Wake-Up Calls for Managers
For the hard parts no one prepares you for
When the path isn’t clear, the stakes are high, and the answers aren’t obvious—this is where managers struggle most.
Wake-Up Calls for Managers delivers practical, real-world guidance for navigating:
- Tough conversations
- Leading through uncertainty
- Building influence without authority
- Driving results through others
The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Manager, not interested in climbing the ladder but still want to thrive? Develop in these six areas.
To those with managerial experience who strive to do more, the climb does not always matter. It's more about finding a way to scale your impact to thrive in your career. I work with many seasoned managers who are hungry to do more, learn more, and challenge themselves...
Manager, not interested in climbing the ladder but still want to thrive? Develop in these six areas.
If you truly want to thrive and scale your impact without chasing the climb, you’ll invest in yourself and do the heavy lifting essential for growth.
How an Operating System Transforms New Manager Development
One of the vexing career challenges any individual encounters is the shift from contributor to manager. There’s little about succeeding as a contributor that translates to guiding, coaching, and supporting others for success. We need an operating system to guide both promoting and new managers across the treacherous chasm of starting-up. This is where the Managers Operating System fits perfectly.
5 Things You Can Do as a Manager of New(er) Managers to Help Them Take-Off Successfully
In the world of unnatural career acts, shifting from contributor to manager is at the top of the difficulty list. Here are five things you can do as a manager of new(er) managers to help them take off successfully.
Breaking Out of a Personal Creativity Slump—Restarting Your Idea Machine
Like many of you, ideas are my stock in trade. Whether writing the next article, designing a new workshop or course, providing strategy advisory services for a client, or supporting my coaching clients, I have to operate with a well-oiled idea machine. When the idea machine grinds to a halt, I’m in trouble and need to find a fun, engaging, practical approach to restarting it. Here are 14 hacks I use to restart mine:
Enough with the Leader Versus Manager Debate—It’s Time for a New Model
It’s the perfect time in our world to vanquish the long-perpetuated and unproductive myth that leaders are somehow meaningfully different from managers.
Are You in Trouble if the Boss Offers a Coach?
In some organizations, “being assigned a coach” has a negative connotation. That’s too bad. If you are on the receiving end of an offer from your boss to take on a coach, strive to understand the rationale and then embrace the opportunity for the learning and growth experience it offers you.
It’s Time to Take a Stand Against Leadership Indecency
Leadership Indecency is an admittedly awkward, uncommon phrase. I like it. It’s the perfect phrase to describe the many amoral examples and practices of leadership we encounter in our organizations and institutions.
It’s Time to Get Rid of S.M.A.R.T. Goals. Here’s Why & How
Goals are critically important in our personal and professional growth. They push us to learn, grow, and strive. We change our lives by aspiring for big goals. We motivate ourselves and our team members with properly developed, challenging goals. And we change the vector and fate of organizations through the proper use of goals. The operative phrase is “the proper use of goals.”
Where Too Many Managers Hit the Wall on Their Level-Up Journeys
Developing as a manager is a perpetual exercise in leveling up. Just when you think you’ve developed some competence at the role and are asked to take on more responsibilities, WHAM, you hit the wall of new, ambiguous challenges. Here are the six big level up challenges I see for rising managers:
My Summer 2023 Professional Reading List
Here are my top choices for my personal Summer 2023 Professional Reading list.