In this rapid‑fire interview, Professor Pete Alexander hosts William “Billy” H. Volpe III, an international project manager with a background as a master business analyst at Hewlett‑Packard and PMO manager for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior. Volpe shares the thrill of leading mission‑critical projects for the Pentagon and global telecom infrastructure, then pivots to mentoring others. He critiques the industry’s blind adoption of buzzwords like Agile, arguing that companies often pick the wrong project‑management lifecycle; his book A Guide to Project Management Life Cycles urges leaders to choose the right tool for the job. Volpe stresses the importance of enjoying one’s work and shaping one’s environment, illustrated by a personal anecdote about a tie‑cutting incident and his current life in the Amazon. He acknowledges risk‑management expert Carl Pritchard, who is writing the foreword for Volpe’s upcoming pandemic‑focused project‑management book. Volpe recounts his first job in a family art‑gallery and picture‑framing business, linking the meticulousness of art restoration to project management. Finally, he directs listeners to www.projectvictories.com for free copies of his books, including a Ukraine‑focused title.
Chapters
This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Well, I'm an international project manager. I was a master business analyst at Hewlett-Packard and the PMO manager for the Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia. I also do speaking. Of course, I do writing, and I do teaching all over the world. But right now I live down in South America and normally just write.
All right, well, Billy, it's great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
Well, lately, you know, I mean, I, I, I loved when I was doing the projects. I had more of my hands in it, okay? And bringing the teams together and everything else. I was doing mission-critical server work for the Pentagon and the World Trade Centers and 86% of the, you know, world's telecommunications infrastructure. But I knew you put the right team together, I mean, you could send a rocket to the moon, you know? And it It was absolutely amazing what, you know, you could do putting these projects together and being in charge of them. And now I just love mentoring other people how to do that.
Great story. Question number 3: I have a book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Well, um, So when it comes to my profession, okay, I found some deficiencies in the industry, okay? And it's why I wrote my first book, which was A Guide to Project Management Life Cycles. And, you know, in most businesses, most executives, they hear these buzzwords, okay? They hear agile, they hear empowerment, they hear these buzzwords, and frankly, they don't know what the hell those words mean. Okay. And so, but they jump on them because they think that's something that they should be doing, but they don't even know what it is. Okay. And so in my particular industry, they picked the wrong lifecycle for a particular project. Okay, and so the very first thing I did in the introduction of my book, Guide to Project Management Life Cycles, is I said, you guys are messing up. You need to choose the right tool for the job. Okay, and, and I think that's something that's missing because everyone gets hooked on these buzzwords.
Yeah.
And they just run off on them.
Sure.
And they don't realize the ramifications of their decisions.
That's very insightful. Question number 4: Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for the customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
First of all, you gotta enjoy what you're doing, okay? Yeah, you have to enjoy what you're doing. I was a master business analyst at Hewlett-Packard, but I didn't wear a tie for long, okay? I didn't, okay? I mean, in fact, a little Iranian guy came over one time and cut my tie right off, okay? Really? Yeah, with a pair of scissors, and it was a $40 Jay Garcia tie, okay? He cut my tie right off, and I ended up being the guy was always on the plane going somewhere else, and I enjoyed being out doing things, which is probably why I'm down here in the Amazon and stuff now. Okay, so I mean, uh, that, that was the way I worked. I was not a cubicle guy. Okay, and so you definitely gotta enjoy what you're doing. It doesn't mean that if you hate being in an office, you hate project management. It just means you hate your environment. Okay. You can still make your environment your, your, your life and, and, and engage in the discipline, but you're going to make it your own.
That's very true. And I love what you're saying there, especially environment that you're there in the Amazon. It's great.
Yeah.
Right.
Oh, so question number 5.
What other business leaders like yourself would you like to acknowledge as a leader and invite to be on my podcast?
Carl Pritchard is an international risk management expert. Okay. I mean, this, this, this guy is huge as far as I'm concerned. He's writing the foreword for my next book, which I'm writing this year, which is about the pandemic, Project management of the pandemic, which frankly I think has gone very poorly. And it's really a great thing for me because he was my professor 20 years ago and now he's writing the foreword for my book.
Oh, how neat. That's great. Well, I appreciate that referral. I'll reach out to Carl. And question number 6, Please tell me about your first job.
All right, so I grew up in a family that had its own business. We had a family business and my grandmother, although she had a business degree, okay, and of course she lived through the Great Depression and everything and World War II and whatnot, but she had a business degree, but she was very artistic. And so during World War II, they had her doing maps. And when they were actually drawing maps, they weren't doing it with computers, okay? And so it turned out that she got really good at restoring paintings and things of that nature, you know? So we had Picassos in the house and things like that. So we had an art gallery and picture framing business, and I worked in that business.
That is fun. So restoring those paintings, I love that.
Yeah, yeah, it was very interesting. I mean, it was meticulous, and believe me, I am not artistic.
It's okay.
But I became a project manager.
There you go. And that's its own art.
There you go.
So, Billy, thank you so much for being on the show. How could people find you?
Uh, www.projectvictories.com. Okay, projectvictories.com. And, uh, and of course, uh, um, uh, as I said, I will, uh, I'll leave a link for you and people can get a free copy of my, uh, project management book. Uh, and in fact, I'll give them an— I'll create a new page and I'll even give them an option to get a free copy of my Ukraine book for when I was in the Ukraine, uh, war, which is what brought me down to South America.
Neat. Well, thank you very much. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, or iTunes and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
