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
How to Get Unstuck with Your Career Pivot
Are You Stuck in a Negative Loop About Making a Career Change? I talk with many good people motivated to change their career vectors but unsure of what to do or even how to get started. As a result, they do nothing. They're stuck. Maybe you're stuck as well....
How to Get Unstuck with Your Career Pivot
I talk with many good people motivated to change their career vectors but unsure of what to do or even how to get started. As a result, they do nothing. They’re stuck. Maybe you’re stuck as well. Here are some tips to help you get beyond this uncomfortable state and into action:
Leadership Caffeine™—Is that Employee Not Right or Not Ready?
We all know that getting the right people in the right seats is a prerequisite for success. The problem comes in truly assessing whether the individual is Not Ready or Not Right for the role. Here are 4 reasons why we often fail to recognize the “Not Right” characters and 5 ideas to help you deal with this dilemma:
Art of Managing—Moving Beyond A Failure to Execute
Resolving the failure to execute problem is much more like a long-term fitness program than a quick weight-loss diet. It involves changing the thinking about what’s most important for organizational health and success and doing the hard work of developing new habits that support continuous improvement. Here are 7 ideas to help you begin developing some healthy new habits:
Level-Up #2—Reality Check for the New Vice President
There are few more simultaneously exciting and disorienting experiences in your professional life than your initial promotion to a corporate position as vice president of something. Here are 4 very real facts of life for you in your new role and some thoughts about what to do about them:
Leadership Caffeine™—What Frequency are You Broadcasting On?
In a conversation with a good friend and highly respected retained search professional, the topic of a “leader’s frequency” was raised. I like the metaphor, although my friend might describe it as much more real than metaphor. In my own experience, the leaders who stand out…the ones who moved the needle for teams, individuals and organizations all broadcast on a frequency that is easy for us to hear and to understand with minimal amounts of noise to distract us from the message.
Level-Up #1—Congratulations on Your Promotion! Now What?
There are few opportunities in your career that offer greater opportunities for learning, growth and personal and financial reward than your move to executive management. And while the opportunities abound, the risks to your career from missteps or failure are also very real.
Level-Up—Career: A New Feature at Management Excellence
With this post, I’m excited to introduce the new Level-Up Career feature here at Management Excellence. The theme is based on my third book (in process): Level-Up—Surviving and Thriving on the Road to Senior Management. The series is focused on helping professionals entering the power-curve of their career learn to succeed and to navigate the challenges during the journey from middle to executive management. Some the planned topics include:
Leadership Caffeine™—In Challenging Times, Keep Fear and Failure Outside Looking In
Every organization and every team runs into challenging spots. Life and business don’t always work as planned. “Man plans and God laughs,” as my former CEO would recite. It’s the rough patches that teach you and require you to cultivate your leadership character, and part of this is keeping fear at bay and the specter of failure out of mind and out of the vocabulary of your team. Here are 6 ideas to help you fight off organizational fear and keep your team on track when the going gets rough:
Art of Managing—The Pursuit of Excellence is a Choice
Too few managers and management teams talk about what it means to promote a culture of business performance excellence in and across their organizations. Even fewer work on it.
1,000 Blog Posts and the Lessons Learned without the Cheering Crowds or Champagne
Imagine my surprise a few months ago when I noticed the blog counter here at Management Excellence ticking closer to the number 1,000. Here are at least 8 lessons I’ve learned while writing 1,000 blog posts on management and leadership: