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
Donuts and Other Insights on Teaming from the Latest Leadership Caffeine Jam Session
Our March Leadership Caffeine Jam Session (recording here) was all about finding the magic with teams. As usual, the chat stream commentary from our attendees was fabulous. I’m sharing some insights from this 50-minute session. (Note: If you’ve not heard of or...
Donuts and Other Insights on Teaming from the Latest Leadership Caffeine Jam Session
Our March Leadership Caffeine Jam Session was all about finding the magic with teams. As usual, the chat stream commentary from our attendees was fabulous. I’m sharing some insights from this 50-minute session.
It’s Summer on My Calendar-Friday Shorts are Back!
I don’t care that my calendar marks a day later in June as the official start of Summer. Memorial Day has passed, the temperature and humidity in Chicago are rising and tennis with my sons is a regular evening activity. Oh, and the list of outside chores is now long enough to choke the proverbial horse. (Note: no horses were choked in the writing of this post.) Given the shift in seasons, I’m excited to bring back my Shorts feature here every Friday from June until the end of August. I’ll offer up suggested business beach reads, a resource of the week and I’ll point you to some Leadership Tips that you might have missed. Enjoy!
10 Things You Must Know About Feedback
Mastering the art and science of feedback is the closest thing you will find to a silver bullet when it comes to leading others.
If the Boss Asks You the Time, Don’t Tell Her How to Build a Watch
Just about everyone knows someone that never got the memo on how to get to the point in conversations. I warmly reference these people in my mind as Watchmakers. Instead of giving you the time of day when you ask for it, they tell you in painful detail how to build the watch. While command of detail is impressive, the need to share it with everyone that you come in contact with can be debilitating to your career.
Have You Been Observed Recently?
Professional sports teams and great athletes have long understood the power of watching game film to learn about themselves as well as the strategies and tendencies of their opponents. Aside from professional speakers, few of us in business benefit from either viewing ourselves in action on film, and sadly too few of us benefit from good feedback and mentoring from our managers and colleagues.
The Nine Credibility Builders of Effective Leaders
When it comes to leadership, your intentions count. Blind ambition might help you climb the ladder as an individual contributor, but it won’t help you galvanize groups of people to move mountains, conquer markets and develop a culture that sustains excellence. You need to work hard every day to grow your personal and professional credibility.
Leadership Caffeine™-The Leader as Explorer
Something funny happens as we age and gain experience. Many of us expect the world to continue conforming to our view of things, which of course, it rarely does. For those that stubbornly stick to the perspective that I’m right and everyone else is wrong, the world quickly spins away and they become leadership and management relics from a bygone era. For those that have the courage to recognize that they are the ones that need to change and keep pace, everyday is a true adventure.
Boost Your Effectiveness at Work by Creating Time to Think
As challenging as it sounds, it’s important for you to find 10-minutes in your workday to block out or step away from phones and e-mail and all of the other activities that keep your brain completely occupied, and just think.
A Fresh Start, a Format Change and a New Daily Feature
Something funny happened on the way to producing and writing two blogs. I discovered that I am only capable of managing one competently. Oh, and I’m certain there are at least a few management lessons here in my blogging misfire.
In Memoriam
To those that served and to those that served and sacrificed, we honor and thank you.