Leaders. This is why software projects stall.

It’s common for software projects to stall or drift off course, and the root cause often isn’t technical. Many projects stall because of a lack of decisive leadership. An executive might kick off a project and then step back, assuming the software development team will handle everything. But without certain key decisions that only leaders can provide, even a great development team can lose direction or momentum.

There are four critical decisions that only an executive sponsor or leader can make to keep a project on track. Think of them as the essentials of executive leadership in projects. In fact, they form the acronym LEAD:

Link
Empower
Align
Decide

If leaders fail to LEAD on these points, the project can easily bog down. But when they do, the team can move forward with clarity and confidence.

4 Critical Decisions for Executives

Link the project to a clear strategic goal

The leader must define the “why” of the project. What business goal does this software serve? Only an executive can truly decide which strategic priority the project aligns with and communicate that vision to everyone.

By linking the project to a clear goal (for example, improving customer satisfaction by 20% or speeding up order fulfillment), leaders give the team a guiding star. This decision sets the scope and success criteria.

Without it, a project can stall due to mission creep or lack of priority. People won’t know what the true focus is.

Empower the team with resources and support

No project can move fast without adequate resources. It’s up to executives to allocate the budget, approve key hires or experts, and ensure the team has what it needs. This also means having the project’s back if other departments need to cooperate.

For instance, if the software team needs data from another division, a leader’s support can make that happen quickly. When leaders actively provide funding, tools, and political support, the team can overcome obstacles.

If the team is left under-funded or isolated, progress will grind to a halt.

Align stakeholders and assign accountability

Custom software projects often span multiple departments or stakeholder groups. Only someone at the executive level can align all these players under a common goal. This involves clear communication and sometimes negotiation between department heads.

Leaders might designate a specific executive sponsor or product owner to be accountable for the project’s outcome. By aligning everyone, from end users to managers, leaders prevent turf wars and indecision.

Without leadership unifying stakeholders, a project can become mired in conflicts or apathy.

Decide on scope changes and major trade-offs promptly

During any project, tough calls will arise. Should we add a feature or cut it to meet the deadline. Do we prioritize speed to market or a more complete product.

Only executives have the authority to make these high-impact decisions. It’s critical that leaders stay engaged enough to make timely decisions when the team hits a crossroads. Fast, firm decisions from the top prevent paralysis.

Leaders also clear roadblocks. For example, if a policy issue or a risk is blocking progress, an executive can weigh in to resolve it. When leaders are decisive and present, the team isn’t left waiting for direction.

If leadership waffles or goes missing when issues arise, the project can stall for weeks.

Mini Case Study. Law Firm Project Rescued by Leadership

A mid-size law firm began developing a custom client portal to share documents and updates with clients. The project started with enthusiasm, but after a few months it began to stall. Different partners kept suggesting new features, the IT team was waiting on decisions, and momentum slowed.

The firm’s managing partner stepped in to apply the four executive essentials:

Link to strategy: He clarified that the portal’s primary goal was to improve client communication turnaround time, aligning the project with the firm’s strategic priority of client service excellence. This cut through the confusion of competing feature ideas.
Empower with resources: Noticing the IT team was short-handed, he approved hiring an extra developer to speed up the work. He also set aside budget for additional training so staff could adapt to the new portal quickly.
Align stakeholders: The managing partner gathered the heads of litigation, corporate, and other departments and got their agreement on the portal’s core features and phased roadmap. He appointed a senior associate as the accountable product owner to coordinate input from all departments.
Decide and unblock: When a debate arose about including a complex workflow feature, the managing partner made the call to postpone it for a later phase so the project could launch on time. He regularly checked in on progress and quickly resolved policy questions (like client data permissions) that had been slowing the team down.

With these leadership actions, the portal project was revitalized. The team regained focus on the key objective and felt supported to get the job done. The project launched close to the original schedule and delivered the intended client communication improvements.

The difference was clear. Without active executive leadership, the initiative had floundered. With the managing partner’s decisive involvement, it succeeded.

Key Takeaways

Executive leadership can make or break a software project. Stalls often happen when leaders aren’t actively involved.
LEAD: Link the project to strategic goals, Empower the team with resources, Align all stakeholders, and Decide on major issues quickly.
These four decisions are ones that only executives can make. When leaders fulfill these roles, projects have clear direction, proper support, unity, and agility.
Conversely, if executives neglect these essentials, teams can lose focus, run out of resources, or get stuck waiting on decisions.

Executive Essentials: 4 Decisions Only YOU Can Make