Management 4-1-1

Happy Friday! Well.. it has been a couple of crazy weeks, but I’m back in the saddle and ready to roll.

Each week I will share five articles that have caught my attention for one reason or another. In general, I will stay on topic (e.g., leadership, management, etc.), but I reserve the right to occasionally stray. There are a lot of great writers and bloggers out there. Hope you enjoy this week’s selection!

The Top 5 New Rules of Productivity: This post was recently shared with me through a colleague at work.  Alexander Kjerulf, The Chief Happiness Officer, presents an interesting and provocative perspective on the productivity rules for knowledge workers.  Not sure I agree with every point, but two fundamental beliefs I can really get behind: “Your productivity will vary wildly from day to day. This is normal.” AND “Happiness is the ultimate productivity enhancer.”

Leadership Caffeine: Is it Time for a Leadership Break?: One of my favorite bloggers on the leadership topic, Art Petty (you should really read his stuff), writes a thought provoking article that all managers/leaders probably think about from time to time.  Art covers five questions that can help you become more self-aware.  Just like everything else, there are ebbs & flows that occur in leading others (perhaps because while rewarding, it can be exhausting).  Whether thinking about taking a break from leading or just taking a break to recharge – your answers to these questions can help you set your direction.

The Absolutely, Positively, No Doubt About It Way To Keep Customers – In A Nutshell: I’m in the services business, so this post struck a chord with me.  I may actually just print this post out, and put it on my bulletin board.

Guidelines for Talking to Team Members About Their Performance: Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership, shares some pointed guidelines for having a performance discussion with a team member.  My favorite piece of advice he shares is, “You want your team member to leave the conversation thinking about how they will do things differently in the future and not about how you treated them.” – How true is that?

Revisiting Colin Powell’s 13 Rules of Leadership: I’ve always respected Colin Powell and what he stands for.  This post by Management is a Journey Blog, shares some words of wisdom by Colin Powell.  It’s a great reminder of how some of America’s best leaders are thinking about leadership.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! Each week I will share five articles that have caught my attention for one reason or another. In general, I will stay on topic (e.g., leadership, management, etc.), but I reserve the right to occasionally stray. There are a lot of great writers and bloggers out there. Hope you enjoy this weeks selection!

7 Keys To An Effective Corporate Culture: Corporate culture is so important to attracting and retaining your people.  Eric Jacabson’s blog highlights straightforward ideas to a strong corporate culture.  As a manager, you can implement these in your own department – you don’t need to wait for this to come from above.

I’m Your Boss, Not Your Friend; 10 Reasons Why Your Boss Shouldn’t be Your Friend: In Dan McCarthy’s Blog post from Great Leadership, he looks at the relationships that exist between a manager and their employees.  He outlines 10 reasons why you should watch out in how you connect and think about your employees.  It’s great to have good relationships with your employees, but be wary that getting too close with your employees may cause you more problems.

Ten Things that Make Me More Productive: As a person and a leader (especially in today’s frantic, in-your-face information free-for-all), we are always looking for ways to be more productive and focused.  Wally Bock’s post (from Three Star Leadership)  has some great practical tips on how to make the most of your time on doing “more important things better”.

The Introvert’s Guide to Motivating Others: Lisa Petrilli from C-Level Strategies is in the midst of writing a series on The Introverts Guide to Leadership.  Lisa actually has a number of posts on the introverted leader.  This particular post talks about the need for introverts to tap into their extroversion to motivate groups of people.  Interestingly, you’d be surprised at how many leaders are actually introverts.  Check this post out!

Authentic Leadership: Would You Follow You?: As you may have guessed, I’m a reflective leader and manager.  There is nothing more powerful in uncovering your thoughts, than asking yourself insightful questions.  Steve Keating (contributing author to Lead Change Group), poses an insightful question that all leaders should ask themselves.

Happy Friday! Each week I will share five articles that have caught my attention for one reason or another. In general, I will stay on topic (e.g., leadership, management, etc.), but I reserve the right to occasionally stray. There are a lot of great writers and bloggers out there. Hope you enjoy! Read more…

Happy Friday! Each week I will share five articles that have caught my attention for one reason or another. In general I will stay on topic (e.g., leadership, management, etc.), but I reserve the right to occasionally stray. There are a lot of great writers and bloggers out there. Hope you enjoy!

Tired of Being Middle Management? Try Being a Middle Leader: This blog posts discusses the ever-so-slight differences between the stagnating middle manager vs. being a middle leader.  This is a nice post for those in “middle management” positions wanting to make an impact.

How To Be Direct Without Being a Jerk: Sometimes being direct requires some finesse.  This blog posts outlines a few examples of how you can be direct with a coworker, an employee, and even your boss.

How To Avoid 8 Performance Evaluation Pitfalls: Many companies (including my own) are in the midst of the annual performance appraisal process.  This post offers some quick reminders of pitfalls to avoid as you write your employees performance appraisals.

Performance Planning, Coaching, and Review: How’s your organization doing in these three key areas?: What a great reminder of the key elements of a full performance management cycle.  Two things that struck me the most in this past are: 1.) managing performance is a year-round activity, and 2.) when is comes to delivering a performance review, there should be no surprises between a manager and their employee.

How To Become a Delegating Master: Delegating is a key tool for managers.  It’s also a great way to offer employees an opportunity to step-up or develop a new skill-set.  My only extra suggestion here, is to not just delegate the stuff you don’t want to do, also think about providing opportunities for others to grow.

Well… That’s it for this week.  Next week, we wrap-up the Performance Management Series and will talk about How to best fail at work.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!  Each week I will share five articles that have caught my attention for one reason or another.  In general I will stay on topic (e.g., leadership, management, etc.), but I reserve the right to occasionally stray.  There are a lot of great writers and bloggers out there.  Hope you enjoy!

Leadership Caffeine: Learn To Make Quick Connections: Employee engagement and making personal connections is a good people skill to have. For a manager – it’s an essential skill for success!  Art Petty provides some great suggestions to make connecting with people a daily habit.

Ten EveryDay Leadership Decisions: It doesn’t matter what you do (or what level in an organization you sit), you always have the power of choice.  This article posted by Kevin Eikenberry serves-up key decisions we can make as leaders each day.  My two favorites are decide to set high(er) expectations and decide to trust.

Egypt’s Mubarak: a survivor comes undone: This isn’t a blog post – BUT it’s good reminder of the impacts and consequences of failed leadership.  Mubarak failed his people and Egypt’s people have demonstrated that being a leader is not a right but an earned privilege.

Three Ways to Recognize a Talent Magnet: Surrounding yourself with smart people that have diverse perspectives … I don’t think you could ask for a better approach!

How Introverts and Extroverts Can Benefit from One Another: I am an introvert.  The older I get, the more I’ve come to realize I appreciate time to think be in smaller groups – It’s energizes me and gives me time to think about life, work and leading.  Michael Hyatt give a nice write-up on what that means and how you can co-exist and benefit from a different orientation.

Have a great weekend!

It’s Saturday – time to unwind!  Each week I will share five articles that have caught my attention for one reason or another.  In general I will stay on topic (e.g., leadership, management, etc.), but I reserve the right to occasionally stray.  There are a lot of great writers and bloggers out there.  Hope you enjoy!  

Ask Questions Daily: I’m a big fan of asking yourself and others questions to create innovative thinking.  Great article and unique spin on using questions to help you reflect and develop daily.

Authentic Leadership Can Be Bad Leadership: I’ve always fancied myself to be an “authentic” leader.  Interesting perspective (and reminder) that authenticity is not a license to be a jerk.

Demystifying Mentorship: If the idea of being or finding a mentor seems awkward to you, this well written HBR blog post on debunking the myths of mentorship may be what you need.

Who Else Needs More Mental Focus?: Michael Hyatt is one of my favorite bloggers.  He provides great insight to leadership.  I certainly know I could use a few tips on how to maintain focus in today’s mega multitasking world.

9 Steps to Work Less and do more: Not sure I’m going to run out and buy the book, but his 9 steps seem self-evident and a good reminder.

Have a great weekend!