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Skilled complex project leaders who can develop a more meaningful relationship with stakeholders are needed to successfully deliver complex projects and projects being delivered in complex environments. The practice of interacting with stakeholders around projects needs to expand from a focus on stakeholder management – and a view of stakeholders simply as entities to be ‘communicated with’, ‘changed’ or ‘managed’ – to a focus on genuine stakeholder engagement. Here stakeholders are acknowledged as entities with legitimate interests and rights that require authentic engagement and co-creation so that the project creates optimal value for all stakeholders.

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