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
Nine rules turnaround leaders can live by that don’t involve ‘fixing the culture’
Leaders charged with righting foundering organizations often claim “the culture is broken.” However, just as you cannot fix people, experience tells me that focusing on fixing a culture is a fool’s errand. Decision-making processes, communications, structure,...
Nine rules turnaround leaders can live by that don’t involve ‘fixing the culture’
Leaders charged with righting foundering organizations often claim “the culture is broken.” However, just as you cannot fix people, experience tells me that focusing on fixing a culture is a fool’s errand. Instead, focus on these nine issues:
Give Yourself Permission to Explore a Career Change
Whether you classify making a career shift as a fun fantasy or it just feels overwhelming, there’s a strong gravitational pull that keeps too many people in place, miserable in jobs and roles they’ve long since lost interest in or outgrown. However, this doesn’t have to be your fate.
4 Ideas to Help Improve First Time Manager Selection and Success
If you are either considering the move from contributor to a manager or you are responsible for developing new managers on your team, here are four actions you can take to improve your odds of success.
Our Early 2021 Professional and Career Development Programs
We create programs to help people achieve things they never thought possible in their careers. From first-time managers to senior executives, career reinventors, people navigating challenging conversations, or individuals working to level up, we strive to bring this purpose to life in everything we do.
Ten Lessons from the Feedback Boot Camps
Here are ten lessons that emerged from the great dialog in my two recent Feedback Boot Camp workshops.
Just Announced! What You Need to Know Day One as a First Time Manager
If you are thinking of making the move to managing (or, if you have a team member considering this move), What You Need to Know Before Day One as a New Manager is a must-attend!
Have You Grown Comfortable Being Miserable In Your Career? Maybe It’s Time for a Makeover
The biggest challenge faced by many individuals who desperately believe they need to do something different with their careers is moving from recognition to action. It’s easy and cathartic to daydream about doing something different with your skills and interests. Yet, bringing these daydreams to life is another matter. Here are ideas to help:
Leadership Caffeine™—A Haunting Tale of Critical Conversations Left Unspoken
Here’s what happens when my long-standing fear of the “conversations never spoken” in the workplace collides with a fresh viewing of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. With my sincere apologies to Charles Dickens, enjoy this fun piece with a point. –Art
Sampling the Many Flavors of Career Reinvention
If you’re feeling restless in your career and wondering what else is out there for you, it may be time to start exploring options. One of the first items we tackle in our Career Reinvent™ Boot Camps involves defining what “reinvent” means to the participants. It turns out there are a wide variety of flavors for this term, and it’s possible to be interested in multiple flavors at the same time—a kind of reinvent ice-cream sundae!
What I Learned from Your Team Members that Might Help You Manage More Effectively
While I support your team members’ development through workshop programs and one-on-one coaching, my primary job is listening. Without violating our sacred commitment to confidentiality, here are some of the big themes I heard this year that might just help you manage more effectively.