If you work for an organization of reasonable size you understand what I mean when I say that management often speaks in gobble-de-gook. This is a language that often turns management initiatives into alphabetical acronyms like ADIM (Advanced Data Information Management) or… Read More ›
Managing & Leading
WHEN IS IT TIME TO ACT?
If there is a more challenging question for any of us in life, I do not know what it is. Deciding when to act, especially in important situations where the stakes of our decision are high, is stressful, complicated and… Read More ›
THINKING AND ACTING FORWARD
Tradition is a very powerful and important thing. It is a glue that helps hold nations, societies, families and organizations together. Traditions are a source of pride, we celebrate them, we defend them, and we hold on to them because… Read More ›
THE MANAGER’S MAGIC FORMULA
On several occasions in this series of articles I have used the phrase “there is no magic formula” to make the point that a given situation or problem has many potential avenues of redress, none of which carries the guarantee… Read More ›
THE POWER OF AUTHENTICITY: THE COURAGE TO BE YOURSELF
There are countless books and articles dedicated to listing and exploring the qualities possessed by outstanding managers. However, I believe there is far too little attention paid to the one quality that creates an important degree of comfort we personally… Read More ›
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: ORGANIZE AROUND NETWORKS
“Networks, — social, neural, physical, metaphorical — enable connectedness and connectedness changes everything. Networks compress distances and time, that concentration speeds up life, and that, in turn, creates sociological and economic change” (“The New Victorian Age”, by Om Malik, Fast Company, May 2015, P. 38…. Read More ›
THE NON-OPEN OPEN DOOR POLICY
No manager in my memory has ever claimed he or she had a “Non-Open Door Policy”. Claiming to have an open door policy is so automatic for most managers, announcing it rolls off their tongue soon after assuming almost any… Read More ›
AN ETHICAL TRIP WIRE
Throughout human history, mankind has proven quite capable of ethical breaches that inflict harm on one another. Examples of everything from minor offenses to serious ethical lapses easily come to mind. Professional men and women with influence, power and authority over others,… Read More ›
A PLUG FOR TEAM MANAGEMENT
In their most basic form, organizational work units consist of four parts: (1) a named entity of some size (i.e. a team, branch, staff, division, etc); a service or mission focus for that unit; (3) an assemblage of human talent and skills to… Read More ›
ADVERTIZING A JOB: TELL THE TRUTH
I recently had a long conversation with a disgruntled employee. Her primary issue was that she believed she was lied to and deceived about her job when hired. She told me she applied for and was promised at her hiring a major… Read More ›