Note from Art: every Friday, I share three thought-provoking management posts for the week. Fair warning: I take a broad view of management, so my selections will range from leadership to innovation to finance and personal development and beyond.

This week’s selections feature content on dealing with difficult people, learning and avoiding the pitfalls of inexperienced management teams, and recognizing the need as leaders to appeal to the hearts of the people on our teams.

From Jennifer V. Miller at The People Equation, “Dealing with People Who Suck.”

Jennifer always leave me thinking, and her post this week fits in wonderfully with my own “dealing with difficult people” theme here at Management Excellence this week. You will quickly recognize the subject of this post…and perhaps you have one of these “Human Hoovers” sitting near you at work. What’s the right response to these individuals who missed out on the day when “reciprocity” was taught in grade-school? Read the post to find out!

From the post: “But there’s a shadow side too. There are those few people for whom reciprocity seems a foreign concept. They’re like the Human Hoovers of the workplace—sucking up all they can manage to get in the name of self-interest. Vacuums are a very effective appliance to use at home, but a real pain to have to deal with as a co-worker.”

From Steve Tobak at The Corner Office, “Top 10 Pitfalls of Inexperienced Management Teams.”

As I mentioned in an earlier Week in Review piece, Steve is on my “must read every post” list. In this one, he describes his view on some of the most common missteps of inexperienced management teams when it comes to scaling their businesses. He appropriately caps off the post with an indication that experienced managers might just have their own set of unique and equally dangerous pitfalls. Experienced or inexperienced, the “Top 10” are real and important to avoid.

From the post: “Now, I wouldn’t begrudge anyone the unique growth experience of learning from his own mistakes, especially the wisdom and humility that only failure can impart on the executive ego. That said, savvy managers listen to the voice of experience. They may choose to ignore the advice, but they still listen. Information is power, forewarned is forearmed, and all that.”

From Jeffrey Pfeffer, writing at HBR Blogs: “Is Obama Gaining Power with Every Speech? (Are you?)

I interviewed Jeffrey last summer at the time of release of his latest book, Power-Why Some People Have it and Others Don’t, and have been a fan ever since. The topic is relevant for all of us not only for our success, but even our health, as Pfeffer highlights in his book.  His take in this latest post on our need as leaders to move others by appealing to their hearts is an important one. While the focus is on the President’s latest speeches, he provides some interesting parallels t0 other successful business leaders.

From the post: “Business speech is surely not, on average, more stirring than political speech. It consists mostly of the language of rationality presented in forms that go on too long and benumb rather than inspire employees. But the business leaders who stand out show the power of breaking that mold.”

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OK, that’s it for the week. Enjoy your weekend! I’ll be back Monday with a fresh cup of Leadership Caffeine.

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About Art Petty: Art coaches high potential professionals and develops and delivers  workshops and programs on leadership, professional development and building high performance teams. Contact Art to discuss your needs for a program or keynote.

And whether you are an experienced leader seeking to revitalize and develop as a professional, or, a new leader looking for guidance on starting up successfully, check out Art’s book with Rich Petro, Practical Lessons in Leadership at Amazon.com.