The Leadership Caffeine Blog
My Summer 2023 Professional Reading List
My friend Wally Bock publishes a reminder every year for us to make our summer reading lists. That's my cue to build and share mine. I suspect a few of these professional development reads might trickle over onto my into my fall reading; however, it's good to have an...
My Summer 2023 Professional Reading List
Here are my top choices for my personal Summer 2023 Professional Reading list.
Leadership Caffeine™—Uncertainty…Get Over It
Frankly, this is a remarkable time to be in business and to be serving in a leadership role. The risks, fears of change, possibilities of disruption or the realities of creative destruction and non-destructive creation are all facts of our business lives and they create a remarkable backdrop for us to create…to innovate. But first, we’ve got to fight our natural tendencies when determining how to act in this environment. Here are 3 key pitfalls to avoid and 5 key skills that leaders must cultivate to succeed in this ever-changing world:
Art of Managing—Helping Your Firm Navigate a Level-Up Situation
As managers, it’s our sacred responsibility to create and continuously improve an environment that allows our people to do their best work. Few managers would disagree with their responsibility and accountability for creating this effective environment. Like breathing, it’s a good idea to invest time and energy in practices that promote a healthy, efficient and effective system. In reality, many firms do a good job on this in stable markets. However, when faced with the need to adapt or change due to market disruptions, too many firms struggle to change their system to support the pursuit of new. Here are 7 ideas to help managers avoid the most common mistakes as they venture forward into uncharted territory:
Leadership Caffeine™—What to Do When You Grow Fatigued
Much of our common dialog around leadership focuses on the lofty and noble. That’s good and appropriate. After all there are some remarkable opportunities for growth and reward in the life of a conscientious leader. Why then is it so damned exhausting to serve as a leader? And better yet, how does someone entering the power dive of leadership fatigue find a way to pull out and continue serving enthusiastically in pursuit of the noble? Here are 10 idea to help you recover and recharge from a case of Leadership Fatigue:
Leadership Caffeine™—Know When to Assert Yourself
There are points in time when the only right choice is to assert and dictate direction or a decision. In those crucible moments for firms and teams, the failure of a leader to assert is the height of malpractice and irresponsibility.
The Saturday Serial Number 1—Welcome to ACME John Anderson
The Saturday Serial is an on-going management and leadership story and case based on a fictional firm and fictional characters all dealing with very real challenges in leadership and management. The intent is to stimulate thinking and discussion in a format different than the traditional “how to” blog post. Each episode includes a series of discussion questions for your consideration (or use with your team). I’ll share my views on the prior week’s chapter and questions in a subsequent post. Welcome to Episode 1:
Introducing The Saturday Serial—An Ongoing Management & Leadership Case
Welcome to The Saturday Serial! This new series reflects my intent and attempt to share and cultivate management and leadership lessons beyond the format of a stale blog post and endless lists of “10 ideas to… .” While I love writing the Management Excellence blog and the first 1,025 posts are testament to my commitment, I’ve wanted to experiment with the serial and management fable format here for a long time. Beginning with my first episode, “Welcome to ACME John Anderson,” you will meet a growing cast of characters facing a series of very real management, leadership and career challenges in this fictional high-tech, global conglomerate and its various units and divisions. Enjoy!
Six Ideas to Help You Have Better Days at Work
Everyone has difficult days, however, when every day feels like a slow, painful, stressful march up a rock-strewn path toward certain calamity, it’s time for you to take action. Here are a few ideas to help you re-frame your daily activities and reset your attitude.
Revisiting The 5 Priceless Lessons from Amundsen and Scott
Given the recent storms and polar-like weather in the Midwest and Northeast, it seems fitting to revisit the priceless management and leadership lessons gleaned from Amundsen and Scott in their race to 90-degrees south. These lessons never grow cold!
For a Change, Try Embracing Change at Work
We all know that we live in an era of constant change. And more often than not, the thought of change at work is enough to send us scurrying for cover. However, hiding or simply allowing fear of the unknown to seize your emotions is the wrong approach in a situation that stands to be both a rich learning experience and an opportunity for you to showcase your value to your managers and your firm.