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
Back-to-School Time is Back to Professional Development Time
I love this time of year. The heat and humidity here in the Midwest give way to cooler, crisp air and some fabulous fall days. And, of course, it's back-to-school time. My wife went back today. The latest course I'm teaching at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay...
Back-to-School Time is Back to Professional Development Time
I love this time of year. The heat and humidity here in the Midwest give way to cooler, crisp air and some fabulous fall days. And, of course, it’s back-to-school time. It’s also time for the fall sessions of my two flagship professional development programs, the Senior Manager Program and the New(er) Manager Program.
Six Areas Managers Must Focus On to Level-Up
While we spend most of our time commiserating over bad managers and thinking and writing about seemingly super-human leaders, it’s most often the quiet, hard-working managers operating below the top-levels who make our organizations go and grow.
Leadership Caffeine™—Show Them You’re Not a Machine
It turns out that successful, effective leadership is much more than a focus on results. Here are some valuable leadership lessons learned the hard way.
How to Keep Communication Quality High When Things Head in the Wrong Direction at Work
It’s not-surprisingly easy to engage with coworkers and project team member when things are going great. The real question is how do you keep communication quality high when the train rolls off the tracks and the you-know-what hits the fan?
Leadership Caffeine™—How Did I Affect You?
Great leaders understand a key indicator of their effectiveness is found in the answer to the question: How did I affect you?
Free Mini-Course: How to Deal with 5 Difficult Characters
We all know these challenging characters. They’re present in every workplace. The question is, how do you deal with them and get your job done? In my free mini-course, I share 5 videos with ideas and approaches you can put to work immediately with your versions of these challenging characters.
Solving for Unproductive Workplace Conversations
How many conversations at work have you participated in or observed that went nowhere? Chances are, you can think of more than a few. The best workplace communicators understand these situations offer ripe opportunities to level-up discussion quality and improve outcomes. Here are ideas to help you do the same in your workplace:
Where Leaders Misfire on Culture and Strategy
There’s a loud ring of truth to the old saw: “Culture eats strategy for lunch.” However, sometimes, the culture needs to evolve, or everyone is at risk of ending up hungry at lunchtime.
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.