In the next few weeks, two of my projects focused on manager and leader development are coming to life in very different formats.
The Book: Wake-Up Calls for Managers
For the past several months, I’ve been working to complete and publish a collection of articles to help leaders at all levels navigate today’s world and achieve impact and great outcomes. Wake-Up Calls for Managers — Insights to Sharpen Focus and Elevate Results goes live on Amazon.com (paperback first) on July 11, with the Kindle version following shortly thereafter.
Wake-Up Calls is intended to fill the gap for practical, actionable content on the hardest parts of the job (that no one prepares us for). Not intended as a front-to-back read, the Wake-Up Calls content and action items are structured as quick-read articles and recommended actions for the challenge at hand.
Drawn from my over 2,000 articles and my thousands of hours of executive and manager coaching, every article (40 total) in Wake-Up Calls for Managers is designed to help you navigate complexity, make better decisions, and lead with greater clarity and confidence in our world of constant change. Each article is filled with recommendations, case studies, and encouragement to think differently about the challenges confronting you as a manager. (And, I’ve carefully curated the content to ensure relevance in a world where AI is now an essential tool in our organizations.)
The six section headers give you a feel for the content:
- Creating Results
- Communicating for Success
- Thinking Creatively and Strategically
- Building Your Influence
- Leading Change
- Managing Yourself
Additionally, look for Wake-Up Calls to supplant my Leadership Caffeine brand as I release a series of short videos, related content, and webinar series and e-courses.
The Blog Serial: The Manager’s Journey
I’ve completed six drafts of one of my most aggressive and opinion-generating works of my career as a management writer with The Manager’s Journey — From Contributor to Manager (a guide for starting strong and scaling successfully in our fast-changing world). And I’m publishing it, one chapter or scene at a time, on my blog.
Unlike a traditional (read: boring) book that attempts to teach people how to manage, I’ve wrapped this one in a fictional global firm, complete with characters, dilemmas, and a lot of exploration and experimentation with ideas as the characters step up to the challenges of managing. The flow and scenarios are drawn from a long career leading, managing, and coaching leaders and managers. It is true-to-life!
The Manager’s Journey is built around and teaches my workplace-tested Manager’s Operating System framework via the experiences and tribulations of a group of first-time managers, each with very different levels of professional experience and unique backgrounds. This is intended to be a fun, easy-to-read, engaging work that also teaches. Think Goldratt’s The Goal or Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Great, Slightly Conflicting Feedback and My Decision for The Manager’s Journey
My beta readers were split on their reactions to the manuscript. All loved the content. Some wanted to give it to clients immediately. A couple suggested I needed a little less nice and a bit more drama or controversy with my characters. (Agreed!) And one suggested I keep my day job. (Hey, this is my day job!) This last opinion has taken up a lot of space in my mind, with the refrain: “Great content, lousy novel.” That one caused me to pause for six months.
I’m done pausing. This is unique in format and very different in the publication format I’m using. The Manager’s Journey will be published one chapter or one scene at a time on my blog, complete with discussion questions and recommended actions. (Sidebar: I’ve always loved consuming serials for stories and am interested to see how this works with the blog and Manager’s Journey content.) I intend for this to be interesting, fun, and actionable for you. And yes, the characters and storyline will incorporate a bit more drama and controversy, while remaining true to my intent for the work. I want this to be a great teaching tool for managers.
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OK, that’s a lot. Stay tuned for more on all fronts. Ideas and questions welcomed! [email protected]
