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
Enough with the Leader Versus Manager Debate—It’s Time for a New Model
It's the perfect time in our world to vanquish the long-perpetuated and unproductive myth that leaders are somehow meaningfully different from managers. This distinction—perpetuated mainly by consultants and academics puts the practice of leadership on a pedestal and...
Enough with the Leader Versus Manager Debate—It’s Time for a New Model
It’s the perfect time in our world to vanquish the long-perpetuated and unproductive myth that leaders are somehow meaningfully different from managers.
The High Professional Cost of Your Inability to Trust
Trust is one of those terms that is casually tossed around in business conversations and management literature, yet for each and every one of us, the decision to trust someone is a deep and difficult personal decision.
Leadership Caffeine™—The Alchemy of Great Leadership
Newsflash, there are no shortcuts to great leadership. Much like the failure to change nature’s principles in search of longevity or turning lead into gold, one’s ability lead develops slowly over time and with much strain. Here are 10 lessons learned in search of success as a leader:
Friday Leadership Ideas to Help You Finish Strong for June 26, 2015
Every week I share a few ideas to help you finish strong. A great ending sets the stage for success next week. For this week, I’m offering a reminder to follow-through or follow-up on the professional development activities of your team members and I suggest a fun way to stimulate ideas and discussions around topics that matter. Enjoy and use them in great professional health!
Leadership Caffeine™—The Inner Game of Leading
Leadership is played on an open court in the workplace for all to see, yet, I submit that the game is won or lost in the mind of the individual as he/she pushes self-doubt and hubris back into their respective corners. This is the inner game of leading and it is very difficult.
Ideas for Professional Growth—Week of June 21, 2015
Every week, I provide a few simple (but not simplistic) ideas for you to Do/Experiment/Explore in support of your professional development. This week’s focus is on energizing team meetings, moving forward with an overdue difficult discussion and gleaning lessons from the great age of polar exploration. Enjoy!
Friday Leadership Ideas—2 to Help You Finish Strong for June 19, 2015
Every week, I share a few ideas to help you finish strong. A great ending to your work week helps set the stage for success next Monday. For this week, I’m encouraging you to focus on assessing “what worked” and also offering an idea for you to strengthen your team’s ability to connect developments in our world to what they might mean for your firm or your customers. Enjoy!
Manage How You are Perceived or Someone Else Will
As much as we would like to believe that good work is always rewarded, that’s a naive view of the realities of organizational life. You need to understand how others perceive you and focus on adjusting your behaviors to ensure that the perceptions are positive and not limiting. Here are 5 lessons on the dangers of ignoring how you are perceived from a very real case:
Leadership Caffeine™—Is Leadership Changing?
There’s an interesting interview at McKinsey, with Heidreck & Struggles CEO, Tracy Wolstencroft, that explores what they describe as the changing nature of leadership in this era of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The interview prompted my own consideration of some of the changing leadership behaviors I’m observing in firms who are succeeding in navigating the fog of these times.
Ideas for Professional Growth—Week of June 14, 2015
Every week, I provide a few simple (but not simplistic) ideas for you to Do/Experiment/Explore in support of your professional development. This week’s focus on achieving better alignment with your manager, improving the effectiveness of brainstorming and improving your effectiveness in leading group discussions. Use them in good health and great professional development!