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
It’s That Time of Year for Managers—Don’t Make These Mistakes with Your Performance Evaluations
Even managers are prone to "Student Syndrome." It's that time of year when managers everywhere groan under the weight of the performance evaluations they've barely started. Yes, there's a similarity between college students and their assignments and managers and their...
It’s That Time of Year for Managers—Don’t Make These Mistakes with Your Performance Evaluations
The real work of getting performance evaluations starts long before you reach the time to write and discuss them. Nonetheless, you’re at the 11th hour. Here are some tips you can use at this late date to help you do your best for your team members.
Leadership Caffeine™ for the Project Manager eBook Now Available!
I am excited to announce the launch of my latest book: Leadership Caffeine for the Project Manager (and anyone responsible for leading teams, groups or committees). This e-book only offering is available at Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble or at my site. And every purchaser is entitled to a free download copy of my supporting workbook: Power Tools for Project Managers. Use the ideas and approaches in great project, career and team development health!
Sometimes Leading Means Eating Culture for Lunch
There’s a stark contrast between caretaker leaders focused on the status quo and leaders who lead in the face of adversity and the need to change. The latter use the firm’s culture as a tool to enable change. They also draw upon these 11 key behaviors:
10 Do’s and Don’ts for the Executive Sponsor
I fumbled through my first go-round as executive sponsor on a project team. Fortunately, a great project manager compensated for my poor performance. Fortunately, some follow-on experiences challenged me to take the role seriously. It turns out, the executive sponsor role is incredibly important to strategic project success. This article shares 10 Do’s and Don’ts for anyone stepping into the position.
New Website Launched—New Project Leadership Book Soon!
A number of long-term projects are coming to market in my world, including an all new ground-up website and the forthcoming book and related tools: Leadership Caffeine for the Project Manager. Of course, none of this is possible without the input of clients and readers and the great support from some valued allies!
Who Is Controlling Your Professional Brand?
This post points to a recent article I published at The Balance, focusing on personal-professional brand management.
Leadership Caffeine™—Spotting Leadership Potential
Identifying individuals with leadership potential remains an imperfect process in most organizations. While we have tools and models and assessments to help, experienced talent scouts rely on their own well-honed senses as they strive to identify potential future leaders. This article shares some highlights from a recent group interview on this topic.
Working with the Enemy—5 Approaches for Navigating Difficult Relationships
It is a fact of life that we will not like everyone we work with and not everyone will like us. While workplace feuds are commonplace, effective and opportunistic professionals strive to navigate those situations in the best interests of their firms and careers. This article offers five strategies for helping you navigate awkward workplace relationships.
The New Model for Leadership? Win at All Costs
Much like the earlier years of this century, we seemed to have returned to an era where examples of corporate malfeasance are plentiful. In this case, the spread of “win-at-all-costs” leadership is on display in the banking and pharmaceutical industries. Is this the new model for the future of effective leadership? Is the new approach, “results count, regardless of the tactics?” I hope not.
A Model for Effective Leadership
We spend a lot of time and energy writing and reading about effective leadership, yet in many cases, we fail to practice it. In the absence of a unified theory of leadership and performance that we can easily understand and apply to our work, the model for effective leadership is on display and easy to decipher. It comes from those charged with leading in dangerous situations.