What kind of PM are you?

It all started when I received at call from another program manager, informing me that reorganization had occurred and he was now my new manager.  He asked me to meet him at a local Starbuck's, so I did.  After a bit of small talk he informed me that a req was going to be opened for my position and I would be reporting to that person once hired.  When I asked what My responsibility would be, he said, "I'm not sure . . . maybe you'll be assigned a few projects to work."

I had been a fairly passive PM up to this point in time, but after that conversation my thinking shifted.  As projects in the portfolio were handed down to me, I had worked diligently with project teams to create and execute project plans.  But now, my future was in question, and I felt an urgency to proactively look for projects to lead rather than wait and hope for projects to come my way.

My search for a meaningful project did not take long.  Not long after the Starbuck's meeting an engineer explained to me the challenges we were facing retiring my organization's legacy network.  For my part, I could see the connection to our CIO's key strategies to reduce cost.   Several SMEs recognized the huge potential as well and joined the development of the action plan.   A few successful buy-in meetings later and the action plan submitted to our VP was approved.

What happened to me helped me realize that organizational improvement projects are all around us.  And if they're not already in the project portfolio, maybe they should be.  What's necessary are proactive PMs leading creation of compelling action plans and presenting them to senior managers for consideration.  Which type of PM are you?  Which type of PM would you like to be?