The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Let’s Rethink Summer School—A Program for Motivated Managers
Summer School Gets a Bad Rap OK, first, let’s take on the summer school label. As a kid growing up in Chicago, I remember thinking that people who had to go to summer school clearly did something bad during the school year. After all, summer was about riding my...
Let’s Rethink Summer School—A Program for Motivated Managers
The Summer School for Managers program offers a low-stress opportunity to sharpen your skills, network with some great people, and do it from wherever your travels take you.
The Promise Behind First-Time Manager Academy
I created our online/on-demand program, First-Time Manager Academy, to fill a gaping hole in the market for practical, actionable new manager development, and, to fulfill a career-long promise to myself.
Leadership Caffeine™— Rocket Fuel for New Manager Success
Once you’ve reached the level of managing managers on your team, your professional development focus shifts considerably. It’s up to you to provide the environment, context, and motivation that serves as rocket fuel for your new managers.
Free Mini-Course Helps New Managers Start Successfully
The transition from individual contributor to new manager is awkward and filled with unexpected challenges. Our free mini-course, Overcoming and Succeeding with the Top 5 Challenges of New Managers, is filled with practical advice to help smooth a few of the bumps out of the journey.
You Know Your Leadership is Working When You Can Let Go
As leaders, we often fall victim to the belief that our teams need us to survive and thrive. In reality, if we’ve done our jobs right in selecting, developing, and placing people in the right positions, and worked hard to create a healthy environment, what they need is less of us.
Leadership Caffeine™—Fear the Conversations You’re Not Having
The conversations I genuinely worry about are the ones that aren’t taking place. As a leader, just thinking about what’s not getting talked about should scare the daylights out of you.
Career Reinvention Journal—There’s a Process, But It’s Messy
The decision to embark on a career reinvention process is non-trivial. If you do, prepare yourself for a process that includes ample learning and regular iteration between the stages. Much like running a marathon, your commitment to sustaining the process determines your outcome.
A Beginner’s Mind Helps Solve the New Manager Conundrum
My online dictionary defines conundrum as a confusing or difficult problem. The dictionary editors might as well use the act of moving from individual contributor to new manager as the leading example.
For the Big Decisions, You’ve Got to Wrestle Ambiguity
The struggle over the big decisions is the inherent ambiguity. The unknowns are overwhelming. Fear of getting it wrong floods our minds and our brains struggle for traction in the muck. Nonetheless, these are the times when you have to stand up and cut through the fog of ambiguity.
For Success, Cultivate a Communication Style that Shows You Care
From feedback and coaching discussions to interchanges with coworkers who can say, “Yes” or “No” to your requests for resources, process changes, budgetary allocations or fresh ideas, there’s no end to the critical communication situations we encounter at work. I find that just a few common-sense, authentic communication tactics improve your success and strengthen your credibility as well.