Presentation: The Empathetic Project Manager
Abstract: Project Managers have a challenging job – be accountable for scope, schedule, cost, and quality for a client that most likely has ambiguous requirements by leading a team that you neither picked nor reports to you directly. The PMBoK v7 finally recognizes that PMs are not robots, and need a whole host of people skills to succeed. Learn the difference between empathy and sympathy, why it matters, and how building this muscle can enhance your PM brand and strengthen your relationships with your client and team.
PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills
Biography: Tamara Baptiste is a dynamic college admissions coach, speaker, author, and engineer. As a STEMinist, she is determined to increase the presence of women in science, technology, engineering, and math by connecting them with academic, entrepreneurial, and professional opportunities.
Tamara is renowned for her expertise in creating dynamic, high-achieving teams, fostering community confidence, and actively involving C-suite and senior executive leadership. Her leadership approach, characterized by empathy and transparency, consistently leads clients to request extensions for her project involvement. Additionally, staff members frequently volunteer to work under her guidance. Her outstanding contributions to technology leadership have been acknowledged by BEYA, where she was honored as a Modern Day Technology Leader. Moreover, Tamara has received numerous corporate and national awards for her leadership excellence.
Throughout her career, Tamara has mentored countless men and women, helping them understand how best to grow and apply their skills, navigate difficult situations, define their goals, and devise a course of action to achieve them. Whether as the Co-Chair of the MITRE Corporation’s STEM Council or an Advisory Board Member of Girls on the Run DC, Tamara takes delight in seeing others succeed. This passion led her to launch The College Application Specialist™, an educational consulting firm providing families and students with the information they need to confidently apply to higher-education opportunities that fit them academically, socially, and financially. Tamara has partnered with the Charles County Public Library and Prince George’s County Library (both in MD), the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, Alfred Street Baptist Church, and the Anne Arundel County NAACP to provide college admissions and financial aid knowledge to hundreds of parents and teens.
Drawing from her consulting background, Tamara enabled the two-person college counseling office of The American Dream School (Bronx NY) to provide high-touch advising to more than 50 juniors and seniors annually by constructing their College Counseling Manual. Tamara is now working with the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) to develop and implement a comprehensive college counseling program for 8th – 12th-grade students residing within properties managed by the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH).
