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:
Great Leadership Must Be More About What Happens Before the Crisis
In the sweep of recent history, there’s a familiar theme: almost no one and no nation is ever prepared for a crisis. If you read history, it’s clear we celebrate crisis leaders for their resilience and creativity in helping people survive and sustain. However, I wonder just a bit why we don’t do a better job creating leaders who prepare for and even prevent crises in the first place.
Leadership and Management Book Talk #10: Books on Crisis Leadership
Wally Bock and I share our recommended resources on leading in crisis situations. We had to stretch to find business books that we love on this topic, however, the selections from history are plentiful. Enjoy and use the ideas in great leadership health!
Leadership Caffeine™—Hard-Decisions, Soft-Touch
From small business owners to global corporate leaders—for anyone who cares about their employees, customers, and business partners, this is a time of sleepless nights and soul-crushing tough decisions. Yes, this is a time of hard decisions. It’s also a time for the softest of touches.
Rethinking Your Management Approach and Your Team’s Operating Routine in Real-Time
In talking with top executives, it’s no surprise that one of the biggest challenges they are facing is transferring their well-established operating routines into an online/virtual format. Many managers are learning their well-honed cadence and schedule of activities to review, plan, and communicate no longer works in a virtual world.
Leadership and Management Book Talk #9: Books on Thinking
Art Petty and Wally Bock take on the topic of “books about thinking” in this episode of the Leadership and Management Book Talk podcast.
Rethinking Managing and Leading in Real-Time
For those leading and managing, it’s time to change. The life-safety of our colleagues is of paramount importance in every sector. The economic safety of our employees is right there with the financial security of our customers. And, the road ahead isn’t clearly marked. We’ll have to navigate together.
Reset, Learn, Connect (virtually), Help
We like routines, and those have been put on hold—some likely forever. A new normal will emerge, and much of it won’t feel like the old normal. That’s disorienting and can leave many of us swirling. Here are six ideas to help you reset and stop the swirl:
Leadership Caffeine™ for Leading in a Crisis
You don’t have all the answers. No one does in a crisis. However, your behaviors go a long way to gaining the collective support of your team members in pursuit of one answer and solution at a time.
Leadership and Management Book Talk #8: Robert Iger and The Ride of a Lifetime
Reading Robert Iger’s The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company was truly a joy. Wally Bock concurred, and we go on in this fun Leadership and Management Book Talk podcast episode to share the many reasons why we both love this book!