The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Lead Like Lives Depend Upon It—Six Leadership Lessons from Pfizer’s Moon-Shot
I've been a part of an organization that pursued a moon-shot. For myself and the many people involved, it was some of our careers' most challenging and best work. Like a championship from long ago, when the situation pops into my mind, I smile. It was good work with...
Lead Like Lives Depend Upon It—Six Leadership Lessons from Pfizer’s Moon-Shot
What if we led as if lives and livelihoods depended on the outcome? There are some great lessons from the vaccine moon-shot described by Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla in the latest issue of Harvard Business Review. It’s time to put these lessons to work in all of our organizations.
Mid-Career Professional-It's Time to Push Out of Your Technology Comfort Zone
It’s easy to step out of sync with the modern world and find yourself lost in a sea of terms, tools and technologies that are foreign and even intimidating. I’m working with more and more mid-life individuals interested in reinventing themselves in new careers, and...
Leadership Caffeine™-Improving Your Leadership Effectiveness on the Fly
It probably comes as no surprise that the primary excuse that many leaders cite for not focusing on important priorities like coaching, feedback and development is, “ lack of time.”
I’ve heard this “excuse” over and over again in workshops and mentoring sessions. And while there’s little argument over the importance of engaging in these and other positive leadership behaviors, many individuals shrug their shoulders, admit guilt, express frustration over their inability to carve out time and cite administrative, transactional and span of control issues as impediments. What’s a harried, over-worked, time-stressed leader to do?
Leading the Driven Individual
A great deal of popular leadership writing (mine included) focuses on the common issues and challenges with “typical employees.” Now before you grab a pitchfork and light the torches and start marching on this blog for my use of the term “typical,” don’t misconstrue my meaning. Yes, I know that no one is “typical” and that we all have strengths and weaknesses and that it is grossly unfair to provide such a crass label to the masses of good quality employees laboring away and earning “strongly exceeds” on our grade-inflated performance evaluations. (I can hear the pitchforks clanking again on that last shot!) Nonetheless, it was the best label I could come up with on short notice and only a few sips into my first cup of coffee, to differentiate from the subject of today’s post: The Driven Individual (DI).
What the Boss Hears When You’re Talking and Why It Might Hinder Your Career
I’m not quite certain if this post is a violation of the “Boss Code,” much like that masked man on television who blatantly betrays the Magician’s Code (and ruins our fun in the process) by showing us how magic tricks work. Nonetheless, here goes. Every time you open your mouth around the boss, she learns something about you that may determine your fate, or at least your fate while you are working for her.
Thoughts on Leading and Managing in the Era of Disposable Workers
Note from Art: this topic has me deep in thought. While the issue is generally a negative one, I do wonder whether it contains the seeds of significant management and leadership revolution. I would love your thoughts here. –In case you missed it, the article, “The Disposable Worker” in the January 7, 2010 issue of BusinessWeek offers a sobering look at the increasing trend for employers “to create just-in-time labor forces that can be turned on and off like a spigot.” And guess what folks, this trend is not just for those near the bottom rungs of the ladder, this current fashion extends all the way up into the CEO Suite.
To Lead or Not to Lead? 7 Key Questions for Managers and Aspiring Leaders
At some point in your career, either as an individual looking at your career path, or as a manager supporting the development of his/her team members, you will be faced with a decision on whether a leadership role is a good next step. As an individual responsible for your own career or as a manager responsible for the development of individuals on your team, why take the chance with such lousy odds, when you easily improve your success ratio by asking and answering seven simple questions?
Leadership Caffeine™: Learn to Manage Your Team’s Rhythm-6 Ideas for Improving
All teams and groups have a rhythm and natural energy for their tasks that ebb and flow based on a variety of factors, including personal, environmental and seasonal to name a few. As a leader, you should be aware of these cycles that are characterized by either intense creativity, outstanding productivity or on the other extreme, by a slow, plodding march through the days and weeks as if everyone’s feet were encased in clay. It’s your job to help smooth out the highs just a bit and minimize the time spent in the lows.
Fear, Self Confidence, Development, Renewal and Branding: Content from Art in Other Publications
As I continue expanding my writing and publishing activities in my growing multi-media and multi-medium world with multiple blogs and an e-newsletter as well as frequent writing for other publications, I feel duty bound to highlight some of the content that you won’t catch in this blog alone. Here’s the update on what idea and action stimulating content you might have missed on my Building Better Leaders blog or in the first edition of The Management Excellence Newsletter. Enjoy!
The Leader's Journey from Fear to Self Confidence
In spite of the popular myth of the fearless leader, it is my belief that a large number of leaders at all levels struggle with fear. Some work through their fears on the way to developing self-confidence and others battle it daily and resort to various coping strategies, including over-compensating with extreme aggression or extreme timidity. Learning to positively and productively cope with fear is an important part of developing as a leader.