After 30 years of working, reading and studying the topic of manager’s development the quote above is still my favorite when it comes time to characterize how managers need “to be” as they perform their roles. The great Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu advised that the fundamental character of a “good manager” (He actually said leader

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You are leading a team and some (maybe all) of the members see themselves as individual contributors, not necessarily members of a team. They state and show that they’d rather work alone, and prefer individual accomplishments and results over tying their fortunes to a team. You want a cohesive team. That is, a group collaborating

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Whether you’re an official mentor or not, the way you treat your employees can play a large part in shaping their careers. Are you building their confidence and helping them learn from their mistakes? Or are you doing the opposite? While this is probably most pertinent to your youngest workers, the way you respond to

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This is a guest article by Charlyne Meinhard. You can hire the right employees, but if you don’t manage them well, those good employees may wind up messing up, rather than stepping up. Consider this scenario: Jen and Tim are managers of two totally different functions within Mid-Road Company, but they share the same frustrations

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As I travel around the country to lead workshops, I often hear frustrations with or objections to some of the supervisory/leadership techniques and approaches that I advocate and teach. I seldom hear an outright disagreement with the general approach. Instead, people express their frustration or objection like this: “That sounds great, but … “I work

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Unemployment rates are low, and your employees have options. What’s more is that employees are more likely to quit because of you, their manager, than anything else in the workplace. So if you want to avoid the high financial and productivity costs of turnover, guess what: You play a key role in keeping them from

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When you’re faced with an extremely difficult or complex decision, what should you do? Our parents, best friends and mentors always offer the sage advice: “Sleep on it.” After all, a good night’s sleep can allow you see things in a new light, think more reasonably and logically, and set your emotions aside. It’s great

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This is a guest post by Andi Simon, author of On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights. As a team leader, you are the first defense against a toxic culture. If you sense that conflict is becoming the norm, that employees are no longer working well together, that employees are overwhelmed

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“I have to work with them, but do I have to like them?” That question pops into most people’s heads from time to time. After all, you aren’t going to like everyone, all the time. Nor do you have to. People don’t have to like each other to work together successfully and productively. While liking

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71 percent of employees are searching for a new job, and with there being more job openings than people out of work, your employees (especially the top performers) have their pick of jobs. Holding on to them should be a top priority for you. However, the key to retaining them may not be what you think.

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