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
Five BIG Strategy Process Misfires of Management Teams—How to Avoid Them
Few management team activities are more important than those focused on strategy. Few management team activities are more frustrating than those focused on strategy. Let’s explore the challenges most management teams encounter and share guidance on improving the...
Five BIG Strategy Process Misfires of Management Teams—How to Avoid Them
Few management team activities are more important than those focused on strategy. Few management team activities are more frustrating than those focused on strategy. Here are five big areas management teams struggle with strategy and ideas to help your team get them right.
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.
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.