Ahadu Asres Legesse, a senior project manager based in Anoka, Minnesota, is expanding his work beyond the office. After more than 28 years in business operations across the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, Legesse is focusing more of his time on mentoring new project managers and is developing The Steady Progress Podcast, a planned series on work, leadership and career growth set to launch in January 2027.
A Career Built Across Four Industries
Legesse began his career in 1998 at Target Corporation in Minneapolis as an operations analyst and project support specialist. He joined U.S. Bank in 2004 as a project coordinator and moved into a project manager role in 2008. From 2012 to 2020, he managed operational excellence projects at medical technology company Medtronic in Fridley, reviewing workflows and helping teams adopt improved procedures. Since 2020, he has served as a Senior Project Manager in Business Operations at UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka.
His path through retail, banking, medical technology and healthcare is a reminder that core project management skills travel well. The workflow reviews and standardization he used on internal operations share their roots with the lean methods used on production lines, which is why operations leaders following manufacturing trends often borrow from corporate project offices, and the reverse is true as well.
Legesse holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul and an Associate of Arts from Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids.
What Professionals Can Learn From His Approach
For readers considering a move into project management, or a step up into a larger role, Legesse’s career offers practical lessons:
- Treat support roles as training. Reporting, scheduling and record-keeping teach how work really moves through an organization. Legesse spent six years in operations support before becoming a coordinator.
- Make every assignment answer three questions. What needs to be done, who is responsible and when it is due. Most project delays start when one of those is unclear.
- Set deadlines people can trust. Realistic schedules that allow for reviews and approvals protect a project manager’s credibility far more than optimistic ones.
- Raise problems early. A small issue reported today is easier to fix than a large delay explained next month.
- Communicate on a steady rhythm. Short, regular updates build more trust with leadership than long reports that arrive only when something goes wrong.
That last point applies well beyond project teams. Consistent, clear communication is also the foundation of a professional reputation, a theme that comes up often in coverage of marketing and personal branding.
What Comes Next
The Steady Progress Podcast is planned as two episodes a month, each about 20 to 30 minutes, aimed at project managers, business professionals and recent graduates. Early topics include the value of showing up consistently, why good project management starts with listening, and building a career in Minnesota.
Legesse continues to live in Anoka, where he is active in the local community and maintains professional connections throughout the Twin Cities. More about his background and writing is available on Ahadu Legesse’s website.
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