T02: Lead a Team | Domain 1

📖 Lý thuyết / Theory

🇺🇸 English

Leadership vs Management: Management is about processes, systems, and getting people to do what needs to be done. Leadership is about inspiring people to want to do it and creating the vision and environment for success.

The PMP emphasizes that project managers need both — but leadership comes first in the modern PMBOK 7 framework. The PM leads people, manages work.

Reference: PMI — Leadership vs Management

🇻🇳 Tiếng Việt

Leadership vs Management: Management là về quy trình, hệ thống và làm cho mọi người làm những gì cần làm. Leadership là truyền cảm hứng để mọi người muốn làm điều đó và tạo ra tầm nhìn và môi trường để thành công.

PMP nhấn mạnh PM cần cả hai — nhưng leadership đến trước trong framework PMBOK 7 hiện đại. PM dẫn dắt con người, quản lý công việc.

🤝 Servant Leadership — Phong cách ưu tiên của PMP

🇺🇸 English

Servant leadership (Robert Greenleaf, 1970) puts the needs of the team and stakeholders first. The servant leader asks: "How can I serve? What do my team members need to succeed?"

10 characteristics of servant leaders: Listening, Empathy, Healing, Awareness, Persuasion, Conceptualization, Foresight, Stewardship, Commitment to growth, Building community.

In Agile: Scrum Master IS a servant leader. Removes impediments, facilitates, coaches — does NOT direct technical work.

🇻🇳 Tiếng Việt

Servant leadership đặt nhu cầu của team và stakeholders lên trước. Servant leader hỏi: "Làm thế nào tôi có thể phục vụ? Team cần gì để thành công?"

10 đặc điểm của servant leader: Lắng nghe, Đồng cảm, Chữa lành, Nhận thức, Thuyết phục, Tư duy khái niệm, Tiên liệu, Quản lý trách nhiệm, Cam kết phát triển, Xây dựng cộng đồng.

🎨 Các phong cách lãnh đạo / Leadership Styles

Style	Description	Best When	PMP Context
Servant Tôi tớ	Focus on team needs, remove obstacles, enable success	Always — especially Agile	⭐ Primary PMP style for modern PM
Transformational Truyền cảm hứng	Inspire with vision, drive change, motivate emotionally	Org change, innovation projects	✅ Good for strategic projects
Democratic/Participative Dân chủ	Share decision-making, value team input	Experienced teams, need buy-in	✅ Good for Agile planning sessions
Transactional Giao dịch	Reward/punishment, clear expectations, accountability	Structured environments, compliance	⚠️ Works but less preferred; can reduce intrinsic motivation
Laissez-faire Buông lơi	Minimal supervision, full autonomy to team	Senior, highly experienced, self-directed teams	⚠️ Risky if team isn't ready; can be seen as abdication
Autocratic Độc đoán	Single decision-maker, top-down	Crisis, safety emergency	❌ Generally wrong on PMP — except in genuine emergency

📈 Situational Leadership — Hersey & Blanchard

🇺🇸 English

The most important leadership model for PMP. Leadership style should be adapted based on the team member's development level (competence + commitment).

Situational Leadership — Official Resource →

🇻🇳 Tiếng Việt

Mô hình lãnh đạo quan trọng nhất cho PMP. Phong cách lãnh đạo nên được điều chỉnh dựa trên mức độ phát triển của thành viên (năng lực + cam kết).

Development Level	Description	Leadership Style	Behavior
D1 — Enthusiastic Beginner	Low competence, High commitment Mới vào, hăng hái nhưng chưa biết	S1: Directing	High task, low relationship. Tell them exactly what/how to do it.
D2 — Disillusioned Learner	Some competence, Low commitment Học được một chút nhưng mất hứng	S2: Coaching	High task, high relationship. Explain why, get them engaged again.
D3 — Capable but Cautious	High competence, Variable commitment Giỏi nhưng thiếu tự tin	S3: Supporting	Low task, high relationship. Encourage, praise, build confidence.
D4 — Self-Reliant Achiever	High competence, High commitment Giỏi và tự tin	S4: Delegating	Low task, low relationship. Give responsibility and step back.

🎯

Exam Tips — Lead a Team

Servant leadership = default answer khi câu hỏi hỏi về leadership style của PM trong Agile
Câu hỏi về Situational Leadership: xác định D-level trước, sau đó chọn S-style tương ứng
Khi team mới (forming) → more direction. Khi team experienced (performing) → delegate more
PM không làm thay team — PM enable, facilitate, remove obstacles
Transformational: inspiring change/vision. Transactional: routine maintenance work

🔧 Công cụ / Tools

Team Charter Template

Team Charter

PROJECT: Project Alpha — Lending Platform v2 TEAM NAME: Alpha Backend Squad PM: [Engineering Manager Name] DATE: 2026-05-01 ── MISSION ───────────────────────────────────────── Deliver a reliable, scalable lending platform API that enables Bank Partner A to onboard 10,000 customers in 6 months. ── TEAM ROLES ─────────────────────────────────────── Tech Lead: Overall architecture decisions Backend Devs: Feature development, code review QA Engineers: Test strategy, quality gates DevOps: CI/CD, infrastructure, deployment PM/EM: Remove blockers, stakeholder comms ── WORKING AGREEMENTS ─────────────────────────────── 1. PR review within 24 hours (2 approvals required) 2. Daily standup at 9:30 AM ICT (async update if absent) 3. Technical decisions → ADR document required 4. No direct pushes to main branch 5. Blockers raised in Slack #alpha-blockers immediately ── DECISION MAKING ────────────────────────────────── Technical: Team consensus → Tech Lead final call Scope: Product Owner with PM input Priority: Sprint Planning with all stakeholders

💼 Thực chiến / Real-World Scenario

🏢

FinTech Company X — Cross-market Team Leadership

Tình huống:

Team Project Alpha có senior devs từ VN và junior devs từ PH mới join. Senior devs đang ở D4 (self-reliant achievers), junior devs ở D1 (enthusiastic beginners). PM cần áp dụng Situational Leadership khác nhau cho từng nhóm.

Áp dụng Situational Leadership:

Senior VN developers (D4): Style S4 — Delegate. Assign ownership của specific modules, minimal check-ins, trust their judgment trên architecture decisions. PM focus vào removing external blockers (infra, partner API access) thay vì supervise code.

Junior PH developers (D1): Style S1 → S2 — Directing + Coaching. Assign specific tasks với clear acceptance criteria, daily check-in để answer questions, pair programming với senior, weekly 1:1 để track progress và build confidence.

Servant Leadership trong thực tế:

PM/EM nhận thấy team bị block vì AWS access chưa được setup. Thay vì "yêu cầu team tự lo", PM chủ động: liên hệ DevOps lead, leo thang lên CTO nếu cần, theo dõi đến khi resolved. Team không bị phân tâm khỏi feature work. Đây là servant leadership trong action.

✏️ Practice Questions

Question 1

A new team member is enthusiastic but lacks the skills needed for their role. They frequently ask for help and need direction. Which leadership style is MOST appropriate?

A. Delegating — give them full autonomy to learn
B. Directing — provide clear instructions and close supervision
C. Supporting — encourage and praise their efforts
D. Laissez-faire — let them figure it out on their own

✅ Answer: B — D1 (Enthusiastic Beginner) = High enthusiasm, low competence → S1: Directing. They need clear guidance and structure. Delegating (A) would set them up to fail. Supporting (C) is for D3 — someone who is competent but lacks confidence.

Question 2

In an agile team, the Scrum Master notices that developers are waiting for the PM to make technical decisions. The PM should:

A. Continue making decisions to maintain consistency
B. Empower the team to make their own technical decisions and act as a servant leader
C. Assign a senior developer to make all technical decisions
D. Document all technical decisions to maintain project records

✅ Answer: B — In agile, the team is self-organizing. The PM/SM should empower the team to make technical decisions. The PM making all decisions (A) undermines team autonomy. Assigning one person (C) is arbitrary. Documentation (D) doesn't address the dependency issue.

Question 3

A team member who was previously highly engaged and productive has become withdrawn and is missing deadlines. What should the PM do FIRST?

A. Issue a formal performance warning
B. Have a private, empathetic 1:1 conversation to understand if there are personal or work-related factors affecting them
C. Reassign their tasks to a more reliable team member
D. Discuss the issue in the next team retrospective

✅ Answer: B — Servant leadership means understanding the person first before taking corrective action. A sudden change in behaviour often signals an underlying issue (personal stress, unclear expectations, interpersonal conflict). A private 1:1 preserves dignity and gives the PM the context needed to actually help. Formal warnings (A) or public discussion (D) are premature and can damage trust irreparably.

🤖 AI Tools for PMs

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How AI Augments This Process

AI helps PMs craft leadership communications, structure 1-on-1s, develop team norms, and generate tailored feedback that resonates with individual team members.

Sample Claude Prompts

1-on-1 meeting agenda preparation I'm a PM preparing for a 1-on-1 with [team member name / role]. Context about this person: [seniority, how long on team, current assignment, any known concerns] Recent context: [what's been happening — deadline pressure, conflict, performance issue, career question] My goal for this 1-on-1: [support / feedback / career / align on priorities] Generate a 30-minute 1-on-1 agenda with: 1. Opening check-in question (psychological safety) 2. 2-3 focused discussion topics based on the context 3. Action items / commitments section 4. Closing forward-looking question Also suggest what NOT to bring up in this session and why.

Team status summary for leadership I need to write a weekly team status update for my leadership/sponsor. Project: [project name] Team size: [number], locations: [offices/remote] This week's highlights: [bullet list of what happened] Risks/blockers: [any issues] Next week's plan: [what the team will do] Tone needed: [confident / transparent about challenges / brief executive-style] Write a 150-word status update that: - Opens with a headline sentiment (on track / at risk / needs attention) - Summarizes progress without jargon - Flags risks proactively with proposed mitigations - Ends with a clear ask if needed

Situational leadership decision I'm a PM applying situational leadership. Here's my team member profile: Name/Role: [describe] Task: [what they're working on] Competence level (1-4): [1=low competence / 4=high competence] Commitment level (1-4): [1=low commitment / 4=high commitment] Based on Hersey-Blanchard model: 1. What leadership style should I use? (Directing / Coaching / Supporting / Delegating) 2. Give me 3 specific behaviors I should demonstrate this week 3. What should I STOP doing that doesn't match this stage? 4. What's the transition plan to move them to the next development level?

Jira / Confluence Template

Confluence — 1-on-1 Running Notes

── CONFLUENCE: 1-ON-1 RUNNING NOTES ───────────────────── Team Member: [Name] | Role: [title] | Manager: [PM name] Cadence: Weekly / Bi-weekly / Monthly Format: 30 min | Video / In-person ── SESSION: [YYYY-MM-DD] ───────────────────────────────── Check-in: [How are you doing? Energy level 1-5] Their agenda: [What they want to discuss — always ask first] My agenda: [Feedback / priority alignment / career] Key discussion: - [Topic 1 + outcome] - [Topic 2 + outcome] Action items: - [ ] [Action] → [Owner] → [Due] - [ ] [Action] → [Owner] → [Due] Follow-up: [Anything to check on next session] ── DEVELOPMENT TRACKING ────────────────────────────────── Current goal: [career / skill development goal] Progress: [Last discussed: date | Status: on track / blocked] Leadership style this quarter: [Directing/Coaching/Supporting/Delegating]