The Leadership Caffeine Blog
The Secret to Leadership Success Isn’t So Secret
What's Your Aspirational Leadership Self? Every year I work with hundreds of individuals in my Manager Development Program(s), and one of the key activities is defining their Leadership Charter. The Charter embodies their aspirational leadership self and is developed...
The Secret to Leadership Success Isn’t So Secret
Every year, a ridiculous number of books are written on leadership, and we consume them in volume, hoping to find the secret to leadership success. It’s not that hard, and it’s not a secret. Just ask them what they need from you.
Leadership Caffeine™—Great Leaders Care
While a leader’s competence is viewed as the most important attribute to engender trust, the fact that he or she genuinely cares about team members is an important number two.
7 Lead-Off Mistakes to Avoid as a First Time Manager
Establishing yourself as a credible and positive leader is important and challenging. Here are some all-too-common missteps of first-time (and even some hapless, experienced) managers. Avoid them in good health!
Leadership Caffeine™—Don’t Back Off Leadership Development in a Crisis
When things break bad (even momentarily) in an organization, a number of predictable reflexes kick-in. Expenses are cut. Operations reviews evolve into extended, public proctology exams with everyone taking a long look searching for answers and blame. Some of the responses are reasonable and expected. Others are destructive. Suspending the work of developing your leaders and managers is destructive. Instead of letting your training budget dictate your team and leadership development efforts, here are 5 high-contact ideas to turbo-charge your efforts:
Study The Top Leader’s Style Before Signing On
If you’re interested in gaining critical insights into how things work in a prospective employer, look to the style, values and priorities of a firm’s top leader.
New Leader Tuesday—Quit Walking on Eggshells around Boss Bullies
Almost every person who’s ever held a managerial position has spent time walking on eggshells around a deliberately difficult employee to avoid inciting a confrontation. I describe these individuals as “Boss Bullies.” They’re particularly fond of first-time managers because their tactics tend to work on the new managers for a period of time. Here are 6 ideas to help you navigate this sticky situation:
Choose to Work in a Culture that Brings Out the Best in You
I’ve worked in cultures like those ascribed to Amazon.com in the recent and controversial New York Times article, “Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace.” These battle-zone firms exists and they can be very successful. And for the adrenaline junkie career climber, these cultures are perfect. For the rest of us, not so much.
New Leader Tuesday—Ideas to Help You Cure Feedback Fright
While the act of delivering constructive feedback doesn’t rank up there with the fear of public speaking (stage fright) or facing an IRS audit (just pure fear), too many managers…especially newly promoted first-timers avoid this activity because it makes them uncomfortable. Here are 9 ideas to help you move beyond your own feedback fright:
Leadership Caffeine™—When It Comes to Toxic Employees, Don’t Hesitate
The toxic employee has a “special” knack of destabilizing groups, destroying trust between coworkers and stifling conversation and creativity in nearly every situation. For a number of reasons…none of which are worth much, too many leaders hesitate when it comes to purging these radioactive waste products from their teams. If you’ve been rationalizing retaining one of those characters that creates fallout with every encounter, it’s important to recognize what you’re doing to everyone else and then to take action.
High Performance Management—Courage and Business Transformation
The topic of transformation is a challenging one for all management teams. It’s not surprising that few muster the collective courage necessary to transform their organizations even in the face of sustained headwinds or looming crisis.