management Archives

Improving The Executive and Project Manager Relationship

As professional project management practices (and project managers) grow in importance to a firm's success (see my post: Struggling With Strategy? Think Project Management), it is critical that top leaders learn how to support the process rather than beat it into submission. And because as the saying goes, "it takes two to tango," Project Managers need to learn how to "manage" their executives to minimize unproductive involvement or outright interference.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:08-05:00March 16th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|2 Comments

Struggling with Strategy? Think Project Management!

Strategy is a healthy mix of art and science. Unfortunately, too many organizations approach strategy as if were alchemy. Adding formal project management practices to the strategy program increases the “science” component and improves a firm’s chances of success for a successful initiative as well as for sustaining of an on-going, healthy program.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:10-05:00March 12th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|3 Comments

Technical Leaders: It’s Time to Throw Out the Single-Track System for Developing Talent

One of the many priceless discussion threads during the interview, focused on the challenges of developing leadership and individual contributor talent in technical organizations. Specifically, he railed at the "single career-track" approach that in his opinion results in many otherwise great individual contributors pursuing leadership roles for the wrong reasons regardless of their interest or capabilities for leading. There is wisdom in his perspective.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:18-05:00February 27th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|2 Comments

Excitement for the Next Generation of Leaders and Management at the Movies

I had the great pleasure of serving as a guest lecturer on Leadership yesterday to a class of college seniors (business majors), and I was struck by the remarkably mature perspective and intuitive feel that they have for the subject. After my opening comments on how you can't possibly learn to be a leader from a book or a class, we launched into a series of discussions and exercises that Wowed me with the clear thinking and great ideas about effective leadership and great leaders, as well as the opposite. I'm definitely growing more excited about the potential of this generation of early career professionals!

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:24-05:00February 15th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Leadership Development Conversations-Still Free and Always Will Be

I recently gave a talk at a gathering of managers and executives from different organizations, entitled: "Creating a Leadership Development Culture In Your Organization." The gist of the talk was that leadership development does not have to cost a lot of money and in fact can be jump-started with some basic activities. Also, I came down hard on the age-old excuse of "I don't have time" that so many leaders use to explain their lack of attention to leadership and talent development. Just today, I received a note back from one of the participants that renewed my faith in the fact that when presented with practical approaches, many leaders want to do the right things to support the development of their people.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:28-05:00February 7th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Will Software Improve Our Talent Management Performance?

t's fairly well established in my mind through our firm's research and from working for large and small firms as an employee and as a consultant, that most organizations and most leaders stink at talent development. I've cited a number of studies and surveys in my various posts that report findings that are in violent agreement with this conclusion. However, now that there is software to help us manage talent, are our problems over?

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:49-05:00February 6th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

The Indomitable Spirit of the True Product Manager

Product Managers are often improperly saddled with blame for everything that’s wrong in the organization and a fair amount of what’s wrong in the world. Poor quality, revenue shortfalls, lack of leads, poor visibility, competitive encroachment, poor support, schedule delays and process deficiencies are just a few of the items that I’ve known Product Managers to be tagged with in the course of carrying out their jobs. Pretty much everything but responsibility for the Lindbergh kidnapping, and I’m sure someone tried to pin that one on an unwitting Product Manager at some point in time.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:51-05:00February 4th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|2 Comments

Cost Is Really Not An Issue When It Comes To Leadership Development

Following a recent presentation to individuals in the Not-For-Profit arena on "Creating A Culture of Leadership Development in Your Organization," I was approached by some enthusiastic attendees who loved the content, but expressed frustration over the seeming unwillingness of their top leaders to focus on this issue. During the discussion, I heard the following comments: "Leadership development is viewed as expensive." "When we point out the need for and potential benefits from strengthening our leadership practices, the typical response is that leadership development is not central to our mission." "We are so busy chasing small issues, we don't have time to focus on people topics." I appreciated the openness of the individuals and was left wondering what it might take to help top leaders everywhere recognize once and for all that LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE!

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:51:54-05:00February 1st, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|1 Comment

Improving the Product Management and Sales Relationship

The relationship between the Product Manager (or PM team) and the Sales force is one that is filled with great potential for all parties and also prone to frequent misuse or abuse. Frankly, it is a complicated relationship that should be governed by some shared rules of engagement and some good commonsense about when to throw the rules out in support of getting the job done.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:01-05:00January 21st, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Marketing versus Sales and Corporate Tribalism

With apologies for doing a poor imitation of Jerry Seinfeld, "What is it about Sales and Marketing professionals that they just can't seem to get along?" These two functions have battled for years and I fault the leaders of both functions as well as senior management for failing to create the conditions required for collaboration and success.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:52:11-05:00January 3rd, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|1 Comment