The Project Leadership 101 Foundation delivers a complete blueprint to begin your transformation from engineer to project leader.
You went to school, worked hard, got your degree and then a job.You worked on projects, and gained experience in your discipline, developing yourself into a subject matter expert. People went to you for technical advice, and that made you feel important.You believed that eventually, once you had "enough" experience, you would be "allowed" to lead the projects you worked on.If that is you, you're not alone.The truth is, there are 2 distinct engineering career paths:A) Subject Matter Expert
B) Project LeaderYou can't do both, and A does not lead to B. The skills are different.My new course, Project Leadership 101, is the result of 10 years of expertise, proven methods, and actionable strategies.Included is everything you need to reliably build the skills to lead without authority, to demonstrate the leadership potential before ever getting the title, and position yourself as the leader of the next project that comes up.
My goal with Project Leadership 101 is to equip you with the complete roadmap to start and sustain your transformation into a project leader.The course includes a full framework for building the character of a leader, understanding people and how to give others what they need to deliver their best work, how to influence decisions without authority, getting leadership visibility, and much more.If you're looking for a complete, tried-and-true system that you can use to transform yourself from an engineer who answers questions into a project leader who leads the meeting, this is it.
As I’ve been building my project leadership career for the last 10 years, I’ve been recording everything. What’s worked, and what hasn’t. Project Leadership 101 presents a clear framework for developing yourself into "the engineer with leadership potential".
You go deep. You become the person who knows everything about your discipline. When there's a tough technical question, people come to you. You review designs, write standards, solve the hardest problems.Requires:
Deep technical knowledge in one area. Years of specialization. Continuous learning in your discipline.The trade-off:
You answer questions. You don't lead people. Your career ceiling depends on how much your expertise is valued.
You go broad. You become the person who leads people and coordinates chaos. When there's a stuck decision or a room full of confused stakeholders, you step in. You don't need to know every technical detail. You need to know enough to ask the right questions and get the right people talking.Requires: A bit of knowledge across many disciplines. People skills. Leadership behaviours. The ability to read a room and facilitate decisions.The trade-off: You're not the smartest technical person anymore. You're the one who makes smart technical people work together.
Hey, I'm Andy Barbirato.Ten years ago, I used to be a junior engineer.But I was desperate for a different career.The pay was good, the hours were good, no complaints there.But society expects you to pick a career for the rest of your life, before you can have your first beer.I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd made the wrong choice.I got into engineering through my dad, who (now retired) taught electrical engineering at college and university level.Don't get me wrong, I love engineering, and working with engineers, I just never wanted to be "The Engineer".Never wanted to be the one responding to technical questions, doing designs, calculations, writing and reviewing standards, etc.This was never for me - I get anxiety just thinking about it.I was always more interested in working with people, and the hope in my mind had been - I get into engineering, I work a few years, get good at it, and then they'll "make me" a manager.Nope. That did not happen.I felt trapped.Year after year, design review after design review...Destined to become the thing I had never wanted to be.
After a tough project meeting, where my idea got shot down so hard it exited on the other side of the planet, the project manager took me aside:She told me that my idea had actually been pretty good, I had just "framed it wrong".I must have had a confused look, because she went on:"You said: 'This is the problem. And this is what we have to do.'"She explained that essentially I had told everyone that they were idiots, I was smart, and that they should just fall in line and do what I thought.I was shocked.Never even crossed my mind that others could think that.She said that she had learned that the hard way early in her career, and that I could to - I just had to put some effort into it.Here's what clicked in my mind:- I can lead people, by leading projects...
- I can stay in engineering, without being "The Engineer"...
- I can become a project leader by learning skills, just like engineering...
I approached building these skills like an engineering problem.Investigate, analyze everything, develop a perfect plan, and execute.But I went wrong already in the investigation phase.I zigged, when I should have zagged.And went straight to "must get a business degree from university". Because logically, to get better at a skill, you must know more about it.So I started researching MBA programs, looking at admission requirements, making a financial plan, talking to my boss about a sabbatical...I wasted a year doing that.And I would have spent $100k and 2 years on an MBA......if I hadn't had a pure chance discussion with another PM who I met at a conference.
During that conversation - and over a few too many beers - that PM admitted he had taken a Masters in Project Management.And that it had been useless.Did not teach him any of the skills he needed to lead people.Only the project management theory that you can't apply in most projects anyhow because you don't have the resources to do it.That discussion pulled me back from the brink.And saved me $100k+ and years.What I realized was that I needed to learn those skills by being in the room, by watching others and how they did it.I still lost years on trial & error, and the day I really started to move forward was when I met an incredible mentor who guided me through my development.But I would never have come to the attention of that person, had I not tried to learn those skills myself first.
Project Leadership Bootcamp consists of 9 emails over 4 weeks. Each takes about 15 minutes to read and execute. Total time: 90 minutes.You get a systemized approach to develop project leadership skills.And it's designed with the busy early-career project engineer in mind.All include targeted micro-actions that you can apply immediately in your current job, current project, or your next meeting.And each of these actions will help create momentum towards your leadership transformation.After just 4 weeks, others will notice how you've gone from only answering technical questions to providing leadership.IMPORTANT:
You do not need a title, decades of experience, or permission, to do any of these actions.But all of them combined will start you on your path to project leadership, without wasting years on trial & error, like I did.
If you've ever struggled to understand why you act a certain way, and why others act differently, the modules in this week will give you a quick and simple way to decipher your own leadership personality:Inside:+ Email 0: Welcome (your first assignment)+ Email 1: Who You Are as a Leader (build your Signature Leadership Profile)+ Email 2: Personality Types and the Interaction Mapping System
To become a leader, you have to act like a leader first.And you don't need to lose years to learn it like I did.These two emails give you powerful micro-actions you can use immediately, in any meeting, at any time.As long as you are prepared to be amazed at how others will look at you differently.Inside:+ Email 3: The Question That Changes Meetings+ Email 4: How to Lead Without Authority
Reading the room is probably the most important skill for a project leader.Who needs what from you, so you get what you need from them?Who is checked out? Who is present? Who is having a bad day? Who will toss a grenade into your discussion?This week we will explore managing relationships and meeting leadership tactics you can apply in your next meeting, even if you're "not officially leading it".Inside:+ Email 5: What you miss when you only focus on technical problems+ Email 6: Relationship Management and Meeting Leadership
Any action only becomes a skill when it is who you are, not what you do.To truly set yourself on the path to project leadership, you must lock in the great start you have made throughout this course and continue your momentum.This week you will receive a 30 day plan to keep your momentum going and to set yourself up to be ready when those leadership opportunities you are creating start appearing.Inside:+ Email 7: How to Position Your Input+ Email 8: Your Next 30 Days (the plan that makes this permanent)
I appreciate a curious mind! So I've gathered the questions I've been asked most below. If these don't cover your questions, email me at [email protected] instead.
Yes. No credit card required. No trial that converts to paid. Just 9 emails over 4 weeks with frameworks you can use immediately.I built this because I spent years figuring out these skills through trial and error. If I can help you skip that struggle, the course has done its job.
There isn't one.The course is valuable on its own. Use what helps. Ignore what doesn't.If you want to fast-track your transformation, the easiest way is to do it with guidance and in a community with others on the same path.If this is something that interests you, Project Leadership Lab might be a good fit for you. It's a community of engineers working on developing their leadership skills together, and practising these skills together, coupled with coaching and feedback from me. But there's zero pressure to join.
I'm a professional electrical engineer licensed in the province of British Columbia, Canada.I did most of my education in Austria, born and raised, and Canada, before getting my start in the oil & gas industry as a junior field engineer.I spent the last 10 years moving from technical contributor to now leading a $500M infrastructure projects.I've built oil & gas installations, renewable power plants, power grids, overhead power lines, substations and power plants, hospital annexes, university buildings, roads, tenant improvements, and lots of horizontal infrastructure, mainly water and waste water.I made every mistake you can make in that transition. Stayed quiet when I should have spoken up. Waited for permission instead of taking initiative. Focused only on technical excellence while others got promoted.I learned what actually creates leadership visibility. This course teaches those specific behaviours.
Each email takes about 15 minutes to read and execute. You'll get 2 emails per week for 4 weeks (9 total).Total time investment: roughly 90 minutes over a month.The frameworks are designed to use in meetings you're already attending. No extra work outside your normal job.
If you have 2-7 years of engineering experience, you're not too junior.Leadership visibility doesn't require a title. It comes from demonstrating specific behaviours in meetings you're already attending as part of your job.The engineers who advance fastest start building these skills early. Not after someone "grants" them permission.If this is something you are exploring for your career, the worst time to start building leadership skills is tomorrow - the best time is today.
If you're already leading projects successfully, this course probably won't teach you much. In that case you may want to consider Project Leadership Lab, to take your project leadership career to the next level.But if you're technically strong and wondering why leadership opportunities haven't appeared yet, the gap is behavioural, not technical. That's exactly what this course addresses.
The emails stay in your inbox. Read them when you can.But honestly, if you can't find 15 minutes twice a week to invest in your career development, leadership roles probably aren't the priority right now. And that's okay.
No. You'll get exactly 9 emails over 4 weeks as part of the course.In addition, I occasionally send emails with frameworks, insights or updates on something new I'm working on. This is usually at most 1 email per week.You can unsubscribe anytime with one click.
You'll have frameworks you can apply immediately in your current role.You'll understand the specific behaviours that create leadership visibility. And you'll have a clear plan for your next 30 days.If you want to go deeper with practice and feedback, Project Leadership Lab opens for enrolment in January 2026. But the course is complete on its own.
These frameworks work across all engineering disciplines - mechanical, electrical, civil, software, chemical, aerospace, etc. etc.The skills that create leadership visibility are behavioural, not technical. Reading rooms, facilitating decisions, coordinating chaos - these apply regardless of your specific engineering focus.
Thank you joining Project Leadership Bootcamp.You will receive an email shortly to confirm your subscription. If you do not see this email within 24 hours, please check your SPAM folder.If you still did not receive it, please email me (or contact me on LinkedIn), and we'll figure it out.Looking forward to working with you!Andy