A New Element of Management, Part I: Three Scenarios of Employee Disengagement
All in the same week, I had the opportunity to deal with three very different senior managers. Each was responsible for a different organizational function, and each had a different leadership style....
View ArticleA New Element of Management, Part II: The Platinum Rule
Remember Silvia, Ophelia, and Felix, from last week’s blog — the senior execs who were turning off members of their staffs? This post will show how we adjusted these execs’ behavior to match the...
View ArticleReapplying the Platinum Rule: How to Coach Your Boss
“How about if Part III gives advice for those with managers who fit these descriptions?” A discerning reader posed that question after reading my last two blogs, A New Element of Management, Part I:...
View ArticleThe Connected Leader, Part III: How to Accept Feedback Gracefully
As a Connected Leader, you’re usually open to hearing whatever your team members have to say. You know them well and you’re skillful about encouraging them to speak. The challenge is to be able to...
View Article20 Questions for Leadership Success
What does it take to succeed as a new team leader, particularly in an environment where not every requirement or metric is already laid out and being performed by multiple people at the same level?...
View ArticleDon’t Make the Mess Your Manager Made
Everybody’s had at least one boss they didn’t trust and desperately wanted to escape. But you probably learned invaluable lessons from that boss about how people should and shouldn’t be treated. You...
View ArticleAs Your Leader, I Could Be Wrong
Challenging a leader’s directives can be frightening. “The powerful are often oblivious to their impact,” writes Adam Galinsky in a recent New York Times article, “Your Whisper May Feel Like a Shout.”...
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Can Your Midlevel Leaders Shift This Well?
The senior director sighed. He had just conducted the third interview of the afternoon, and we only had a couple of minutes to debrief before the next one. “How well do these candidates stack up?” I...
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Does “Radical Candor” Really Work?
Let’s talk about “radical candor” now, before it gets too popular. Radical candor, also known as “front-stabbing,” is the management “secret” of former Google director Kim Scott, and was recently...
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Want to Be Your Managerial Best? Try a Walk in the Woods
“You’re always saying how important it is to see the forest and the trees,” read the email from a guy I mentor. He’s a high-performing high potential whose career is at the inflection point between...
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Advice on How to Make a Case to Senior Leaders
I just heard from a middle manager who vented about her senior leaders’ lack of response after she made them aware of certain problems. She wondered if there were better ways to explain challenging...
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What Are the Best Ways Leaders Make Up Their Minds?
Smart, effective decision-making is one of the most important and complex parts of team or organizational leadership. Leaders make up their minds based on what they already believe and the way they...
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How to Counteract Two Hidden Problems of Developing Leaders
Clients often ask me to design or participate in their leadership development programs. These programs require significant investment, so senior leaders view them as a way to groom and strengthen...
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This Is How to be a Leader in Name Only
Aspiring, self-aware leaders think of leadership as a practice and a way of life. They’re always looking for growth opportunities and greater self-mastery, whatever their rank or title. And yet a...
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You’ll Want to Try This Surprising Twist When You Give Feedback
Standard guidelines for performance feedback call for content that’s specific, behavioral rather than personal, consistent, and delivered immediately following the triggering situation. But I’d like to...
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5 Things to Do If Someone You Just Promoted Messes Up
No matter how high our hopes are for a newly promoted manager, things often go remarkably wrong. Sometimes it’s the new manager’s attitude or belief. For instance, I’ve worked with a previously...
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5 Tactics That Will Help You Adjust to Your New Leader
Let’s say, you’ve been working hard, minding your own business, and suddenly you learn that you’re going to have a new boss. Maybe your old boss is leaving, or perhaps you’ve been reorganized. Whatever...
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Focus on Tasks, Not Emotions, to Save Money on Conflict
“Conflict costs businesses a ton of money,” management guru Steve Caldwell observed while interviewing me recently. Caldwell is a team leadership coach, the author of Manager Mojo: Be the Leader that...
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How to Use Body Language to Be Effective in a Tough Work Situation
I picked up the phone the other morning and as soon as I heard my client speak, I realized that although she was calling at her regular time, she wasn’t using her “regular” voice. “How are you?” I...
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How to Get Your New Boss Up to Speed for Mutual Success
When a new leader comes into your organization, many aspects of the relationship are effectively outside your control. You may have little-to-no input into specifying job requirements, screening for...
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