My CAPM® Training with ROSEMET LLC – Day 2: Leadership & Stewardship in Project Management
By: Ryan Malaluan; Editor: Geram Lompon; Alvin Villanueva, PMP
After Day 1, which focused on project fundamentals, governance,
Project management is more than just tracking timelines and deliverables—it’s about inspiring and guiding teams through challenges.
For Day 2, I focused on understanding how leadership styles, emotional intelligence, and ethical decision-making shape project success.
However, before diving into the key takeaways, I want to address a couple of challenges I faced. For instance, while the content was rich and insightful, I encountered some audio-related issues. Dr. Shick’s voice tends to drop toward the end of sentences, making certain points difficult to catch. Additionally, the absence of visual aids made complex ideas a bit harder to grasp, especially when discussing leadership theories.
Despite these challenges, the lessons on leadership and stewardship were incredibly valuable. In the following sections, I’ll share what I learned and offer suggestions on how ROSEMET LLC can improve the CAPM® certification course for future learners.
Lesson 1: Leadership in Project Management (50+ min video)
Leadership in
In this lesson, Dr. Michael J. Shick walks me through the critical elements of effective leadership, from understanding different leadership styles to leveraging emotional intelligence and applying motivational theories. He also covers essential conflict management strategies—because no project management career is without its challenges.
By the end of this session, I was eager to reflect on my own leadership approach and gain deeper insight into how emotional intelligence practices and leadership styles can shape a project’s success. Here’s what I learned about leading teams effectively and ethically and why it matters just as much as the technical skills I apply.
What Leadership Means in Project Management
Leadership in
A great project manager doesn’t micromanage but creates an environment where team members feel valued and motivated to contribute their best work. Leadership is not about controlling every action—it’s about creating an environment where people are empowered to do their best.
While I don’t currently hold a leadership role, this principle of empowering others resonates deeply with me as I work with my team to produce high-quality content. It contributes to my general educational development in
Leadership is also not a one-size-fits-all approach. There are times when a clear directive is necessary and other moments when a more supportive approach can lead to better outcomes.
For example, in my previous role as an SEO Backlink Specialist, I often collaborated with various teams to align our link-building strategies with broader marketing goals. Adapting my approach depending on the situation was key to driving successful outcomes.
Leadership Styles & Emotional Intelligence
One of the most valuable lessons from this video was learning about the different leadership styles and how to adapt them to various situations. As a content writer, I can apply these styles in collaborative projects, as I understand the team’s needs and respond accordingly.
Here are some of the leadership styles I found relevant:
Directive Leadership
This style works best when immediate action is needed, such as when facing a project deadline or crisis. While this approach is more applicable to leadership roles, I can use it when giving clear instructions for content revisions or collaborating with other departments on urgent projects, refining my
Supportive Leadership
Prioritizing the well-being of team members and fostering a collaborative environment can be particularly important in creative fields like content writing. I can adopt this style when working with other writers or content teams to encourage creativity and maintain morale during high-pressure projects.
Coaching Leadership
This style emphasizes guiding others toward growth. While I don’t hold a formal leadership role, I often find myself mentoring junior writers or helping colleagues develop content skills, making this style highly applicable.
Servant Leadership
This approach is about serving the team’s needs. As a content writer, this could mean removing obstacles that hinder the content creation, such as providing helpful resources or facilitating communication across departments.
Emotional intelligence (EI) also plays a massive role in leadership. It helps project managers and content writers like myself navigate interpersonal challenges, build stronger relationships, and resolve conflicts efficiently.
Having high emotional intelligence allows me to understand when colleagues are struggling with a task and gives me the ability to offer support, whether that’s through constructive feedback or encouragement. This is vital in content creation, where feedback plays a significant role in improving work.
My Personal Takeaway
As someone with experience as an SEO Backlink Specialist and now working as a Content Writer at ROSEMET LLC, I’ve realized that leadership doesn’t always mean holding a formal leadership position. The ability to guide teams, foster collaboration, and provide support is something I can apply in every project I work on.
In the past, as an SEO Backlink Specialist, I worked with cross-functional teams and had to ensure that everyone was aligned and clear on goals. I learned how to provide direction when necessary, recognize when to support team members, and allow them to take initiative.
This lesson reaffirmed that I can be a leader within my role, whether I’m coordinating efforts on content strategies, mentoring colleagues, or simply being the person who encourages a team when things get challenging.
I’ve also realized that emotional intelligence is just as important for content writers as it is for project managers. In writing and collaborating with others, understanding the emotional climate of a team and responding with empathy is crucial for building trust and creating a positive work environment.
Conflict Management: The Inevitable Leadership Challenge
Conflict is inevitable in every project, whether it’s a difference of opinion, competing priorities, or diverging ideas. As a
Key Conflict Resolution Techniques
- Collaborating – This technique finds a win-win solution that benefits all parties involved. It’s particularly effective when both sides have important points to address and are willing to work together to create a mutually acceptable solution.
- Compromising – In situations where collaboration may not be possible, meeting in the middle ensures that both parties feel they’ve made concessions and the issue is resolved fairly.
- Smoothing – This approach helps to de-escalate tension by focusing on areas of agreement. While smoothing can temporarily ease a situation, it may not always address the core issues that caused the conflict in the first place.
- Forcing – When necessary, a project manager may need to make an executive decision to move things forward, especially when a quick resolution is required. While this should be used as a last resort, it’s essential to recognize that unavoidable situations demand this approach to avoid delays.
What I Learned and How I’ll Apply It
This lesson taught me that conflict shouldn’t be feared or avoided. Instead, I should embrace it as a chance to enhance the project and the relationships around it. Moving forward, I will focus on collaborating more with my team and clients, fostering open communication, and embracing different perspectives to find the best solutions.
As an SEO Backlink Specialist and Content Writer, I can apply conflict resolution techniques to improve team collaboration, solve problems more creatively, and contribute to the overall success of our projects.
Lesson 2: Stewardship in Projects (10+ min video)
In this lesson, I explored the ethical side of
What Is Stewardship?
Leadership in
Stewardship means:
- Taking responsibility for project outcomes—owning the successes and failures of the project.
- Treating people and resources with respect—fostering a collaborative, inclusive environment.
- Ensuring fairness and honesty in decision-making—making transparent choices and standing by them.
The PMI® Code of Ethics
The Project Management Institute (PMI)® Code of Ethics emphasizes four core industry values that should guide every project manager’s approach:
- Responsibility – Take ownership of decisions, even when mistakes happen. Acknowledging errors is critical to learning and growth.
- Respect – Foster cooperation, open communication, and cultural awareness to create a positive project environment.
- Fairness – Ensure equal opportunities for all stakeholders and make transparent decisions that benefit everyone.
- Honesty – Always deliver truthful project updates, even when the news is difficult to share. Transparency fosters trust.
As someone who has worked with clients in fast-paced environments, I’ve seen how tempting it can be to cut corners, especially when deadlines loom. I’ve witnessed situations where ethical concerns were overlooked for faster results.
This lesson in stewardship reinforced that true project leaders don’t just get results—they guarantee those results are achieved ethically, aligning with the values outlined in the
I’ve now become more aware of how I approach projects, ensuring that every decision aligns with the core values of responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty. Whether dealing with stakeholders, resources, or team dynamics, I will always ask myself: How can I ensure we’re doing the right thing, not just the easy thing?
Quiz & Reflection: Reinforcing Learning
To reinforce the common
I’m happy to report that I scored 20/20 on both quizzes, which boosted my confidence, reinforcing how project management makes a difference in shaping leadership skills and decision-making. It reassured me that I had grasped the material thoroughly and could apply the key concepts in practical scenarios.
While I was glad to see high scores, the quizzes also allowed me to reflect on the lessons learned. Scoring well wasn’t just about getting the right answers—it was about understanding the why behind those answers. Each question forced me to actively recall and apply the leadership project management education and stewardship principles we covered, which made the learning experience more tangible.
While I found the ROSEMET CAPM Training by ROSEMET LLC professionals to be comprehensive and insightful, I have a few suggestions that could further enhance the learning experience for future students:
1. Add Visual Aids & Infographics
Some of the leadership concepts were difficult to grasp without visual aids fully. For example, understanding when to apply different leadership styles could be clearer with the addition of:
- Leadership matrices or flowcharts to help break down the nuances of each leadership style.
- Diagrams illustrating emotional intelligence in action, showing how to manage different team dynamics.
Visuals would help clarify these complex ideas and make the content more engaging and memorable.
2. Improve Audio Clarity in Videos
While Dr. Shick’s insights were valuable, his voice sometimes dropped at the end of sentences, making it difficult to hear key points. This could be improved by:
- Enhancing the audio quality to ensure clearer, more consistent sound throughout.
- Adding subtitles to the videos so students can follow along more easily, especially when discussing key terms.
Improving the audio clarity would make the course content more accessible, ensuring no important information is missed.
3. Include More Interactive Quizzes
The quizzes helped reinforce key concepts. Still, I believe adding more variety, such as fill-in-the-blank exercises for essential project management terms, would test active recall and better prepare students for the CAPM exam. Including these interactive elements would boost engagement and deepen learning by requiring more thoughtful participation.
Final Reflections on Day 2: Leadership & Stewardship in Project Management
After Day 2, I walked away with several key insights that will significantly shape my approach to
Emotional intelligence (EI) was highlighted as a critical leadership skill affecting project success. I now understand that recognizing and managing emotions—mine and my team’s—can make all the difference in navigating challenges and building trust.
Equally important is ethical stewardship—prioritizing responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty in every decision. These principles are especially valuable for entry-level project managers looking to establish a strong ethical foundation. Ethical stewardship ensures we deliver successful projects with integrity, fostering long-term success and trust.
Moving forward, I plan to adapt my leadership style based on team needs, ensuring I can switch between directive, supportive, or servant leadership as situations demand—key skills for an Associate in
Lastly, I am committed to engaging with the community to deepen my insights and grow as a project manager.
What’s Next? Day 3 Preview
With Day 2 complete, I’m excited to dive into Day 3, where we’ll explore Project Management Processes & Environments. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come:
- Project Management Processes & Environments – A closer look at process groups, governance frameworks, and adaptive methodologies that shape successful project execution.
- Predictive Project Management Model – Understanding the Waterfall planning and execution process and how it applies to projects with well-defined requirements.
I am looking forward to learning how project management frameworks provide a structured approach to executing projects effectively and achieving successful outcomes, which is essential for a Certified Associate in
