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
Feeling Invisible at Work? It’s Time for Action
Bottom Line Up Front If you've been passed over for promotion opportunities or you find yourself relegated to less-than-strategic initiatives in your organization, that creeping sense of irrelevance you are feeling might be real. As the late Andy Grove offered, "Only...
Feeling Invisible at Work? It’s Time for Action
If you’ve been passed over for promotion opportunities or you find yourself relegated to less-than-strategic initiatives in your organization, that creeping sense of irrelevance you are feeling might be real. As the late Andy Grove offered, “Only the paranoid survive.” Let’s channel this paranoia into some focused actions to regain your relevance.
Webinar: The Six Challenging Conversations You Must Master to Succeed
Simply stated, challenging conversations are where we mine the gold from our leadership and management efforts. It’s too bad we spend so much time delaying or dodging these discussions. When we do engage, often, we muddle our way through and leave money and performance on the table. Join me for my free webinar on the six challenging conversations at work you must learn to master to succeed.
Transform Your Effectiveness with a Leadership Journal
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective. In this article, I share six ideas on how to use a leadership journal to strengthen your performance through continuous daily improvement.
5 Important Lessons of Successful Career Reinventors
For most people, the idea of reinventing themselves in their careers remains a fantasy. However, for those who do move from fantasy and ideas to actions, the career reinvention process is filled with obstacles to be overcome. Here are 5 big lessons learned from some successful career reinventors:
4 Tactics to Help You Survive Working for a Dictator-Manager
Very few of us escape our careers without working for a dictator-manager at some point in time. If it’s your time, here are 4 tactics you can use to keep your values and your sanity intact:
First-Time Manager #17—Effective Managers Clear the Path
As a manager, you have an incredible number of opportunities every single day to help your team members move further faster. Here are 5 ideas to help you clear the path and promote progress on your team:
It’s Time to Learn to Love Challenging Conversations
I learned to love challenging conversations the hard way. I delayed and destroyed a number of these earlier in my career until I recognized these are truly the opportunities for managers to mine gold in the form of development, learning, problem-solving and innovation. Here are some key reasons why you need to learn to love challenging conversations:
Leadership Caffeine™—Leadership Grit
Leadership Grit is that grind-it-out sticktoitiveness in the face of adversity displayed by individuals long on character and short on “I can’t.” It’s also THE essential leadership characteristic I want to see in my developing leaders. Here are 12 examples I’m grateful to have observed and learned from:
For Professional Growth, Thin-Slice Behavior Change with the Help of a Swim Buddy
Too often, our approach to professional development and growth comes in the form of big, broad solutions and approaches. While these approaches sound appealing, they often don’t address the core behaviors essential for improving performance. Instead, learn to thin-slice your professional development for effective behavior change. It helps to recruit a Swim Buddy along the way.
Three Daily Resolutions of Effective Leaders
Instead of fretting over annual resolutions that tend to fizzle by February, focus on strengthening your effectiveness as a leader every single day. Here are 3 daily resolutions guaranteed to help!