A $250 million implementation with laws changing right before launch will clarify your project management instincts fast, especially when the site crashes after just 20 users. That’s the kind of pressure-tested learning we unpack with Alex Tuck, founder of Tuck Consulting Group and host of the Project Zero podcast, where he interviews project managers about the project that taught them what the job really is.

We talk through Alex’s own pivot from financial services to nonprofit work and then into building a 60-person project management consulting team delivering projects across healthcare, SaaS rollouts, professional services, and more. Alex also shares why his team loves ClickUp consulting, especially for nonprofits and growth-stage small businesses that need a flexible system for project tracking plus operations, process, and visibility without buying a pile of disconnected software.

Then we go deep on “Project Zero,” the project where it finally clicks how to lead without authority: negotiating with executives, aligning developers and stakeholders, anticipating risks instead of merely documenting them, and staying calm when reality ignores the plan. We also dig into AI in project management, what parts of the PM role are most likely to be automated, why adoption often fails inside large organizations, and how to focus your career on the human work that still creates outsized value.

If you want practical lessons from the trenches and a clearer picture of where project leadership is headed, listen now, subscribe, and share this episode with a PM who’s thinking about the next step. After you listen, leave a review and tell us: what was your Project Zero?

Check the full episode show notes for links to connect with Alex.

Links:

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alextuck/
Website: https://tuckconsultinggroup.com/
Podcast: https://projectzeropodcast.com/#
My interview on the Project Zero podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2504123/episodes/17856218-episode-17-building-a-pm-career-with-senior-project-manager-walt-sparling

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