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 beatings will continue until morale improves.” Bad manager practices
Someone forgot to tell this senior manager that "The beatings will continue until morale improves" was a bad joke from the '70s. The bad habits of a miserable manager Imagine being on the every-Friday receiving end of this via your one-on-one session. Your boss...
“The beatings will continue until morale improves.” Bad manager practices
They’re still out there: lousy managers that lead by fear and intimidation. Imagine being on the receiving end of the practices shared here.
Few Do-Overs in Leadership, Instead, Do-Different
Unfortunately, do-overs in leadership are rare. Instead, work on rebuilding your leadership foundation mid-flight by using these three big ideas with your team.
Harnessing the Benefits of Physical Transformation for Career Reinvention
There’s a well-known mind-body connection when it comes to exercise. The hard work of career reinvention is helped considerably when you commit to a parallel activity of physical transformation
It’s Manager and Leader—Developing the Whole Professional
There’s no doubt leadership development is important. However, top leaders in successful organizations understand they owe much of their success to great managers who make their firms go and grow. They also understand the connectivity between leader and manager and they focus on developing the whole professional.
Escaping the Career Trap—Give Yourself Permission to Reinvent
For many mid-to-late career professionals, the lure of doing something different is strong. Unfortunately, the barriers in our minds are often stronger. A critical success factor is giving yourself permission to reinvent your career. Once you eliminate this hurdle, the process is navigable.
High Performance Accelerator Program from Art Petty
Filled with practical ideas and approaches to strengthen your performance as a manager, better support your team and drive results, High Performance Accelerator for Managers (live-online + mentoring) is a great next step for your professional development.
Three Lenses of Awareness to Help You Identify Emerging Leaders
Too often, the identification of emerging leaders in an organization is done haphazardly or not at all. The Three Lenses approach give you and your fellow managers a consistent framework for observing, coaching, and assessing emerging leaders on your team.
11 Principles of Positive Persuasion for Workplace Conversations
Any conversation at work where you are asking someone for something is a form of negotiation. Effective managers and leaders use the principles of positive persuasion to get what they need and strengthen relationships in the process.
Leadership Caffeine™—Lead Differently
In our development of leaders, we focus on imprinting them with the same (important) but limiting behaviors. In today’s world of change, it’s essential for us to break this mold and work harder at developing and supporting individuals who lead differently.
Fear, Self-Confidence, and Challenging Conversations
Real progress in the workplace occurs through challenging conversations. Unfortunately, fear and a lack of self-confidence often get in the way of us conducting these conversations. Here are 4 steps to help quell your fear and grow your self-confidence.










