If you’ve ever complained about being overwhelmed, overbusy, or burned out, some helpful (?) person has undoubtedly advised, “You need to drop some of those balls you’re juggling!” These days, with so much about burnout in the news – and, more to the point, in our organizations and lives – “Drop those balls!” must be ringing down office corridors and …
What is an authentic leader?
Authenticity is one of those words. There’s a lot of talk about it, it’s become a buzzword in management and leadership, and … what does it actually mean? Obviously (I hope!) it’s not “letting it all hang out.” TMI (too much information) is still TMI, no matter how “authentic” someone’s experience and feelings may be. It may be completely authentic …
Delegating Decisions
There’s more to delegation than, “Here, do this thing.” A lot more. But we typically don’t think of it beyond, well, “Here, do this thing.” But what about delegating decisions? Yikes. Scary, right? What if they decide wrongly, and it comes back on you? Two reasons to delegate decisions – despite the risks The obvious reason: you’re developing and growing …
The loneliness of the first-line manager
They (whoever “they” are) say that “it’s lonely at the top.” Referring, of course, to CEOs and company founders. The thinking is that these people at the top of the company hierarchy have no one to talk with about their challenges. That may – or may not – be true. But what I’ve heard, over and over again, from my …
What does “communication” actually mean?
Everyone agrees that leaders need to communicate. But what does that actually mean? Most people learn to talk and express what they want and what they’re thinking as young children. They learn in school to answer questions, and to write essays and papers. And then we get into the workplace and we believe communication will “just happen.” But does it, really? …
An under-appreciated leadership skill
Learn to write. I’m not suggesting you need to be the next Pulitzer Prize winner or that you should write a Great American Novel. I am stating that the better you are at writing, whether it’s an email, a PowerPoint deck, a Slack message, or even a text, the more successful you’ll be. Don’t agree? Just think of the endless …
When someone is dragging…
Is someone on your team dragging? It’s hard to know what to do when a team member who’s typically a good performer starts dragging, slowing down, being less responsive, turning in lower-quality work, and just isn’t . quite . there. There’s a lot of emphasis on employee mental health these days, which on the one hand is a great thing …
Are you the company doormat?
My clients are nice people. That’s not a bad thing. As long as they’re not too nice. I was talking with one client recently who wanted help learning how to manage what seemed to them like an abundance of toxic situations in the different jobs they’d had over the years. What could be done to avoid, or at least deal with, …
The Hyde Effect in leadership
Remember Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? The mad scientist and his evil alter ego? A long time ago, I wrote an article on the “Jekyll & Hyde” effect of being promoted into leadership. It was mostly about how a leadership perspective on everything from strategy to budget is different – and rightly so – from the perspective of the individual …
Unpacking performance problems
Unpacking performance problems can be a challenge for managers. And it’s important to do, because many – most? – all? – performance issues are combinations of multiple employee behaviors and multiple manager frustrations. I had a conversation with a client this morning about a problem he wanted to address. In deconstructing what initially appeared straightforward (an accumulation of handwritten “to-do” …