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
Feeling Stuck? Revisit Drucker’s “Managing Oneself” and ask and answer these questions
Every year, I read Peter Drucker's classic article, "Managing Oneself" (HBR, subscription required or via other collections) as part of my personal-professional career navigation process. His powerful questions and frank commentary help me reorient and reset my career...
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.
Leadership Caffeine™—It’s Time to Deliberately Strengthen Your Internal Network
What are you doing weekly to develop, renew, and repair key workplace relationships deliberately? If you don’t have a solid answer for this question plus calendar time dedicated to the work, it needs to be elevated to your priority list. It’s time to make strengthening your workplace network a top priority. In this article, I share why and how, along with a few finer points for consideration.
Leadership Caffeine Podcast—Professor Thomas J. DeLong
The best leadership book I’ve encountered in years isn’t ostensibly about leading. The book is Teaching by Heart: One Professor’s Journey to Inspire, by Thomas J. DeLong at Harvard. You’ll love getting to know Tom and his passion for teaching, and you won’t be able to help drawing some fabulous leadership lessons from him along the way.
Leadership Caffeine™—The Four C’s of Effective Leadership
The best product managers, project managers, general managers, supervisors, sales managers, and every other leader I can think of who created success over a long period all exhibited the Four C’s of: competence, credibility, connection, and caring.
Leadership and Management Book Talk #7: Talking About Clayton Christensen
The world of business lost a giant thinker recently, who by all accounts was a fabulous person. I’m referencing Harvard’s Clayton Christensen, perhaps best known for his thinking and books focused on The Innovator’s Dilemma.
Wally Bock and I connected on the latest episode of our podcast to talk about Christensen and his books.
Leadership Caffeine™—We Are All Emerging Leaders
Here’s a little secret. When I use the phrase “emerging leader,” I’m talking about all of us. You’re never done learning to lead. Some of us are a bit more experienced, and others are more effective than others, yet even at retirement, the job of learning to lead is incomplete.
Seven Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Coaching Experience
The opportunity to work with a coach in support of your development can be a game-changer for you in your career. Or not. The outcome, in large part, is up to you. Here are seven tips to help you get the most out of your coaching arrangement:
Leadership and Management Book Talk #6: Words Matter—Great Books for Developing as a Communicator
Words matter! We all know this, yet for many, there’s room to strengthen how we present and project ourselves in our daily exchanges with colleagues, team members, and bosses. In this episode of the Leadership and Management Book Talk Podcast, Wally Bock and I share our favorite resources for strengthening communication skills.
Leadership Caffeine™—Beware When Relationships Cloud the Mission
It’s great to have a positive working relationship with your team members, but as soon as it endangers your ability to succeed with the mission, it’s time to rein things in and operate within the guardrails.
Reframing Your Relationship with Influence, Power, and Office Politics
It turns out, ignoring or avoiding the political environment in your workplace is naïve and career limiting. Instead, you need to rethink and reframe your relationship with office politics and focus on building clean-power. Here are seven ideas to help: