The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Heartfelt Encouragement for the M.B.A. Graduates of 2023
Congratulations, You Made It! Now What? Wrapping up your M.B.A. is a milestone. If you're like most M.B.A. students who pursue their degrees part-time, this work has been a significant part of your life for several years. In my prior teaching in the M.B.A. program at...
Heartfelt Encouragement for the M.B.A. Graduates of 2023
Here’s some hard-won and heartfelt guidance for MBA graduates as I strive not to sound like every other commencement address out there. Use the ideas in great life and career health.
This Sunday Morning Our Thoughts are Elsewhere
As I sat down to write my first leadership post of the week, I found myself staring out the window at my dry, midwestern lawn, and for just a moment, I wished for rain. And then the ridiculousness of that wish clubbed me over the head, given what's happening in...
5 Big Challenges of First-Time Managers (Free Webinar and New Program)
Tackling the role of First-Time Manager is challenging. Everything is new and in too many cases, there’s no one to guide your way. That’s why I created my free webinar: How to Overcome the 5 Big Challenges First-Time Managers Face, and my new distance professional learning program: How to Succeed as a First-Time Manager.
When No One Speaks the Truth at Work, You Face a Choice
We’ve all been in meetings where the latest ridiculous idea from management is greeted with what I term, aerobic head nodding. In many cases, people are afraid to speak truth to power. As a leader, you own curing this problem in your environment. As an employee, you have to decide whether you are willing to sell your self-esteem or risk ticking off your manager. If the issue is important enough, it’s an easy choice.
Seize the Moment When Leadership Says: We Need to Change
We all know that change is the only constant, yet when faced with the need for our organizations to change, our first instinct is fight or flight. A better and career-enhancing approach is to jump in, ask questions, and importantly, volunteer to help. It’s the only way you can actively shape the change.
First-Time Manager #10—Your Number One Challenge at Start-Up
Getting started as a first-time manager is one of the more challenging tasks you will ever encounter in your professional life. It’s particularly difficult given that almost no one on your new team has any reason to want you as their manager. However, there are some approaches you can take with your new team to quickly begin building your leadership credibility. These include…
Leadership Caffeine™—Beware Creating Toxic, Under-Performing Cultures of Niceness
It’s possible for organizations to contract a potentially terminal case of under-performance while pursuing a culture that emphasizes not only collegial interchange, but a sense of what I can only describe as niceness. High performers and high performance cultures thrive on challenge and push, not coddling or sheltering from reality. As a leader, you set the tone.
Leadership is Common Sense in Action
Most of us understand the behaviors that define effective leadership. Sadly, like the behaviors that lead to physical health, we tend to do the opposite. It’s time to accept that effective leadership is common sense and cultivate a bit of discipline with our behaviors. Skip the doughnut and do the push-ups.
Leadership Caffeine™—Help Others Paint a Remarkable Picture
While we don’t stop on a daily basis to consider the long-term implications of our decisions, the best leaders understand their decisions create ripple effects in the lives and careers of others. You don’t know it at the time, but you are painting a picture…a mural trailing behind you in your decisions. If you are going to lead, make certain it’s a beautiful mural.
The Good, Hard Work of Developing Managers Who Lead
Enough with the false dichotomy between managers and leaders. Our priority must be to teach, coach, and inspire our managers to lead from day one. While those on the front-line live closer to the work of the organization, leadership behaviors are every bit as essential (maybe more so) for success as they are for those operating higher up the organization chart. Start developing your managers as leaders!