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.
Leadership Caffeine™—What I Learned on My Leadership Break
After more than a decade of managing and leading, I needed a break. I thought I would find satisfaction in being responsible for just one person: myself. I was wrong. It turns out, leading was a calling, but I needed a leadership break to reset and reframe. I’ve never looked back.
First-Time Manager #15—Leverage Values to Give Your Team a Voice
If you’ve ever worked for a manager who suppressed alternative views and different approaches, you know how oppressive the environment becomes in that situation. A much better approach is to build in the values that promote fierce debate and rapid resolution leading to execution. Of course, this is easier said than done. You as manager own the hard work of creating this environment. Start with the right values.
Career Reinvention—Overcoming Your View on You
For individuals considering a career makeover, it’s imperative to refresh the view on you. To introduce some objectivity into the process and navigate beyond your blindspots, consider asking for help. This article shares a number of ideas to help you better tune-in to others’ perception of your true skills and abilities.
Leadership Power-Up #3—Reframe How You Define Success
There’s a difference between trying not to fail versus striving for success. Here are 4 Leadership Power-Ups to help you spread success across your team or organization.
Leading at the Intersection of Logic and Emotion
As much as we might like to believe people support plans based in good analysis and logic, reality says they act on emotions and in what they perceive is self-interest. This is why effective leaders understand the need to appeal to hearts first and then the minds will follow. This approach helps leaders safely navigate the perilous intersection of of logic and emotion.
Leadership Power-Up #2—Prepare Your Attitude Daily
I have a leadership workshop participant to thank for my all-time favorite technique for preparing for a successful day.
Leadership Caffeine™—Natural Time
We struggle to force the pace of leadership development in our organizations. Instead, we need to adopt a pace that operates on a person’s natural time.
Giving Thanks for Those Who Serve
Veteran’s Day 2017. Giving thanks to those who serve today and those who have served and sacrificed to protect our freedom.
Leadership Power-Up #1—Pay it Forward
A Leadership Power-Up is a positive action you take to strengthen your energy, enthusiasm, and resolve for the hard work of guiding and developing others while driving results. This new series share simple, powerful approaches for powering up your performance as a manager and leader.