321: The Rise of the Chief Project Officer with Aina Alive

August 17, 2025·49 min·4 clips

Iena's global movement united 40 thought leaders across six continents to reimagine the PMO's role.

This episode explores the emerging role of the Chief Project Officer as a strategic leader who bridges the gap between executive strategy and project execution. Host Laura Bernard, a PMO and transformation leader with 30 years of experience, is joined by guest Iena Alive, a strategic advisor and founder of the PMO Strategy and Execution Hub. Alive spearheaded a global initiative called "The Evolution of the PMO," uniting 40 thought leaders from six continents to reimagine the PMO's future. The conversation centers on the need for a C-suite role that connects strategy formulation with on-the-ground project delivery. Alive references an article by Antonia and Yed Rodriguez on "the rise of the chief project officer" that inspired the project. She identifies a persistent gap where business and IT, as well as strategy and execution departments, often operate in separate, misaligned streams. Traditional PMO roles, like project or portfolio managers, frequently lack the career path and language to influence executives directly. The proposed Chief Project Officer would translate team-level insights and innovative ideas into executive language, advocating for project managers at the highest level. A key insight is that the specific title matters less than the function of ensuring organizational strategy and project execution are continuously aligned. Bernard shares an example where a CEO's team chose to name their function a "Strategy Delivery Office" to reflect its broader purpose. Alive notes a past industry trend of renaming PMOs to Value Management Offices (VMOs), which sometimes created internal conflict instead of enhancing the existing PMO's value-delivery capability. Both hosts emphasize that methodologies like Agile cannot solve underlying systemic issues in how an organization prioritizes and delivers strategic goals. The role requires mastering collaboration across different organizational languages, from developer teams to the C-suite, and using emotional intelligence to ensure information flows freely. Bernard introduces the "yes, and" technique from improv as a way to build on executive ideas while setting projects up for success. A surprising claim is that executives often remain unaware of chronic project-level issues because team members assume leadership already knows. The hosts advise aspiring leaders to start acting like business owners by learning to articulate ideas in terms of executive pain points, measurable outcomes, and financial impact. The tone is conversational and educational, blending personal career anecdotes with practical advice for leadership development. Both hosts share their parallel experiences of writing and publishing books on similar themes during this period. This episode is ideal for PMO leaders, project managers, and transformation professionals seeking to elevate their strategic influence and secure a leadership table seat. Listeners primarily interested in tactical project management tools or specific frameworks might find the high-level strategic discussion less immediately applicable.

As heard by us

A blunt case for PMOs that create value, not just activity.

The episode frames the chief project officer as more than a fresh title. It becomes a test of whether delivery leaders can move from keeping projects afloat to shaping business value at the leadership table.

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Want a sharper seat at the leadership table without more chaos?

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