Wake-Up Calls for Managers
For the hard parts no one prepares you for
When the path isn’t clear, the stakes are high, and the answers aren’t obvious—this is where managers struggle most.
Wake-Up Calls for Managers delivers practical, real-world guidance for navigating:
- Tough conversations
- Leading through uncertainty
- Building influence without authority
- Driving results through others
The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Thinking of Managing? Six reasons why you might love this role
I run a variation of this post the day before every New(er) Manager Development cohort kick-off. (January 2025's group includes 12 emerging leaders who will be with me for 5 months in this blended cohort/coaching program. We're enrolling for our Spring/Summer session...
Thinking of Managing? Six reasons why you might love this role
I run a variation of this post the day before every New(er) Manager Development cohort kick-off. Here are six reasons why you might love the role of manager.
Leadership Caffeine™—Focus on What Matters
Your real battle as a leader is the one for your focus. It’s a battle too many lose. It’s imperative you figure out what matters and then focus. Learn to feed the mission, not the machine.
Feedback is Funny—Just Not in a “Ha Ha” Kind of Way
OK, the topic of feedback isn’t stand-up comedy funny. It’s funny as in odd because there are so many contradictions surrounding it. Here are five practices to help managers bring feedback to life as the performance-enhancing tool it is capable of being:
Leadership Caffeine™—Expect to Struggle When These Two Ingredients are Missing
Transparency is measurable. Accountability is binary. If transparency is low and accountability is turned off, expect to struggle.
Career Reinvention Journal—A Proprietary Algorithm for Career Makeover Success
Many people think about doing something different with their time and skills. Most daydream about it in moments of stress, and it stops there. However, there’s a way to get beyond the barriers and the overwhelming idea that you have to solve this issue for the rest of your life. Here’s my proprietary algorithm for getting career reinvention right:
Leadership Caffeine™—Harnessing the Power of Purpose in Your Work
If we’re not involved in moon-shots or mars-shots but rather working for seemingly pedestrian causes or offerings, how do we manufacture that sense of purpose? It’s easy, fall in deep love with the people we’re ultimately helping with our work.
The Six Core Programs of Your Personal Manager Operating System
From the challenges of dealing with people and personalities to the never-ending, ever-growing lists of things to do, often with conflicting priorities, managing is a tough job. Yet, when I explore the stress points with struggling managers and ask some questions, I often discover they are attempting to execute their role without the benefit of what I describe as a Manager Operating System. Here are six critical components of every manager’s effective operating system:
Leadership Caffeine™—A One Line Job Description for Managers
If you manage, lead, or are otherwise responsible for the work of others, the working environment is everything. Creating a healthy working environment is literally your only job. Get this right and the results take care of themselves.
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.
How To Get More Done at Work Through Positive Persuasion
If you’re motivated to maximize your impact in the workplace, you’re dependent upon others to support your efforts. When it comes to workplace negotiations, the principles of positive persuasion are priceless!