I’ve had a lifelong love of receiving publications that make me think. I love authors and ideas that spur the imagination, challenge convention, and raise possibilities. As a teen, I made the regular trip to the mailbox hoping to find the latest science fiction pulp...
The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Leaders, beware of creating restructuring wreckage. Tips to minimize the fallout
Given the constantly shifting market forces and the need for organizations to find new ways to leverage technologies, restructuring is a fact of life. If you must, it’s imperative to minimize creating restructuring wreckage. Here are 9 tips to help.
The “Wake-Up Calls” call-to-action for My Latest Book on Managing
Everything is and/or will shift about how we structure, lead, invest, and engage our people in this world. It’s an amazing time to rethink the need for, use, and impact of the manager. It’s an amazing time to think differently about everything we do related to strategy, innovation, and engagement.
It turns out, resistance to your change initiative is (mostly) a good sign
A mentor would regularly offer: “Art, if you’re getting flak, you’re close to the target.” While always a sucker for good air force analogies, the flak or resistance didn’t feel good. It turns out, my mentor was right. Here’s how to better leverage the resistance or flak, as my mentor described it, as part of leading successful change initiatives.
Ready to publish: two manager-focused book projects coming to life in different formats
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.
Why you need to start treating your words like Lego Blocks
Words are what we have to inspire, motivate, clarify, empower, and enable. Yet, too often, our words work against us and create problems. Why you need to start treating your words like Legos.
Reaching for the executive ranks? Cultivate these five skillsets—part one, developing as a strategist
While today’s career world for many is about something other than “The Climb,” my coaching ranks and workshop programs are filled with individuals striving to scale their impact and, for many, gain a seat at the executive table. If you are motivated to grow your responsibilities and engage at a senior management level, you must cultivate your knowledge and skills in five critical areas. In part one of this series, I focus on developing as a strategist.
Leadership Development is Indeed Failing Us—Time for a New Approach
When it came to leadership development investments, as an executive, it grew frustrating to send people to name-brand organizations and have them return with a “nice experience,” a big bill, and no visible strengthened abilities or sustained changes.
Toward a Better Model for Leader Development
Our traditional methods for developing leadership talent in our organizations, including check-box training, loose mentoring, and limited access to coaching, need to be changed for a world where all organizations need to field talent able to help align, execute, and renew at the speed of change. We need a different model for leader development.
Seven Big Insights from the Latest Manager Development Program Cohort
One of my pleasures as an executive and emerging leader coach comes from the time spent in session with the cohort groups in my various programs. I am inspired by their passion for their work and hunger to learn and exhilarated by some of their perspectives. Here are seven big insights from the recent Manager Development Program cohort:










