I’ve been reading a copy of Be Bodacious: Put Life in Your Leadership recently, and it’s been one of the better business books I’ve read this year. I’ve realized that a good mix of “story” and “lesson” is what I enjoy in a book. While there are a lot of good picks out there, a good book needs something to tie it all together and make it stick.
-Thorough, blatant, umistakable
-Remarkable, outstanding
-Audacious; bold or brazen Continue reading
Check out the short video below. I have recently become increasingly interested in the topic of workplace culture, and I think people underestimate the power it holds. Companies like Netflix know what their culture really means, and taking the first step to define it is a big part of the process.
(Subscribers may have to click through to view) Continue reading
Check out the short video below. I had the chance to go through a supervisor training session in recent weeks, and although I enjoyed myself and learned a few lessons, I felt like there was something missing…
(Subscribers may have to click through to view)
So, what do you think? Does a training program that focuses solely on the minimum “don’t do these things” really get people in the right mindset to lead well?
Today’s post is kicking off with a fun little video you might have seen making the rounds online last fall. (Subscribers may have to click through to view.)
Within a few days of its release, this video had thousands of views on YouTube. Even now when I hear that song by Chris Brown I still think of the video. This extremely long introduction is helping me make a comparison between fads and those management/leadership training initiatives we’ve all been a part of.
Okay, we\’ve all been through the latest management fads, right? If not, here\’s how it usually goes.
Does that sound familiar? I hope not, but I’m pretty sure it’s ubiquitous. So what can we do about these things? I don’t have an answer for how to solve the problem long-term, but I do have an idea for the short run. Keep this in mind when you’re being pitched to with another silver bullet: there’s no such thing as a cure-all.
Yes, you can work on issues one at a time, but you just can’t fix everything all at once. Not that you shouldn’t make the attempt to advance the organization and develop your employees, but keep that fact in mind.
So, do you have something you’d like to share? Maybe a training session gone bad? I’d love to hear your war stories!
I think one responsibility leaders have is asking tough questions. Getting your people to think about what their roles are and how they can best fill them is a challenge all managers face.
Recently my own manager asked a series of difficult questions in a department meeting. In responding to the questions, I felt like my opinion was valued and I worked through some thorny issues I’ve dealt with lately. It was really a fantastic exercise. I won’t reproduce my answers here, but it won’t hurt to share the thought-provoking questions with you, right?
1) What’s one think you want to improve? This could be whatever you like. It’s pretty open. Think of something.
2) What’s one thing you want to do that you’ve never done before? My list for this could be a mile long. Asking this question shows that you want to help your people advance in their careers.
3) What’s one thing for the department to improve? What would make yours better? Help your people uncover those issues that may be invisible to you as a manager. Or maybe you can see if the same problems you’ve observed are visible to them. So many possibilities for this one!
4) What’s something I (the manager) am not doing/providing for you (the employee)? Admit that you don’t know everything. Maybe you’ve missed something. Go for it. Who knows what you’ll find out?
These aren’t magic questions. They don’t really solve any problems. They do, however, provide a means of uncovering hidden issues and addressing them. And all it takes is actually asking your people. Funny how that works, huh?
Expectations. They are such a large part of our work. From the very first time we interview to the regular performance reviews we all love to hate, we’re trying to meet someone’s expectations. There’s a big problem with that, though. We don’t always know what someone’s expectations are.
I do some freelance work on the side. I used to do a lot of writing, but now I’ve moved to blog/web design. Anyway, sometimes I listen to and read resources that deal with freelance work. Recently I found a great one that talked about how much of a difference it makes in the project if you set expectations beforehand. I can’t seem to find the article any more, but the gist of it was this:
Doesn’t that sound fun? The poor freelance worker just wants to get the project done and get paid. The client wants the project done and off his plate. But the expectations weren’t clear enough to make it work from the beginning.
I can look at my own workplace and see similar examples, and I bet you can, too. Someone’s trying to get a project done without passing along all of the information, and that wastes the efforts of the team. I wonder how many times people see this kind of thing as micromanagement? It isn’t really micromanagement as much as bad communication from the very beginning.
Here’s the moral of the story: set clear expectations when you’re managing a person (or a project). It saves headaches and generally makes for a happier outcome in the long run.
Ever run into a problem because expectations weren’t communicated clearly? Ever had to restart a project when someone didn’t give you all the information? I’d love to hear your experiences.
Shall I make yet another confession? Yes, I believe I shall.
I like comic books.
While I haven\’t been an active reader in years, I still love flipping through them at the bookstore. Recently my brother passed me a copy of a magazine that had an article about Marvel Comics (the company that made the movies for Spiderman, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, etc.). The article focused on their editor in chief, Joe Quesada. I think there were some great leadership (and HR) tenets that were covered, and I\’ll share a few of them with you. Continue reading
