Some time ago, I wrote an article in this collection entitled “Good Managers Work At It”. The point of my essay was that success at almost anything is usually related to the amount of hard work one is prepared to invest… Read More ›
motivational management
HOW CAN I SCREW UP THIS SITUATION?
Perhaps this sounds like a strange question to ask yourself but believe me it has helped me avoid many a mistake as a manager and in my personal life. In any situation or management scenario there are numerous ways to… Read More ›
CONVERSATIONS BEAT PRESENTATIONS ANY DAY
When we hear the term presentation we tend to think of something prepared; something formal; something thought out and through ahead of time. In essence, something created in advance. We also tend to think of something of length rather than… Read More ›
GOOGLE’S WORK RULES
I’ve been on a reading kick of late and recently finished a book written by Google’s People Operations Director Laszlo Bock. Its title is Work Rules: Insights From Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live And Lead. It is… 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›