Art’s Updates and Coming Attractions
Filed under: Career, Current Affairs, Leadership Skills, Management Education, Professional Growth
Note from Art: this is a Saturday update on new programs, blog features and some of my latest offerings. Thanks for letting me share!
This has been a productive period for my development of new programs and information offerings. While we all write and talk about the impact of great people on our organizations, it is truly palpable when you are on the receiving end of that help. Thanks to two outstanding young professionals, Eric and Amber, that are busy helping and holding me accountable to getting my work done, we’re adding new programs, tuning up prior offerings and extending our line-up of information products.
Just a few highlights:
The Management Excellence Book Series:
On Tuesday, I will launch the Management Excellence Book Series, where I will regularly connect with leading, new and experienced authors and share their insights and perspectives. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Bob Sutton as the lead-off interview, where we focus on his forthcoming book, Good Boss, Bad Boss. Next up, I’ll share some insights from Jim Murphy on his book, Inner Excellence, and the September and October schedules are building with:
- The authors of Strategic Speed
- Gary Harpst on his book, Execution Revolution
- Scott Eblin on his upcoming new release
The format will emphasize sharing and gaining insights from the authors. I’m less interested in reviewing the book, and instead, I’m focused on gaining and sharing insights that can help all of us. While I suspect that my audio interviewing skills need a lot of development, I plan on having fun with this exciting new program. I hope that you’ll join us.
And yes, if you’re an author that would like to get involved, drop me a note.
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The August Management Excellence e-Newsletter
This is the 3rd issue of this new offering, featuring subscriber-only content. The August issue offers up a bevy of suggested management resources, including:
- A feature article on honing your leadership skills to cope with a very new and different emerging business world
- A nod to the late management thinker, C.K. Prahalad in my article, “Overcoming the Dominant Logic of Teams and Executives.”
- Comments on must read books and links to some great blogging resources
- Access to the archived issues of the e-Newsletter
- And a few promotional opportunities from me. (Remember, we’re all in business!)
To sign up for the Management Excellence e-Newsletter, you can subscribe at either the Management Excellence or Building Better Leaders sites (right column, e-newsletter subscribe field).
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Updates and New Building Better Leaders Programs:
I love the feedback that I’m receiving on my on-line leadership and management offerings, and our growing team is both tuning up existing programs based on client feedback, and adding new items. These programs are ideal for individuals or groups and depending upon your selection, they include mentoring and non-mentoring options.
In the spirit of Back to School, there are some new pricing options, and look for the early September release of the program, “How to Deliver Feedback.”
“How to Deliver Feedback,” will include 5 on-line lessons (and one bonus lesson on positive feedback), plus developmental assignments that you and your team members can complete on your own time and at your own pace. This self-guided (un-mentored) tutorial on how to improve at this critical leadership power-tool will be available for early enrollees for just $55. Contact me to pre-enroll or discuss group options.
Look for additional program announcements during September.
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Thanks for letting me share and thanks for your input into my programs and involvement here on the site. Back Monday with the latest Leadership Caffeine post!
Leadership Caffeine: Quit Managing Reduced Expectations
Filed under: Career, Crisis Leadership, Current Affairs, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Leading Change, Life and Business, Making Decisions, Management Education, Management Innovation, Organizational Transformation, Professional Growth
Note from Art: Sometimes we all need a kick in the seat of the pants.
A great friend and talented product manager once offered in a moment of frustration that he viewed his principal job as one of “managing reduced expectations.”
This brilliant, but depressing turn of words reflected bigger business problems, including a logjam in development that effectively precluded us from doing anything to enhance the competitiveness of our products in a timeframe shorter than something that you might find on a geologic time-scale. .
The “managing reduced expectations” theme seems to be prevalent in our society right now, and it is a dangerous mind-set. Spiraling debt, a never-ending string of mortgage defaults, long-lingering unemployment, embattled and embittered government, corruption, a seeming shift of the balance of economic and productive power away from North America, and a potentially unsolvable morass in Afghanistan are all contributors to this collective mood referenced in the media and heard on the street daily. Throw in a good old-fashioned ecological disaster and some remarkable leadership letdowns at BP (unconscionable) and HP (Huh? We all thought that this guy was brilliant!) and the process of managing reduced expectations is now epidemic.
It’s remarkably easy to let the broader environmental factors and forces dictate our personal emotions and before we know it, an attitude of blind resignation sets in and dominates our thinking and our actions.
Just a few phrases that I’ve heard recently:
“We see a huge opportunity for our new product, but corporate is telling us that we can’t invest in the brainpower that we need to take advantage of the opportunity.”
“Times are tough and we’re not going to pursue this project this year.”
“We’re not running leadership training anymore. We killed that in this year’s budget planning.”
What the Hell Are You Thinking?
Sorry for the strong title on this section, but again, “What the hell?”
You’re telling me that you are going to take it lying down while your future is decided by someone wielding the expense-cutting sword to hit arbitrary targets?
You’re not pursuing a project that will define your future and perhaps change the course of your firm, because no one is working hard enough to cull the portfolio or find the money.
And you gave up developing your people because why?
The Bottom-Line for Now:
In the imitable words of the character, Red Foreman, on The 70’s Show: “Dumb Asses.”
It’s time to quit managing reduced expectations. There’s a big, troubled world out there filled with emerging markets and emerging consumers hungry for basics and then eventually luxuries. Of course, to seize opportunities here and abroad, you’ve got to jettison old ways, take risks that might have seemed incomprehensible yesterday, and work unceasingly on surrounding yourself with people that can-do and don’t take no for dumb-ass reasons.
Redouble your efforts to invest in key future projects. Sacrifice sacred cows in company-wide barbecues to fund critical new investments. Streamline decision-making processes. Jettison your 1970’s era management structure and approach. Fight hard to hire the right talent and for crying out loud, redouble your efforts to develop the talent that you need to survive, sustain and grow.
Long ago, Deming called for a Transformation in management practices and thinking. It hasn’t happened yet. Now would be a good time.
As a starter, why not try reinventing yourself instead of taking it and letting the era roll you over. The change starts with you on your team. Start managing towards high-expectations and find every way possible to reinforce this behavior, reward successes and build enthusiasm.
The alternative is that your career and your firm will be locked in irons. Let’s not create a “lost era” here in America. It’s completely unacceptable.
The July Management Excellence Newsletter & Free Books
Filed under: Career, Current Affairs, Innovation, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leading Change, Management Education, Performance, Professional Growth
The July issue of The Management Excellence e-Newsletter is out, with subscriber-only content.
The current issue includes content on:
- Improving Ideation & Creativity with Your Team
- Surviving and Thriving at the Dreaded Annual Strategy Off-Site
- Ideas for Jump-Starting Your Personal/Professional Development Program
- New Suggestions for the Management Excellence Reading List
- A tasteful promotion at the bottom of the newsletter outlining new beta test opportunities for upcoming Building Better Leaders programs and other services. (Hey, I am in business here!)
If you’re not a subscriber, please consider signing on and gaining access to content and opportunities not covered on my blogs. As always, I will guard your e-mail information with amazing ferocity!
As an incentive, I will send a free, signed copy of Practical Lessons in Leadership to the 1st, 10th and 25th new subscribers (and every 25th after that, until 500) after this post publishes today. This offer is good for 24 hours…and you must have a U.S. mailing address to participate.
You can subscribe at Management Excellence (http://artpetty.com) or Building Better Leaders (http://buildingbetterleaders.com) on the far right column under E-Newsletter Mailing List. And of course, new subscribers will receive a copy of the newsletter and very soon, access to all newsletter archives as well!
I look forward to sharing ideas for development and performance with you in our e-newsletter format!
Happy Reading!
-Art
Summer Shorts for June 25, 2010 from Management Excellence
Filed under: Career, Crisis Leadership, Current Affairs, Leadership, Management Education, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
With a father and sons weekend in the offing, I’ll keep the shorts short (bad combination of words!) and offer you encouragement to get out and enjoy the all too fast-moving weekends of summer. Here in the Midwest, we feel good about cracking 2-digits on the number of weekends that make up our available summer, so, there is no time to waste.
Some quick-thoughts and fast links:
-The Rolling Stone and a Presidential Leadership Dilemma
It seems as if I may be the only person in America that thought that General McChrystal should not have been fired for some ill-advised name calling. I had the good fortune to poll Veterans old and new as well as anyone else that would opine. The Veterans in particular were unanimous in support of the decision. While some agonized over the loss of a good man and the destruction of a career, all that I spoke with agreed the line had been crossed.
As an aside, I never tire of listening to those that have served. They offer inspiration and education in every conversation.
Leadership Tip of the Day and The “I Want to Lead” Series of posts at Building Better Leaders
When Rich and I wrote Practical Lessons in Leadership, one of my early chapters included a segment on “The 7 Questions for Ambitious, Aspiring Leaders.” This was intended to prompt some appropriate investigation on the part of aspiring leaders and offer experienced managers a tool to leverage when responding to the “Hey, I think I’m ready to lead,” pronouncements of their team members.
I am running a blog series featuring each question and some supporting suggestions as part of my Leadership Tip of the Day program at Building Better Leaders. This week, I wrote on the first two questions:
#2 “Do you understand the true role of a leader?”
Along with:
And
“7 Signs Your Leadership Approach is Working“
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Enjoy your weekends! I’ll be back Monday with a fresh cup of Iced Leadership Caffeine!
Hyper-Reality, Slimy Weasels and the Biting Words of a General
Filed under: Crisis Leadership, Current Affairs, Leadership, Making Decisions, Professional Growth, Social Commentary, Talent Management
Note from Art: this is not a political blog and there is no intent to communicate political leanings in this post. We are witnessing an unfortunate and fascinating leadership situation that involves poor judgment, bruised egos and potentially huge implications in the theater of conflict. Both lives and the difference between success and failure may be impacted by the outcome.
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I rarely follow a post with a related post, but the current stir created by General McChrystal, the senior military leader in Afghanistan, with his poor word choices and poor judgment in communicating with a reporter, begs a follow-on to Monday’s Leadership Caffeine post, The Word Selection of Journeyman Leaders.
General McChrystal clearly was not familiar with the Hyper-Reality approach to communicating preached and practiced by Ray Dalio, president of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund.
In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled, “Money Talks: A Hedge Fund King Philosophizes on Truth and Weasels,” we learn a bit about the 295 principles that make up Mr. Dalio’s philosophy of “hyper-realism.” Specifically, we learn about Principal No. 11, which addresses the fact that, “Employees are not allowed to talk critically about someone unless the person is present.” It goes on to say:
“Principal No. 11: “Never say anything about a person that you wouldn’t say to him directly. If you do, you are a slimy weasel.”
As reported in the journal, if the employee breaks the rule three times, they can be fired.
Generaly McChrystal, for your transgression, you are a slimy weasel. Two more times and you are out. Now, please get back to doing what you have shown over a career that you can do so well and help us resolve this mess.
Mr. Obama, this is neither your McClellan or your MacArthur moment. (Although the historical repetition of the “Mc/Mac” is uncanny.) This is your opportunity to deal with a subordinate that slipped. Say what you have to say face-to-face and show us that you as the leader can take a shot to the ego and then let your General get back to work.
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Follow-Up from Art. Obviously, Mr. Obama did not agree. Again, a fascinating case in leadership.
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