The Leadership Caffeine Blog
The Grit Behind the Grime: How Summer Jobs Teach Lasting Life Skills
I started working in a factory when I was 13. Before you jump to conclusions about child labor violations, know that my work hours were carefully controlled. (I also cornered my neighborhood newspaper routes, so I worked before I went to work.) Pasting Labels on Empty...
The Grit Behind the Grime: How Summer Jobs Teach Lasting Life Skills
It turns out, those dirty, sweaty summer jobs we held earlier in our lives teach some foundational lessons. I love that I learned to grind with some tough, grimy tasks. And most of all, I love the lessons I learned about people and leading along the way.
7 Management Lessons from a Home Renovation Project
Anyone who has invested time in renovating an older home understands surprises and conundrums emerge every time a wall or ceiling is breached. There are parallels in the world of management where the twists and turns of the marketplace demand change. Great tradespeople and great managers find a way through wicked problems using creativity and critical thinking. Here are seven lessons I was reminded of during a recent renovation project.
The Secret to Leadership and Career Success is Hiding in Plain Sight
One of the key success factors for leaders and for all of us is hiding in plain sight ready for all of us to use. Here are six key ingredients essential for ensuring respect is present in every encounter.
Three Big Priorities When You’re Stepping Up to Managing Managers
Succeeding as a manager of managers is another career adventure steeped in ambiguity and shrouded in uncertainty. This article offers ideas to help you successfully navigate your new job as a manager of managers.
Career Reinvention Journal—Get Out of Your Head and Start Moving
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. Here are some ideas to help you start moving.
Success as a New Manager Starts with the Right Attitude
Much like most other things in life, the attitude you bring to the job of new manager is a significant contributor to your success or failure.
Communication Practices of High-Performance Management Teams
While there may be a variety of x-factors that contribute to the most successful teams (observation isn’t causation), how they communicate and ultimately collaborate is at least part of the equation for success.
Challenging Conversations—Dealing with a Micromanaging Boss
Not all micromanagers are created equal. Some are a lot more vexing than others. If you’re unfortunate enough to fall under their purview for a while, instead of letting the frustration get to you, it pays to develop coping and navigation skills. Here are some ideas to help you finesse a difficult situation:
Career Reinvention Journal—When It’s Time To Do Something Else
For some individuals navigating the mid-career blahs involves taking on added job responsibilities or even changing positions within their firms. Others seek out new experiences by shifting firms or possibly taking on like-kind roles in new industries.While there’s work involved in all of those cases, the degree of difficulty is relatively low for job changers compared to the challenges faced by those I reference as career reinventors. For this latter group, the process of determining what to do is the first big challenge.
Two Critical Conversations that Can’t Go Unspoken in Our Organizations
Not talking about the right issues at the right time closes off access to an unknown series of potentially game-changing outcomes. It’s like closing the door on your future as a firm and your career as a manager.