Leader: Are Your Meetings Straight Out of A Dilbert Comic Strip?

April 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Consider the last team meeting that you attended or led: 

-Was the agenda well organized?
-Did problems and polite (or not so polite) bickering dominate the airtime? 
-Did people show up with an agenda of their own? 
-Were the same topics that were debated in the last meeting still being debated in this meeting?
-Was much time spent on discussing ideas to create value for the firm and stakeholders? Was there substantive progress or even agreement on problems and priorities?
-How good was the action plan that came from that meeting?
-Was it clear who owned what follow-up and in what time frame? 
-Did people leave feeling like their questions were answered and their priority clear? 
-Were meeting notes promptly distributed?

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Management by Jane: Leading Effectively from the Middle

April 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment

One of the most inspiring leaders I’ve come across in awhile is a mid-level manager that refuses to read the memo that says you cannot make a difference unless you have a big title and corresponding office.

I ran across "Jane" recently in a workshop, and after listening to some of her answers to questions and examples, I made it a point to talk with her during a break.  I was fascinated to find such a thoughtful, practical and committed leader and asked if I could pass along my observations in my blog.  She seemed surprised that anyone would find her leadership style interesting, but was agreeable to me sharing her approaches as long as I kept her name confidential.  Here are the highlights:

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From Strategy-Starved to Strategy-Fueled: It’s All About Communication

April 2, 2008 By 1 Comment

"It’s a dirty little secret: Most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope, and advantage of their business in a simple statement. If they can’t, neither can anyone else," indicate David J. Colliss and Michael G. Rukstad in the opening of their article, "Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?" in the April, 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review.

In an MBA class on Project Management that I am currently teaching, this topic came up in the context of the role that project managers play in strategy execution.  This class of working professionals agreed that strategy execution is conducted largely via projects, yet it is uncommon for individuals in project management roles to be plugged into the strategic management process.  As such, there is little context for many of the critical decisions that arise in the form of executing major projects.  In my informal poll of the class participants, there was additional consensus that most organizations do a less than stellar job communicating strategy to the broader employee population.

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