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
Introduction to The Manager’s Journey
The Parallels Between The Hero's Journey and The Manager's Journey Are Strong Joseph W. Campbell's description of The Hero's Journey has 17 distinct stages, starting with The Call to Adventure, navigating The Road of Trials, and ending with the Freedom to Live. Of...
Introduction to The Manager’s Journey
Joseph W. Campbell’s description of The Hero’s Journey has 17 distinct stages, starting with The Call to Adventure, navigating The Road of Trials, and ending with the Freedom to Live. Of course, the action occurs between those stages, with untold challenges, exhilarating highs, and soul-crushing lows. Campbell might have been writing the story of The Manager’s Journey.
Focus on First Time Managers #2—Avoid These 9 Mistakes
I can predict with near certainty the likely mistakes you will make as a first-time manager. While no one learns to manage or lead without making mistakes, these nine potentially dangerous missteps are easy to avoid with a bit of advance warning. Consider this your advance warning.
Leadership Caffeine™—Extraordinary or Mundane? Your Choice
There’s no shortage of those in leadership roles who might reasonably be described as mundane. They focus on performance, but fail to inspire the pursuit of potential. That’s too bad, because there’s nothing secret or particularly difficult about pursuing extraordinary as a leader. Small changes in behaviors have the potential to yield big outcomes.
Focus on First-Time Managers #1: Getting Started
Starting out successfully as a new manager is challenging. However, there’s one thing you can do to improve your odds of success from the first moment of your new role. Invest time to…
Leadership Caffeine™—What’s It Like to Be You?
Learning to appreciate and value differences on your team takes effort on your part. An open-door policy isn’t enough. You need to stretch. A good question to keep in mind is: “What’s it like to be you?”
Learning to See Ambiguity as Opportunity (video)
We’re taught from an early age in school what we need to do to earn the “A.” Unfortunately, the real world isn’t that structured, predictable, or kind. Learning to tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty in business is essential for survival. Learning to leverage these characteristics is essential for success.
Leadership and Shifting Baseline Syndrome
The idea of shifting baseline syndrome is most often referenced in ecological terms. I see it in action in the workplace and in our personal lives almost every day. Perhaps it’s time to shift the baseline, but in the right direction.
Leadership Caffeine™—Less than 3 Gigaseconds
Time is the true source of wealth in our world. The average life expectancy is less than 3 gigaseconds. How are you using your time to impact those you encounter?
Revisiting What It Takes to Become You at Your Best
Letting go of the past is frightening but almost always necessary for growth. However, one part of our past is worthy of retaining and reigniting: the dreams of our youth. Somewhere in those dreams were clues to our true purpose and the potential for us to be at our best. Instead of letting go, reel the thin line that still connects you to that dream and explore how you can bring it to life. Letting go in other areas is an important part of this process.
New Program Helps Drive Big Outcomes with Small Changes
Large scale organizational transformations often create more problems than they solve. That’s why my new Level-Up program focuses on identifying discrete behaviors that what adopted and reinforced, offer the potential to drive big results.