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Dream and Act Big: Leadership Caffeine™ for the Week of April 5, 2009

Apr 5, 2009

This week’s jolt of energy is taken from a great interview with Jim Collins in the April, 2009 issue of Inc. Magazine. Collins connected with Inc. editor, Bo Burlingham to share views on the state of our world, building great businesses and entrepreneurship.

The entrepreneurial focus is relevant for many that have either been pushed into this world through downsizing or are considering it as they grow weary of the uncertainties of corporate life. And whether you are a budding entrepreneur or not, the insights, guidance and reminder to dream and act big are appropriate and inspirational.

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Develop Culture Sensing Skills and Take the Blinders Off Of Your Career

Apr 3, 2009

One of my greatest career misfires was accepting a role in a firm where I had failed to properly assess the culture. I was blinded by the allure of this successful and global firm and by the sharp people that I met during the interview process.

I can think of few skills more important for professionals, product and project managers and other lateral leaders to develop than culture sensing. All of the functional or vocational expertise in the world is for naught if the individual fails to take into account and leverage cultural idiosyncrasies to achieve results and drive performance improvements.

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New Leaders, Twitter and the Volunteer Management Conundrum

Apr 2, 2009

The Top Ten Challenges of the New Leader, an update on my experience with Twitter (and why all marketers should join), and the Volunteer Management conundrum in our communities that we are capable of solving. Oh, and three developmental suggestions for your professional “To Do” list.

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Leadership Caffeine™ for the Week of March 30, 2009

Mar 29, 2009

I’m striking a blow this week against Boss-Blame…that world class sport that so many engage in as part of rationalizing why their own results might just be falling short of something resembling excellence. It’s time to engender a new sense of personal and professional accountability in the workplace.

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Management Lessons From the Memphis Belle-Rule #1

Mar 26, 2009

We were in the early days of our trench warfare trying to save the company, so it was natural that we felt a kinship with the pilot and crew of the Belle. As we drank and watched, we began to discover business rules and management lessons within the war-movie plot. By the time we were done, we had Ten Rules of Management From The Memphis Belle. Then, Paul came up with an 11th. I cussed and said “you can’t just have an odd number like 11” – so we replayed the movie in our heads and thought of 9 more.

And thus we discovered the 20 Lessons From The Memphis Belle. We had them printed up on little cards and handed them out to employees. We gifted them to strategic partners and customers. We printed them on posters and hung them in our offices. When we ran into a hard issue in the business we would refer to the Rules: more often than not there was a rule that was right on point. Each time we’d be amazed, but then we’d say: “Ah! The Rules know all!”

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What’s Your High Performance Team Experience?

Mar 11, 2009

I love to talk with people that have led or been part of a high performance team (HPT). Their enthusiasm is palpable. These individuals have been to the promised land of corporate collaboration and achievement for a brief period in time and they are interested in going back.

Unfortunately, my own formal and informal research indicates that only 30% of professionals surveyed would agree that they have been part of a high performance team. If you’ve been a part of this 30%, the other 70% of your peers would love to hear your story!

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Leadership Lessons from the Road

Feb 27, 2009

One of the great things about leading workshops with talented professionals is how much I learn about the very real challenges that people face in trying to get work done inside their organizations. After spending a day together working with a group technical professionals at The Data Warehouse Institute’s World Conference, I gained some insights into the challenges and barriers that are slowing down progress and inhibiting performance improvements inside organizations.

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Leadership Caffeine™ for the Last Week of February 2009

Feb 22, 2009

Last week we focused on team performance and the week prior on relationships. This week’s Leadership Caffeine offers some personal development suggestions for anyone interested in growing their influence by improving their skills in dealing with executive audiences.

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The Challenge and Opportunity of the Product Manager

Feb 17, 2009

Product Managers face significant organizational challenges in their quest to expand their roles and increase their value-creating contributions to their firms.

Through a recent and on-going series of interviews with senior executives as well as product managers across a variety of technology and manufacturing organizations, it is becoming clear that more and more organizations recognize the potential for product management to create tremendous value. It is also clear that enlightened executives increasingly recognize that the professionals that wok in product management roles are a ready-made source of high potential contributors and emerging leaders.

Senior executives are looking for their emerging senior contributors in product management to bring more advanced skills to the party, in the areas of: Leadership, Strategic Thinking, Executive Presence and Process Optimization.

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