The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Strengthening New Manager Development is a Key Priority
New managers are the front-end of our leadership pipelines. And, they face a daunting challenge in shifting from contributor/producer to manager. They need help, coaching, training, and on-going support, and that's often hard to come by in our time-stressed worlds....
Strengthening New Manager Development is a Key Priority
New managers are the front-end of our leadership pipelines. And, they face a daunting challenge in shifting from contributor/producer to manager. They need help, coaching, training, and on-going support, and that’s often hard to come by in our time-stressed worlds.
It Might Be Time for You to Start Acting Like The Leader You Want to Be
A blog post at on Looking and Acting Like a Success at Alan Weis’s Contrarian Consulting site triggered some thoughts on what it means to look and act like a leader. While Alan’s post emphasizes how a successful person might act to present a desired image, how does a leader portray himself or herself as competent? If this seems superficial to some, I would challenge that a leader is responsible for acting (and to an extent looking) the part.
Too Many Projects Chasing Too Few Resources in the Strategy-Starved Organization
Saying “No” to new projects and “No More” to projects in process are difficult for the best of firms and impossible for organizations without a clear strategy and the supporting processes. The participants in strategy-starved organizations have no context for decision-making and unless that context is created, are destined to founder and likely sink while the crew focuses on constantly rearranging the deck chairs.
Armed with the context of strategy, project portfolio management is still a difficult task requiring unceasing commitment from the executives and constant vigilance at the project management level. If you are currently running around with a deckchair in your hands, it’s time for you to look at the captain and officers and start asking the strategic questions.
Want to Improve Your Business? Fire the People Holding You Back.
Why is it that so many managers struggle with the issue of firing the employees that justifiably require firing? I’ve watched as brilliant business owners and otherwise accomplished leaders have agonized over this issue, unable to take the final step, while knowing all the while that it has to be done
Product Manager does not Mean Product Emperor (and other helpful suggestions for success as a Product Manager)
t’s long been my opinion that the Product Manager has one of the tougher jobs in an organization (see my post: In Support of the Product Manager as MVP). This position is one of those “all of the responsibility with none of the power” roles that grind up and spit out mere mortals with alarming frequency.
There are a number of common mistakes that I’ve observed both new and experienced Product Managers make, that if understood and avoided, might increase the survival and success rate of this endangered species. In no particular order, these common mistakes and hopefully, helpful hints, include:
Teammate Yesterday, Manager Today
ndoubtedly, one of the most difficult and awkward professional transitions is the jump from team member to team manager. The people that you’ve worked with side by side, joked with and shared lunch with are no longer your peers, they are your employees, and for good or bad, your relationship with them will never be the same. If you are truly interested in developing as a leader, this awkward situation is an outstanding rite of passage, complete with some hardcore lessons on what it takes for you to build credibility, motivate, direct, support and lead others.
When Projects Go Horribly Wrong: A Great Example
The folks that designed Denver International Airport’s infamous baggage handling system can breathe a bit easier now. While the much publicized start-up disasters at Denver have faded into the past, apparently the lessons learned did not transfer across the pond to the teams responsible for the new Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport.
How to Improve a Dysfunctional Meeting Culture Without Removing the Chairs
This is a follow-on to my recent rave against the time-wasting, dysfunctional debating society events that masquerade as meetings in many corporate settings. My drive to momentarily stay on my “effective-meeting” soapbox was galvanized yesterday, when I spoke with a good friend who had just started a new job. Her first day coincided with an operations meeting that she described as an all day rugby scrum where everyone got bloody, but no one scored.
Leader: Are Your Meetings Straight Out of A Dilbert Comic Strip?
My observation is that only a minority of leaders (managers, supervisors, executives, project managers) understand how to properly prepare a team for and run an effective, purposeful and productive meeting. Ironically, look at the Outlook calendars of most people operating inside corporate walls, and their schedules are filled with one meeting after another. With all of these unproductive meetings to attend, who has time to work?
Why Strategy is the Leader’s Most Potent Tool
Leading is more than just being the person in charge. It’s about selecting and developing talent, providing direction and motivation, creating the effective working environment and providing consistent and timely feedback on performance. The “direction and motivation” component comes directly from the leader’s understanding of the firm’s strategic environment (market forces, competitors, customers) as well as the direction and strategies (goals/actions) that have been selected by an organization’s management. Strategy is context that gives meaning and purpose to individual roles and group activities and goals.