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.
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:
Art of Managing—Don’t Set Artificial Limits on Employee Involvement
A firm’s senior leaders and managers are supposed to feel the weight of responsibility for the health of their organization. It comes with the job. However, no one suggested they bear the weight of the worries or the burden of finding the solutions in silence and without ample support from the broader employee population. Here are 6 ideas to help you jump-start improved employee involvement in strengthening your business:
Art of Managing—It’s Your Job to Bring Your Firm’s Values to Life
I’ve long been a student of the values that organizations espouse. They are after all an attempt to encapsulate the accepted and aspirational behaviors of the firm’s employees and officers. And while words on the wall or in the placard are typically interesting, noble and even somewhat predictable, what’s truly fascinating is to compare and contrast the behaviors of people in an organization to the values statements hanging on the wall. Sadly, in too many organizations, the values statements are corporate furniture. Here are some thoughts on how you can help bring your firm’s values to life and strengthen performance in the process: