The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Career Reinvention Journal—5 Reasons Why Self-Discovery is Critical for a Career Makeover
In my work helping individuals uncover and move to their "next" in their careers, there's one stage in the process that is both important and easy to rationalize away as unnecessary. This step—Self-Discovery—is the one where I encourage people to spend some structured...
Career Reinvention Journal—5 Reasons Why Self-Discovery is Critical for a Career Makeover
It turns out, the first place to start looking for “next” in your career is staring back at you in the mirror. Here are five reasons why the work of self-discovery is critical for a successful career pivot:
First-time leaders and the wonderful world of ambiguity
I had just finished reading a great article in the December 4, 2007 Wall Street Journal, entitled: Welcome the Millennials, when I sat down to check e-mail and was excited to see a note from a long-time associate (and great person) describing her latest career step. After a number of years as a superstar soloist […]
Extreme Career Development
Warning-Extreme Career Development is not for everyone! If you enjoy the consistency of your day job and the warmth of your familiar cubicle walls, then run, don’t walk away from this posting. On the other hand, if you are uncomfortable being comfortable and you have experienced the surge of adrenaline that comes from pushing yourself […]
Are your managers talking candidly with each other?
I’ve been out on the road for a few days, so the postings slowed down a bit. Back in the office part of this week and a lot of thoughts and ideas to offer on a variety of topics. Full disclosure for today’s posting on communications…I market and deliver workshops that address team communication issues. […]
In support of (the people that have to complete) performance appraisals
This is the time of year when it is popular in the business press to criticize performance appraisals and everything about the performance appraisal process. Consultants and critics roll out their long lists of everything that is wrong with sitting down once or twice a year and telling someone what’s wrong with them and what […]
Trust and Team Performance
Earlier in my career, I remember rankling at a comment from an outside adviser that suggested that our management team did not trust each other enough to deal with the tough issues. I disagreed. We were all motivated, experienced professionals, committed to doing what was right for the business. Surely we could hunt down and […]
Keeping it In Perspective
No thoughts on compelling business issues today, other than the reminder to everyone about the importance of keeping the activities of your life in proper perspective. Family, food and football have become the staples of the American Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that we are all on a similar journey of unknown […]
Management by Consensus-The Tyranny of Mediocrity
Developing an Effective Decision-Making Style is One of the Many Challenges of New LeadersMany managers and most early-career leaders struggle with their responsibility for decision-making. Some leaders are fearful of exposing themselves by making a bad decision and therefore, avoid this responsibility. Others feel empowered by their station and make frequent, unfounded and ill-advised decisions, […]
Leadership Development and Technical Professionals
My partner and I recently launched a research initiative into the challenges that technical professionals face when jumping on the leadership path. We are actively interviewing and surveying professionals in development, engineering, IT and consulting, and drawing upon the considerable experience of many of our long-term associates including-Joe Zurawski, Jerry Deville at Construx, Jack Kalander […]
The Best Leadership Books are Not Found in the Business Section
I’ll say it again. In my opinion, the best leadership books are not found in the business section of your library or local bookseller. This is a bold (or at least controversial) claim from someone who just spent 14 months co-writing and publishing a book on leadership that is carried in the business section. In […]