The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Are You Investing in a Growth Experience or Entertainment for Your Team Members?
In Search of Professional Development Programs with Impact Long before I ever considered creating and delivering professional development experiences, I was an avid consumer of training for my teams and myself. I regularly exceeded my budgets for training, and...
Are You Investing in a Growth Experience or Entertainment for Your Team Members?
It turns out; it’s not easy to find programs and providers that deliver growth opportunities. There’s a lot of program offering great content and entertaining experiences, but not real growth opportunities. Here are five key questions to ask potential providers before investing:
December Leadership Development Carnival
There are few things that I let get in the way of a Monday Morning Leadership Caffeine post, but today’s Leadership Development Carnival, guest hosted by Mark Stelzner, author of the Inflexion Point blog and Principal at Inflexion Advisors, is one of them. Instead of your usual cup of motivation, you get the entire carafe today with many familiar and some new voices chiming in on all manner of fascinating leadership and business topics.
Learning to Project Confidence to Grow Your Career
Confidence is contagious. Arrogance will clear a room like rotting fish wrapped in newspaper and left to cure sans refrigeration. And lack of confidence is guaranteed to get you stepped on during most days. The perception by managers and executives of where you fall on the continuum of not self assure at all on one end to arrogant on the other is important. You of course, want to fall right in the sweet spot of appropriately confident. Here are 8 suggestions to help you develop and showcase your self-confidence.
Want a Dream Team? Give a Visionary a Voice
Who’s the Visionary on your team? Hint: chances are it’s not the leader. Contrary to popular myth, “being a visionary” is neither a prerequisite for leading, nor is it bestowed upon the chosen few as they ascend to their lofty perches above us. Many Visionaries labor in relative obscurity, often ignored or worse yet, mocked, because of their unique way of looking at the world and the issues in front of them.
Decisions, Decisions-How's Your Decision Making Agility?
Your decision-making style and pace directly impact your team’s performance. Wait for perfect clarity before putting your stamp on a key decision and you will have metaphorically held your team hostage. Jump too fast and make off-the-cuff calls and your errors and reversals will climb.
Promoted from Within-A True Career Conundrum
One of the most difficult transitions for any professional is moving from team member to formal team manager or leader. If you are on the receiving end of this positive acknowledgement of your capabilities, be prepared to deal with some unexpected headaches as you navigate these deceivingly treacherous waters.
My Personal Journey Towards Building Better Leaders
Note from Art: I’m taking time out from my usual blogging activities today to share with you a bit about the background and approach of my new program and website: Building Better Leaders. After conducting more discussions than I can count with professionals in product management, project management, marketing, new first-time leaders, those interested in leading, technical professionals thrust into leadership, I decided to create something that would solve the problems of: practical content, cost, access, sustainability and guidance. Enter Building Better Leaders.
As an Executive, Here’s How I'm Evaluating You Every Day
Someone once asked me when I evaluate people and my answer was a trite but true, “at every encounter.” For those of you early in your careers, forewarned is forearmed, and for those of you suffering from the malady of mid-level malaise, here are a few thoughts to help you snap out of it.
First, recognize that good executive managers are evaluating your performance constantly. They are watching and listening and learning about you when you give project updates. They’re paying attention to how you conduct yourself during group settings and how you manage through problem situations. Your success and growth depend upon your ability to grow and develop your leadership, communications and strategic thinking skills.
No-Regrets Career Development: You Own Your Career
In a perfect world, the firms and managers that we work for would recognize the importance of cultivating talent and they would focus their energies on working with us to develop and advance. In fact, some good leaders and managers do provide this support, but unfortunately, they tend to be in the minority.
Leadership Caffeine™: Five Simple Suggestions for Minimizing Management Myopia
Participate in or monitor enough management team conversations and you will invariably conclude that it’s darned hard for these teams to spend quality time discussing external issues. The gravitational pull of internal “stuff” is overwhelming and resists all attempts to move the conversation to topics outside of the firm’s four walls, preferring instead to keep managers focused on the nuances of their own operations. The result is a self-fulfilling management myopia where the view on the world is grossly limited to the immediate surroundings…and ranges as far as the eyes can see outside conference room windows.