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
Bad Day as a Leader? Smile and Keep Marching
Bottom Line Up Front: Not every day in your life as a leader is a party complete with cake and ice cream. When you encounter one of those days where everything seems to be working against you, it's time to force a smile and keep marching. By the way, your team will...
Bad Day as a Leader? Smile and Keep Marching
Not every day in your life as a leader is a party complete with cake and ice cream. When you encounter one of those days where everything seems to be working against you, it’s time to force a smile and keep marching.
First-Time Manager #12—This is Hard Work
The fundamentals of leading and managing aren’t incredibly difficult to understand. Applying them daily is darned hard work.
New to Managing? Gain an Edge on Success with this Program
Last chance! I’m wrapping up the 2017 incarnation of my, Succeeding as a First-Time Manager online series! There’s still time to register!
For Leaders, Results Count, But It’s How You Get There That Matters
Your efforts and teams have to produce or, you won’t be in a leadership role. IHowever, we all face a choice on style and approach. I managed to evolve from a results-focused heat-seeking-missile to a coach and sponsor whose teams consistently exceeded my and the firm’s lofty expectations.
First-Time Manager #11—Now, About Those Results…
Moving from individual contributor to manager is a challenging career step. One of the more vexing issues first-time managers encounter is learning to drive results through others. Here are at least 7 ideas you can use immediately to promote great results with your group:
Has Your Organization Fallen Victim to the Zombie Apocalypse?
In too many organizations, the absence of a galvanizing vision, meaningful, livable values, and a planning process that engages employees from top to bottom result in a form of zombie apocalypse. Instead of purpose, focus, and continuous improvement, people wander aimlessly searching for professional sustenance. If the leaders at the top won’t fix this, you need to spark the revolution from the middle.
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.