Welcome to our weekly newsletter!

13 July 2025

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Hey friend,

From next week I will be switching up the format of this newsletter a bit. I think it's time for a change. I want to make it more focused on you getting one or two actionable insights per week. I want you to learn everything you need to know in the newsletter and then read the longer article if you want to go deeper. I hope you enjoy it.

Some Thoughts

Trouble is opportunity.

When things go wrong in your project as they inevitably will, it’s the chance to change things for the better, to improve the processes, to improve your communication, to improve your team and to make sure that things go better in the future.

A failure is not a finish line.

What you will learn this week:

☀️ 7 essential skills (that aren't in the PMBOK).

🌍 How to start over, even if you aren't 20 years old.

🍄 BONUS - Money creation skills for professionals.

This is what I would learn if I started my career again.

1. Learn a Technical Trade

The first thing that I would learn is a technical trade. My trade was engineering, but it could be anything else.

Learning technical skills or how to build is something fundamental.

Worst-case scenario, it gives you a career to fall back on. Best-case scenario, it teaches you how to think critically, how to create within constraints, and how to deal with long-term projects.

It also provides you with an industry to work in and to start your career journey. Some of the best entrepreneurs in the world have a strong technical base, and for me, engineering is a great technical base.

2. Master Marketing and Sales

The next thing I would learn is marketing and sales. Marketing and sales are things that don’t come naturally to most of us - we haven’t been taught to do these sorts of things.

...

You might enjoy this:

Postscript

I have done over a dozen coaching calls with new/transitioning project managers and I see so many of the same issues.

The #1 issue? How do I get a job as a project manager?

So I’ve decided to write ‘how-to’ guide. And make it freely available.

But I want to do it in public with all of you.

Click here if you want to read more.

Read, share, comment and suggest improvements. I want us to help each other make this the best guide available.

I hope this can help some people when they need it most.

Until next time,

Jonathan (The Effective Project Manager)

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