Selections from "Core Competencies for Project Managers" by
Martha M. Geaney and Joan Engel, PMI'96 p. 853

"At a project leadership conference in 1995, a group of IS 
project managers, selected by their organizations as the 
most successful, identified the following as barriers to 
successful project management: 

     getting started - organizing and forming the project team 
     IS's position in the organization 
     ability to say "No" 
     finding out where the power is 
     not listening and building trust 
     lack of common sense 
     earned value analysis 
     managing other contractors 
     resistance to change

A List of Core Competencies (Details in Paper)

Leadership
                Provide Direction
                Provide Vision
                Coach and Mentor 
                Sound Judgment 
                Issue and Conflict Resolution 
                Effective Decision Making 
                Knowledge Transfer 
                Trustworthiness 
                Nurture and Sustain Teams 

 Communication
                Gives Feedback 
                Active Listening 
                Communicate 
                   1.Clearly 
                   2.Accurately 
                   3.Often 
                   4.Timely 
                Constructive Negotiation 
                Effective Communication Styles 
                Set and Manage Expectations 
                Reward and Reinforcement 

 Organizational Know-How 
                Flexible
                Understands the Business Linkage 
                Influence and Respect 

They suggest that the individual, team, and/or organization:

    1.  pick no more than four core competencies to work on.
    2.  Assess the current level of attainment and the goal or desired
        level of attainment, along with specific areas to work on.  
    3.  Train, coach and mentor
    4.  Assess performance
    5.  Get feedback
    6.  Launch further corrective actions