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
Heartfelt Encouragement for the M.B.A. Graduates of 2023
Congratulations, You Made It! Now What? Wrapping up your M.B.A. is a milestone. If you're like most M.B.A. students who pursue their degrees part-time, this work has been a significant part of your life for several years. In my prior teaching in the M.B.A. program at...
Heartfelt Encouragement for the M.B.A. Graduates of 2023
Here’s some hard-won and heartfelt guidance for MBA graduates as I strive not to sound like every other commencement address out there. Use the ideas in great life and career health.
It’s Your Career: 5 Ideas to Move from Miserable to Motivated at Work
Being miserable in a job is not the normal state of existence. If this is your prevailing mood in the workplace, something is obviously wrong and needs your attention and action. Here are 5 ideas to help you move from miserable to motivated:
Art of Managing-Hedging Your Bets Might Be Harmful to Your Firm’s Health
The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do, yet as Lafley, Martin and Riel describe, the notion of giving up options or closing off familiar paths is uncomfortable for us. It’s our drive to eliminate this discomfort by keeping our options open and flexible that might just be limiting our success or even setting the stage for failure. Here are 3 powerful thought-starters to help you and your team tackle the strategic issue of finding new growth:
New Leader Tuesday: 10 Tips to Help You Succeed at Your First Executive Briefing
At some point it will happen. You’ll be invited to your first executive meeting to provide an update on your team’s initiatives and it’s important for you to be prepared to seize this golden reputation building opportunity. Here are 10 tips to help you prepare for and succeed in this setting:
Art of Managing: Tackle the Big Issues by Creating Time to Think Deeply
Sometimes, you just have to call a time-out. While our tendency is to respond to the gravitational pull of our devices and the unceasing demands of the urgent and urgent-unimportant in our work lives, some issues simply require deep thought. Here are 6 ideas to support your effort to find deep-thinking time on the big issues for you and your team:
New Leader Tuesday-Job One is to Strengthen Others
It’s not easy to move from a self-focused professional to someone who suddenly is measured by the success and growth of his or her team members.Here are 6 ideas to support your efforts on this long, arduous and rewarding journey:
Leadership Caffeine™-Coping with Critics in the Workplace
It takes courage of conviction and a strong dose of self-confidence to absorb the flak from the naysayers. Here are 7 ideas to help you better cope with your workplace critics:
It’s Your Career-7 Key Do’s and Don’ts for the Newly Minted MBA
It’s graduation season again in the U.S. and for most newly minted MBA graduates, it’s time for a reality check. Here are some hard-won words of wisdom on how to navigate the steps immediately following your graduation.
How to Defuse Difficult Workplace Discussions
Almost all of us get this wrong in the professional environment at some time or another. Myself included. We find ourselves in a tense situation with someone or some group who is attempting to assert a direction or insert themselves into the area we perceive as our domain, and we react by aggressively defending our position and by challenging or attacking their position. Here are five ideas to help you defuse and improve these difficult discussions:
Leadership Caffeine™: 5 Ideas to Bring Strategy to Life on Your Team
Regardless of your level in the organization, you have a responsibility to find ways to create a direct link between your team’s priorities and your firm’s ability to make money, create and satisfy customers and beat competitors. Here are five ideas to help you span this gap: