The Leadership Caffeine Blog
The Mind-Deadening Gravitational Pull of a Leadership Singularity
When top leadership generates a gravitational singularity, everyone suffers There’s a force at work in too many organizations imposed by senior leaders that gives the appearance of action but reflects cognitive and productive paralysis. In these cultures, leadership...
The Mind-Deadening Gravitational Pull of a Leadership Singularity
There’s a force at work in too many organizations imposed by senior leaders that gives the appearance of action but reflects cognitive and productive paralysis. In these cultures, leadership becomes a kind of gravitational singularity, sucking the life, creativity, and productivity out of the culture.
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:
Feeling Stuck? Revisit Drucker’s “Managing Oneself” and ask and answer these questions
Peter Drucker’s classic article, “Managing Oneself” is something I read annually. The gold in this article is in his five powerful questions we all need to ask and answer to create alignment between ourselves and our work and lives. I share these and offer six additional questions worth considering.
Leaders, Skip the Annual Resolutions—Use this Hack to Lead More Effectively Daily
For leadership success, skip the annual resolutions and focus on this 5-10 minute daily routine. It’s a powerful way to frame your days with success.
Three of My Favorite Business Reads in 2024
Here are three of my favorite business reads from 2024. Whether you are investing in you or sharing with colleagues, you cannot go wrong with one or all of these three books.
Guidance for New(er) Managers—Skip the Do-as-I-Would Approach
One of the new(er) managers’ most significant mistakes is thinking and acting as if their role is mostly about showing they are super contributors. Skip the Do-as-I-Would style of managing and adopt these key behaviors:
Seven tips to help you succeed when presenting to executives
The invitation to present to your organization’s senior executives is a pivotal career moment. Crush it, and you will make a name for yourself and appear on the radar screen as someone worth watching. Here are seven tips to help:
Enough on Giving Feedback—The Real Success Comes from Learning to Receive It
Feedback is a complicated topic. We lament that our managers are either not good at giving it or don’t give it frequently enough. When we get feedback that challenges us to adjust our behaviors to improve our performance, we grow frustrated, angry, or both. Here are three big tips on strengthening as a receiver of feedback:
Making the Career Move to Manager (or not)
At some point in our careers, many of us dance with the decision to manage or remain on a contributor track. There are some great reasons why this might not be a good for you. Yet, at the right time and in the right culture, don’t rule it out. Here are six big reasons why the career move to manager might be perfect for you.
The Management System Creates the Customer Experience—Observations in Excellence and Otherwise
For the management of business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations, the retail or service location is, of course, the ultimate proving ground. The experience for the consumer—good or bad, reflects the organization’s management systems from values, commitment to hiring, leadership development, and operations effectiveness. Here are some examples—good or bad—of the management system in action.