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
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.
Leadership Caffeine™—How Effective Leaders Use Reframing to Tackle Challenges
For individuals involved in the world of design and design thinking, reframing vexing problems is a standard part of the process. For the rest of us, a bit of design thinking focused on reframing is invaluable in our daily labors. Here are some ideas to help you jump-start your reframing activities in pursuit of better solutions in the workplace:
How to Regain Control When The Job Hits Overload
Almost every professional navigates periods of extreme busyness. However, when the workload turns into perpetual overload, motivation flies out the window and productivity and quality (not to mention enjoyment) disappear. In this article, we look at the primary causes of workplace overload and offer some ideas for you to regain control.
Leadership Caffeine™—Learn to Love Uncertainty
We spend a great deal of time in our organizations striving to reduce risk and uncertainty. For some tasks that’s possible, but for the big issues of strategies and market forces, it’s impossible to bend behaviors and responses to fit our scripts. Effective leaders understand they must build teams that recognize uncertainty as opportunity and live to excel in those moments.
I Want Your First-Time Managers (To Succeed)!
The work of developing new managers and setting them up to emerge as our future leaders is mission critical. I’ve devoted much of my career to this good work and am excited to launch First-Time Managers Academy—a new approach for this important cause.
Character Counts When Selecting New Managers
When evaluating individuals for advancement into management roles, I prioritize character over knowledge, skills, and abilities. The latter are developed with coaching and training, however, by the time they get to you, it’s too late to teach character.
When Developing New Managers It’s Foundation First
In construction, a strong foundation is fundamental to creating a solid, resilient structure. The same applies when it comes to developing new managers. In this article, I share guidance and a framework to help with the development of strong, resilient new managers on your team.
9 Tips to Succeed at Start-Up as a First-Time Manager
The transition to manager from individual contributor is one of the more difficult in all of organizational life. Here are 9 tips to help smooth out this transition a bit and get you started heading in the right direction with your team and boss.
For Aspiring Managers—Why You Will Love Managing
We write and talk about the challenges, trials, and pitfalls of those getting started in management. What we don’t do enough of is offer some perspective on the potential for the role of manager to evolve into a rewarding career. Here’s my attempt to balance the scales a bit with at least six ideas why you will love managing. While it’s not all unicorns and rainbows, there are some truly rewarding aspects to this role.
A Workplace Communication Fable with Three Great Lessons
Challenging workplace conversations and even confrontations are inevitable. The key is to be at your best when many might be at their worst. Learn to tie these three together—own your message, manage yourself in the moment, and practice positive persuasion—and you have a bright communication future in front of you.