In my pursuit to become an IT project manager, I’ve continually looked for individuals that could serve as personal role models to inspire me.  My introduction to project management came from an older gentleman from Kenya who I met at the workplace.  While casually discussing our backgrounds over lunch one day, he proceeded to explain to me about his background in project management. 

Of the many things he told me about the career path, there were two things that stood out in my mind.  The first was the fact that he had, in the past, served a role as a consultant, where he worked independently and remotely for clients; the second was the fact that project management was truly an international profession.

He revealed that he worked in Africa, Europe, and the United States.  He also revealed that project management as a career path was something I needed to pursue simply because of the many opportunities that abound in the profession. 

That was the first time that I had heard of project management, and it peaked my interest that, as a 33-year-old African American, I was receiving invaluable career advice from an older gentlemen from Kenya.  From that point forward, I tried to glean as much information about project management as possible by finding information on the Internet and researching information at www.pmi.org. 

Through my research, I found one particular author, Ruffin Veal, PMP, to be especially insightful.  One day, while casually reading online, I saw information regarding a seminar in which he would be speaking, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was also African-American.  In observance of Black History Month, I decided to share his biography and some of his project management principles that I found so pivotal to my pursuit in the project management career field.

Ruffin Veal is the president of Ruffin Veal & Associates.  He has been in Information Services / Technology for over 30 years.  His career path ranged from being a “techie,” to a consultant, to a manager, to finally becoming an entrepreneur. 

Over the course of his career, he had increasing levels of responsibility, ranging from the private and public sectors to such industries as banking, retailing, medical, manufacturing, and state and county government.  He served in various roles, including fulltime employee and consultant.

In 2004, he was recognized and featured in the National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals, and, additionally, he is a professional speaker, independent consultant, and published author of articles seen in Chief Information Officer (CIO) magazine. 

During his 30 year career, he describes his role as being an “in the trenches” professional in that he has had to solve problems encountered by most IT professional using “non-perfect world” means. He is a believer in the fact that knowledge based on experience prepares individuals for roles in leadership, organization, and user / client relations. 

For individuals that work in the programming unit of IT firms, he encourages people to view their role not as a programmer but as an internal consulting firm for the company and to treat your user departments as the clients and customers.  It is this type of practical, simple advice from Ruffin Veal that I find so insightful in my pursuit of becoming an IT project manager.