn’t open the envelope up over the weekend either.  On Monday morning, just before I was headed out to a different client engagement, I had some time at the airport and opened those prior evaluations. The feedback didn’t seem so bad. Most of the marks were very complimentary and just a few were direct and specific. The suggestions were good ones and the trainees all seemed to earnestly want to make the program better for the next people who participated. Here’s the lesson I learned… Not all feedback is going to be private, like course evaluations you can read later. Much of it is in-your-face and urgent. But when you get feedback, do your best to take some time and think about it before you react. IMAGINE that the feedback-giver has your very best interest at heart (even if that’s not strictly true) and ask yourself what lesson you can take away to improve for next time. Some of the feedback in your personal and professional lives is not going to be “rational, kind and unbiased”.  But, if you give yourself the gift of time, you can create that type of positive feedback on your own. #feedback #evaluation #improvement 

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Just finished the learning path “Atlassian Agile Project Management Professional Certificate”! #jira #agileprojectmanagement #agilemethodologies

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I can get through anything in life. Resiliency is founded in the understanding that you are capable and have the skills needed. Resilience though should not be confused with success. You can still be resilient and not achieve the results you wanted. How are you resilient?

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𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 Agile Leadership Network Houston discussion this evening was led by Chad Gibbons, Software Engineering Manager at Google. Thanks to our servant leader Sesh Veeraraghavan drawing on his lifetime connections, he brings quality leaders in for our discussions. Thank you Chad Gibbons for the work to prepare to lead us through this stimulating thought and conversation. To set the stage for how to create an environment of innovation when an organization’s inertia is against it, Chad stepped through several historical innovative pivot points. He discussed how each technology existed long before it was commercialized.  -Cloud Computing (the old utility computing)         -Commercial Internet -Distributed computing -Payments -Generative AI He’s seen how hard it is for business to innovate from the bottom up but equally as hard to innovate from the top down.  He highly recommends bringing in outside experts. I was thrilled Steve Pinckney, MBA, PCC, SPC6 joined us again tonight. I turned around to give him a nod as he devotes his career to helping companies build cultures that support innovation. Chad spent time talking about innovation through start-ups. He’s done a few and shared what worked and what didn’t work. The Wade Pinder, with Product Houston was also there tonight. I turned to give Wade a nod as he devotes his time to leading and encouraging start-ups in Houston. Businesses need to allow time and space to innovate, individuals need to make time to innovate, and constraints are as important as incentives to direct and motivate designers. Without constraints designers’ flounder. Aim for 80% success and expect 30% of projects to fail. Set up the culture to fail quickly. We walked away with a lot to think about. Improving steps up again with food and space. This show of support for the value #ALNH brings to Houston businesses keeps the organization’s overhead low. Shout out to Eric Marsh, PSM, CSM, CSPO (who brought his brother tonight!), Shailesh Dadhaniya and Linda Ranostaj CTS with Whitaker IT for continuing to breathe life into the org.  Don’t miss our next meeting, June 27th when Drew Shefman, Sr Software Engineer at Disney Streaming Services, leads our discussion. Registration form will appear soon on the @Agile Leadership link. You do NOT want to miss this very innovative approach to a presentation! #AgileLeadershipNetworkHouston, #ALNH, #innovation, #technology, #startups, #businessgrowth, #leadership, #networking

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Which end of the rope are you on? Change is inevitable, and often times creates opportunities. It can force us to be creative and evolve. We can't be resistant to change for the sake of being contrarian. Too many people today look for excuses to blame others for their circumstances. Become an investigative reporter, and get to the bottom of the reasons behind the change, and be an advocate instead. True leaders see the landscape around them, and adapt to the changing environment.

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Leadership Quote of the Day 486 When we operate from compliance and control, we also have a tendency to hold on to power and authority, and push only responsibility down. . Brene Brown Dare To Lead There are times when adherence is the most critical thing. Maybe it’s a compliance or a safety issue and flexibility isn’t an option. But responsibility and authority have to go hand in hand. If there’s no room for flexibility your responsibility is to adhere to the process and the responsibility of a successful result is mine as the person insisting you follow the process. Too often, as Brown says, when that isn’t necessary yet a leader will impose only responsibility - generally as a way to avoid failure. But avoiding failure is not the same thing as succeeding. Your team can’t succeed unless their responsibility and authority are in alignment. Background I have shelves of management and leadership books - most of which I’ve read. But all too often I look at a book and realize I’ve ignored or forgotten its lessons. I’ve tried highlighting, flagging with Post-It notes, writing little summaries - they have all helped but not enough. So I decided this year to again post a quote a day here. Basically I’m using my LinkedIn community to hold me accountable, so thanks all. The quotes won’t necessarily be the most powerful or my favorite, just one that jumped out at me when reviewing that book. Brené Brown

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