Build Your Leadership Prototype
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Full Description |
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Build Your Leadership Prototype is a hands-on, testable approach to leadership influence. Too many leaders rely on guesswork, but what if you could measure, adapt, and refine your leadership just like a great product? In this session, you’ll learn practical, no-fluff ways to track your impact, experiment with new approaches, and adjust in real time. Leadership isn’t a fixed trait—it’s a prototype you can build, test, and improve to fit any situation.
PMI members will leave this session with practical tools they can immediately apply to lead more effectively—no fluff, no theory overload. They’ll learn how to assess their leadership impact, test new approaches, and adapt in real time to meet the needs of their teams and stakeholders. By treating leadership like a prototype, members will gain a repeatable way to build influence, strengthen collaboration, and deliver better results on every project.
Event Agenda This is a draft - subject to a little bit of change but the core beats will remain the same.
0:00–0:05 | Welcome & Setup Quick intro & context (your PMI background, Speaker Bureau mention) “What if leadership was something you could test like a product?” Poll: “When was the last time you adjusted your leadership approach on purpose?”
0:05–0:15 | The Problem with Traditional Leadership Models Why most leadership advice feels vague or irrelevant in project settings Common myths: “Influence is a soft skill” vs. “Influence is a testable skill” Real-world example: when influence strategies worked—and when they didn’t
0:15–0:30 | Introducing the Leadership Prototype Mindset Define the concept: Prototype = build, test, adapt The 3 elements of a leadership experiment: Context (who/what you're trying to influence) Behavior (what you’ll try) Signal (what to look for in response) Live Chat Prompt: “What’s a leadership moment this week where you could try this?”
0:30–0:45 | Activity: Build Your First Leadership Prototype Guided worksheet Example: Adjusting your communication to a disengaged stakeholder Breakout discussion (if available) or chat-sharing: what experiment will you try?
0:45–0:55 | Making It Stick How to track signals over time without overcomplicating it Tips for staying flexible without losing credibility Quick story of a leader who used prototyping to navigate a high-stakes moment
0:55–1:00 | Wrap-Up & Call to Action Recap key insight: Leadership isn’t learned—it’s built. Q&A
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Name of Speaker Erik K. Rueter |
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Speaker Bio Erik K. Rueter, PMP, PMI-ACP, CPQC, has spent over 20 years navigating the weird, wonderful world of project leadership from tech startups to academia, from healthcare to entertainment. He’s seen what happens when projects get stuck in endless meetings, misalignment, and competing priorities (hint: nothing good), and he’s made it his mission to help project leaders fix it. With deep expertise in design thinking, strategic facilitation, and stakeholder influence, Erik helps PMO leaders, project managers, and rising executives turn cross-functional friction into forward motion. He doesn’t just talk about leadership—he helps teams prototype it in real time, test it, and refine it. A lifelong learner (and a collector of degrees and certifications), Erik holds a BA in Neuroscience from Wesleyan University—yes, really, neuroscience—along with a MicroMasters in Design Thinking & Project Management from RIT. He’s also certified in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University, ensuring that his approach to leadership isn’t just about efficiency, but also about creating cultures where people actually want to collaborate. Erik has spoken at PMI Global Summit (4x), PMI Greece, PMI Michiana, PMI Portugal, PMI New Jersey, and PMI Pittsburgh, among others, delivering engaging, interactive talks that leave PMI professionals with more than just notes—they leave with real, applicable strategies to make their leadership more effective (and, dare we say, more fun). He’s also contributed insights to industry books like Mastering Solutions Delivery and The Evolution of the PMO and has been featured on podcasts such as Project Management Happy Hour and I Wanna Work There! Outside of the project leadership world, Erik lives just outside Pittsburgh with his husband and their two very opinionated dachshunds. When he’s not coaching leaders or running strategy sessions, he’s probably running actual marathons, deep-diving into a video game, or finding new ways to apply design thinking to, well, everything. Erik believes that leadership is something you build, not something you memorized and that every project, every meeting, every challenge is an opportunity to test, refine, and improve how we work together.
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