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
5 roadblocks that keep too many from making a career shift—and how to defeat them
Feeling frustrated with your career situation? You're not alone. This was a tough year for many career changers and job seekers. Record job layoffs in technology and other sectors and a tilt back to employer control in the hiring process defined much of the year. For...
5 roadblocks that keep too many from making a career shift—and how to defeat them
For many who toy with the notion of a new career direction, there are roadblocks and gremlins that often keep them from moving forward. Here are five statements I’ve encountered in the past few weeks and my thoughts for moving beyond each. (Hint: you’ll hear a theme in my guidance.)
Leadership Caffeine—Start Coloring Outside the Lines
From our earliest days in school, we are taught to “color inside the lines.” In a world where everything is changing, this advice might just contribute to the demise of your firm or career. It’s time to push beyond the boundaries of those lines that constrain so much creativity.
Today’s Interactions are Tomorrow’s Backstories
We all have a backstory. Somewhere, at some point in time, a comment, a gesture or an action by a person in a leadership role prompted an action that would ripple through our lives. How are your behaviors helping those around you create their own backstories?
Surviving and Thriving with Your Executive Sponsor (podcast)
In this podcast, I share ideas to help the project manager frame, form and manage an effective working relationship with the executive sponsor.
Leadership Lessons from the Classroom
If you choose to pay attention to your audience in the classroom (instead of preaching at them), you gain some powerful insights for leadership practices that support growth. Here are 4 leadership lessons gained from the classroom:
Creating Meaning, Purpose, and Flow at Work
Too many of us expect our firms or bosses to supply the meaning and purpose for our work. In reality, we control our own attitudes and have the ability to frame our work in ways that bring it to life for ourselves and our colleagues. If you aren’t finding meaning in your work, it’s time to take action.
Are Your Management Approaches Stifling Thinking?
Our behaviors as managers and educators often stifle creativity and innovation. Instead of conditioning people to conform and comply, we need to exhibit behaviors that do the opposite.
Speaking Workshop—Powerful Public Speaking by Dr. Nick Morgan
Dr. Nick Morgan, one of the leading speaking coaches in the world and the author of the Public Words blog, is running a one-day session, entitled: “Powerful Public Speaking” in Boston on October 28, 2016. During this day, you will have the opportunity to share ideas and gain insights and approaches to create your next persuasive speech.
Confessions of a Maverick Hiring Manager
Relying upon traditional hiring practices and dogma can leave your organization starved for the talent necessary to navigate the challenges facing your firm and industry. Sometimes, you have to go maverick!
Fight Inertia
Recognizing the need to change something in your life or career is an essential first step. Breaking the bonds of the inertial forces that keep you tethered to the status quo is the hard part.