Wake-Up Calls for Managers — Insights to Sharpen Focus and Elevate Results is my latest contribution to helping anyone responsible for the work of others survive and ultimately thrive in the hardest parts of their jobs. It’s also, as the title suggests, a “wake-up call” to think differently about how you engage with your colleagues and get the results you and your organization need in this world of change.
In the next few weeks, two of my projects focused on manager and leader development are coming to life in very different formats. Wake-Up Calls for Managers (the handbook no one hands new managers) and The Manager’s Journey move to publishing. Wake-Up Calls will be available via Amazon.com and The Manager’s Journey will be published in a unique serial format on my blog.
We’ve seen this movie before. A shock hits the broader system and organizations decide to ‘delayer’ focusing the brunt of their efforts on middle management. This time AI is the excuse. Yet the real opportunity and need here is to redefine the role of manager, not eliminate it.
We overuse the word ‘team’ in the workplace. While I usually don’t get hung up on semantics, I encourage leaders at all levels to reserve the ‘team’ concept for those occasions when a loose confederation of functional experts won’t cut it. Building a true team takes deliberate effort in the right areas.
You have an amazing array of tools at your disposal to succeed as a communicator. Your technical command of a topic is important, but not enough. Your ability to articulate in terms they value and to do so with authentic passion, ensuring your body meets your message, and your message meets their needs, are all critical.
Some skills are more equal than others in large organizations when it comes to your career growth and success. Looking to make a big impact? Focus on strengthening the Core Four Accelerators
The leader should recognize and reward results, celebrate successes, advance those who demonstrate the acumen to get things done within the boundaries, and remember to adjust the pace to reflect the human need to recharge before tackling the next big thing
There’s a force at work in too many organizations imposed by senior leaders that gives the appearance of action but reflects cognitive and productive paralysis. In these cultures, leadership becomes a kind of gravitational singularity, sucking the life, creativity, and productivity out of the culture.
If you truly want to thrive and scale your impact without chasing the climb, you’ll invest in yourself and do the heavy lifting essential for growth.
