The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Seizing the Big Moments that Define Your Leadership Career
We work for decades, yet for most of us, there are a handful of moments in time that define the course of our careers. Unfortunately, these moments—opportunities or crises—don't come with a caption suggesting, "Hey, pay attention and embrace this mess because it's...
Seizing the Big Moments that Define Your Leadership Career
For individuals who choose to lead, it pays to see the signposts. Here are several significant moments in the career of everyone who leads that merit your complete engagement.
Would You Run 100 Miles to Help Families Fighting Cancer?
It’s the rare individual that can even contemplate a 100-mile footrace. I get tired and sore thinking about doing that on a bicycle. However, ultra-marathoner, Ted Friedman not only completed 100 miles in just over 24 hours last year, he’s back at it at the end of July in his “100 Miles for Life” fundraiser to support The Gathering Place, a support center offering much needed help for patients and families coping with cancer. Check out this great organization and this fascinating race in the post and in the podcast interview with Ted Friedman. Any support you can offer is appreciated!
New Leader Tuesday-Ideas for Dealing with Messy People Problems
One of the less than pleasant surprises many first-time supervisors or managers encounter as they navigate their new roles, is a sudden immersion in the personal problems of their team members. Here are 7 ideas to help you navigate these sticky situations:
The Hard Work of Getting Better at What You Do
One of the most important “tells” of a person’s professional character comes from their answer to a simple question: “What are you doing to get better at what you do?” How would you answer this question?
What Lincoln Might Have Advised Before Sending that Angry e-mail
More than a few people I know (present company included) have created a problem for themselves by prematurely hitting the “send” button on an e-mail written out of anger or frustration. Once sent, the damage is done and these instantaneous communications have a long shelf life in the memories of the recipients. Here are 6 ideas the Rail-Splitter himself might have approved of for the toughest of communication situations:
New Leader Tuesday-7 Ideas to Help You Survive Your Sink or Swim Leadership Lessons
There was a time when prevailing wisdom for teaching people to swim involved chucking them in the water and letting them flail and flounder. This Sink or Swim (S. o. S.) method of teaching is likely responsible for more than a few really bad moments for the unwitting victims and a lifetime of terror-inducing flashbacks for many. Oddly, we subject a good number of first time supervisors and managers to a similar rite of passage in what I describe as S. o. S. Leadership Development. If you are on the receiving end of this method of new leaders development, here are 7 suggestions to help make the swim a bit more bearable:
Myths and Realities of Senior Management Teams
There are few environments more hostile to forming something resembling a functional team, than a group of people comprised of senior managers. Whether you are a member of one of these groups or the CEO in charge, it’s healthy to recognize some of the facts and myths of senior management teams and adapt your behaviors and approaches accordingly.
Just One Thing-Strive to Be a Better Team Participant
There are shelves of books and countless blog posts out there on improving team performance. Last I checked, there isn’t much for us to consume on the topic of improving our performance as team and project participants. Here are 12 ideas on to improve your participation and potentially raise the performance of everyone around you.
7 Ideas to Enhance Your Career During Your Firm’s Strategic Planning Process
If you are tapped to participate in your firm’s strategic planning process, it’s important to approach this work as a career building opportunity, and not simply “more work” piled on top of your already overloaded schedule. Here are 7 Ideas to help you leverage this great opportunity:
Leadership Caffeine™ Podcast-J. Keith Murnighan on Do Nothing!
Kellogg Professor and author, J. Keith Murnighan, offers up some fascinating and occasionally counter-intuitive (and research backed) ideas in Do Nothing! How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader. This is a fun and eminently useful leadership read!