The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Fixing the Fatal Flaw in New Manager Development
There's a great deal we don't get right in our organization when developing our first-time managers. We under-appreciate the complexity of the transition from contributor to manager. In many environments, "sink or swim" is still the predominant development approach...
Fixing the Fatal Flaw in New Manager Development
There’s a great deal we don’t get right in our organization when developing our first-time managers. Peel the layers of the onion and ultimately, you find a fatal flaw in the nature of the promoting manager to new manager relationship. Here are some ideas to fix that flaw:
Coping Strategies for the Project Manager Facing an Executive Mandate on Schedule
A management team well attuned to rapidly emerging market forces might recognize an opportunity that can be leveraged for significant gain and competitive advantage if the organization acts quickly. It is management’s prerogative and responsibility to identify and motivate the organization to act and seize these opportunities, even at the expense of order and business as usual.
Training for the Swimming Leg of the Leadership Triathlon
Feedback is the leadership triathlon equivalent of the swimming leg. Everyone knows that it is the difference maker in overall performance, but because it’s hard, uncomfortable and easy to flounder with, many choose to de-emphasize or even ignore it.
Read Any Good Cultures Lately? Honing an Essential Career Skill.
Every organization has a distinct culture defined by its history, norms, values, and behaviors, and every team in an organization develops its own subculture. Learning to read a culture and adapt your style to fit (or at least complement it) is essential to success regardless of your level or role. It’s also something that can be honed as a skill through increased awareness and consistent application of a few basic approaches.
Management by Jane: Leading Effectively from the Middle
“Jane” is a senior leader exerting broad influence on an organization, while sitting smack in the middle of the organization chart. She’s a testament to the power of maintaining the right attitude on all fronts, and she clearly has learned several of the most valuable lessons of leadership: select great people, deal with them openly and honestly, provide opportunities and challenges and let them do what they do best.
Is It True That No One Likes The Project Manager?
The role of Project Manager is difficult. This is an informal leadership position—one of those with most of the responsibility and little of the authority. If a person is worried about being liked, this is a lousy choice of profession.
More Thoughtful Career Advice to Ignore on Your Path to Becoming a Sales Leader
From the same organization that brought you this enlightened sales manager and his timeless advice on how to prosper:
“The only way that you will succeed on my team is if you are married to the job,” and “The reason that I am not in any family vacation pictures is because I’m on the phone. If I’m in the picture, you can be sure I have a blackberry stuck to my ear,” is back with:
“The problem with you is that you care too much about people.”
I love this organization. There are very few other places where a simple phone call offers me a priceless quote on really bad ideas from lousy leaders.
From Strategy-Starved to Strategy-Fueled: It’s All About Communication
It’s critical for leaders to recognize that organizations that broadly understand their strategy and employees that specifically understand how their activities and decisions impact strategy execution are going to defeat less-enlightened competitors. Strategy is not an abstract concept reserved for the deep-thought thinking sessions of senior leaders. Strategy is a powerful leadership tool to engage the hearts and minds of associates and to fuel performance.
It’s Time to Recognize the Project Manager as a Leader
The most challenging leadership positions are the informal roles where an individual leads based on his or her credibility and capability without the backing of a formal reporting structure. These positions are often characterized by a high-level or responsibility for results with little direct authority over the people doing the work. The role of Project Manager matches this description perfectly, with organizations increasingly looking to the individuals charged with project or program management to play key roles in executing on strategic priorities.
Unfortunately, in many organizations, the role of Project Manager is inappropriately disconnected from the strategy process and is often viewed and treated by executives as a mid-level or administrative role. This is wrong. Senior executives would be wise to tap into the unique skills, insights and capabilities of the best Project Managers as they look to build out their leadership teams and to propel their organizations faster.
How do Ideas Turn Into Actions in Your Firm? Hint: Check Your Leadership Culture
As a leader, you should be critically concerned about where ideas come from and how they go from insights to actions. This process of value creation is fundamental to a firm’s growth and at its core it is a very organic process.