Sunday Six Pack: 10-11-09

This week I am on the road, so I actually wrote this early in the week. If you wrote anything after Thursday that I missed, I apologize. I may include you in next week’s round-up.

LOTS of great stuff to choose from in my short week. I think you’ll enjoy all six of these wonderful articles. On second thought, of course I do. I wouldn’t share them if they were terrible. :)

Miki Saxon leads us off with 7 = 2 = Engagement:

Here are 7 words that describe 2 management actions.

Embrace the words; let them guide your actions and watch your team’s productivity skyrocket and turnover plummet.

The actions are painless and they work.

Jennifer V. Miller penned The Humanity of Leadership for HR Bartender:

The more humane a leader seems, the more approachable employees will perceive him/her to be.  And when employees are comfortable engaging their leader, that sets up a perfect environment for the leader to demonstrate those “people skills” chops.

Kris Dunn (The HR Capitalist) wrote about The Two Faces of Executive Coaching in Corporate America (One’s Cool, One Makes me Want to Shower…) (note: free account login required, but it’s worth it)

At its best, coaching can boost the performance of talent at all levels. And so I’m a believer in the power of professional coaching—from the right person. Here are a few of the other coaching “truths” I’ve observed in my own career:

There’s a lot that’s broken in the executive coaching industry. At its worst, executive coaching can seem like you’re ordering the “Get rich quick” DVD set from a pitchman whose infomercial runs on cable access at 3 a.m. Other coaching downsides:

Sylvia Ann Hewlett penned Downsizing the Right Way (helpful to many managers in this challenging times):

Badly handled downsizings reverberate for years. The talented employees tossed on the scrap heap will be back in the marketplace — as customers, clients and, when business picks up, competitors, eager to lure their former colleagues to their new teams. And if those A-team players are still scarred by a callous layoff, they won’t think twice about leaving.

If RIFs are unavoidable, how can companies protect and reassure their stars? How can they ensure their best and brightest stay fully engaged even as their colleagues are being let go?

Jim Estill offers some insights from Gary Hamel about Competing with the Future (you HAVE to click in to get the awesome diagram that I’ll be printing out and hanging on my cube):

So the goal is how do you create a company that can innovate and change. Seek creative destruction. Bottom line -EVERYONE in the company needs to be creative and innovate. How do we unleash the creative potential of everyone.

Dumb Little Man closes out the week with The Death of Multi-Tasking and the Rebirth of Uni-Tasking:

It has been shown in numerous studies that people who try and multitask actually lose efficiency and productivity levels drop. The guy on the phone, checking his emails whilst telling their work colleague what to do maybe be doing three things at once however he is doing three things at once very badly and not efficiently enough to be doing the job correctly.

What did you learn this week? Please share your favorite article in the comments below. Thanks :)

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dudup/1819488234/