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
Feeling Increasingly Irrelevant at Work? Assess and Take Action
That Feeling of Creeping Irrelevance is Toxic for You In our unsettled era filled with the specter of emerging AI and an economic shift to mass layoffs in many sectors, wondering whether you are still relevant in your workplace is the stuff of sleepless nights. A...
Feeling Increasingly Irrelevant at Work? Assess and Take Action
In our unsettled era, wondering whether you are still relevant in your workplace is the stuff of sleepless nights. It’s essential to gauge whether your uneasy feeling is real or just a product of our odd times. If your suspicions are confirmed, it’s time to take action.
4 Reasons Why Questions are a Leader’s Best Friend
The best leaders wield questions precisely, respectfully and always with a clear objective in mind. Here are at least 4 reasons why questions are a leader’s best friend:
Leadership Caffeine™: 6 Key Decision Areas that Shape You as a Leader
There are a number of decisions in every leader’s life that stand head and shoulders above all others. These are the decisions that change the trajectory of people, teams and organizations and on a bigger stage, nations. As you navigate your career and your growth as a leader, be prepared to stand up and be counted on these challenging issues:
A Leader’s Reasons to be Thankful
Note from Art: This is an annual post at Management Excellence, offered in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. It’s a nice time for leaders to pause and recognize the many reasons they have to be thankful for the privilege of serving.
It’s Your Career—Show Your Boss You Want to Learn and Grow
An employee interested in developing is like catnip for a conscientious boss. We’ll put in extra effort to support your development; find ways to relax our training budgets to push you along, and frankly, if you are genuinely, authentically pushing the envelope on your own development, you will gain access to the challenging assignments that set people up for advancement. Here are 5 ideas to make sure the boss knows you are interested in learning and growing:
Sears CEO: “We have a profit problem.” Really?
In an article in the Sunday Chicago Tribune, Edward Lampert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sears Holding Corp offers, “We don’t have a sales problem. What we have is a profit problem, and that’s what we’re intending to address.” Mr. Lampert, I respectfully suggest that you have a lot of problems in your shrinking, unidentifiable former retail empire. However, characterizing the situation as a profit problem is off the mark.
Just One Thing—There’s No Such Thing as a Partially Toxic Employee
As managers, we tend to tolerate certain employees who straddle that toxic boundary, in large part, because we can rationalize their aberrant behaviors in the context of what they do well. This is a mistake with tremendous costs to the organization, team and to your own credibility as a leader.
New Leader Tuesday—The Power of Deliberate Listening
Listening is in short supply in this noisy, interruption driven world, yet it’s critical for leadership success at every level. Here are 6 ideas to help strengthen your effectiveness as a listener starting today:
Leadership Caffeine™—The Trust Building Power of Second Chances
If humans are in the picture, mistakes will occur. Whether the mistake is an error in judgment, a result of incomplete planning or, due to inexperience with the task at hand, your team members will make mistakes. Your response to a mistake sets the tone for the next stage of your relationship. Here are 5 ideas to help you move in the right direction in these emotionally charged situations:
The Feedback Series—Part 6: Wrap up and Some Do’s and Don’ts
In our final post in this series, here are some important Do’s and Don’ts that I’ve learned through experience (often the hard way), or, gained through the insights of clients and program participants. Use these in good health and great feedback!