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Find the power

Perhaps the most important and difficult task for project managers today is one that has always been a challenge: finding a way to gain more influence over the people you're leading but ultimately don't have authority over.

"It's an ongoing problem," says Peter Baker, vice president of information systems and technology at Emcor Facilities Services. "I'm a firm believer that the project manager needs the authority to make decisions without going to higher-ups once the project has been authorized."