Can you believe we’re already 25% of the way through 2009? I sure can’t! So what’s been happening on Slacker Manager this month?
LOTS of great stuff!

Here are the 5 posts that generated the most comments, or were the most fun for me. If you missed them, take a few minutes now to review this month’s best of Slacker Manager.

An interview with Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten of 800-CEO-READ, authors of the 100 Best Business Books of All-Time
Great discussion about the worst interview questions of all-time
Never stop learning: The first management commandment
For the baseball fan, Resign or Commit Harry Caray
Effective managers …read more

Welcome to the new home of Slacker Manager, now part of the Bizzia network. If you’re reading via RSS or via e-mail, please click in and let me know what you think about the new look and feel. All old links and bookmarks should take you to the new location. If that doesn’t happen, please let me know.

In honor of the month coming to an end, I thought I’d do a wrap-up post for any of you that missed anything this month, or that want a quick reference for the best of the month, here you go. I’m also going …read more

Here are a few management articles I found interesting this week.

The Enlightened Manager shares When is team building not team building – “If you really want to build a team – be very intentional about it. Don’t just assume that if you bring donuts that everyone will work effectively together. You’re more likely to contribute to giving employees diabetes than giving them job skills.”

Ryan at Employee Evolution reminds us that if you’re interviewing for a job, there are some questions you can ask to make sure your boss doesn’t suck -  “In an interview, the questions you ask …read more

For immediate release
Slacker Manager Ranked #15 Career Blog by RiseSmart
Contact: Phil Gerbyshak
phil.gerbyshak@b5media.com
 

RiseSmart recently ranked the top 100 career blogs and as of January 13th, 2008, b5 Media’s Slacker Manager has been listed at #15. Other outstanding blogs honored include Tom Peters at #1, Business Pundit at #3 and Chief Happiness Officer at #4. b5 media’s Linked Intelligence was also honored at #27. Barely missing the cut was Slacker Manager co-author David Zinger’s employee engagement blog.
You can review the full list of top 100 career blogs and the algorithm for ranking the top 100 careers blogs can be found here.
Phil Gerbyshak …read more

We’re nearing the end of the year, and I’d like to recognize the top management blogs of 2007. While we have a few of our favorites in our blogroll, we’d like to add (and read) others.
Here’s what we’ve got so far:
Written Word

Management Craft with Lisa Haneberg
Managing with Aloha Coaching with Rosa Say
All Things Workplace with Steve Roesler
Leadership Turn with Miki Saxon
The Simplest Thing That Works with Erika Andersen

Spoken Word

Cranky Middle Manager hosted by Wayne Turmel
Manager Tools hosted by Mark Horstman and Michael Auzenn

So now, I’d like to
Ask the Experts
(Hey, that’s YOU, reading this blog, if you weren’t sure)
Please add your …read more

Marshall Goldsmith – December 2007 Inductee into the Order of the Golden Slacker

Marshall Goldsmith is the December inductee into Slacker Manager’s Order of the Golden Slacker.
Marshall has made outstanding contribution to management and leadership coaching, he is widely published and he is committed to helping people be the best leaders and managers they can be.
Slacker Managers do not slack off rather they find ways to make things easier or more effective for others — Marshall Goldsmith is a master of this. You could also say Marshall Goldsmith is a natural for the Order of the Golden Slacker as he has gold …read more

Regular readers of Slacker Manager know that I hold the Harvard Business Review (HBR) in high esteem.
Although the target audience is C-level leaders I believe anyone at any level of management can benefit by reading the HBR. The articles are well-written, they include wonderful illustrations, and the printed journal includes an eclectic collection of business cartoons.
What could be better than cartoons and Harvard together?
Click here to get your free 21 day pass to HBR-London. If you are a manager, make your next 3 weeks a chance to get a Harvard education.
You will have access to an engaging interactive site and …read more

Phil and I are determined to honor people who have made outstanding contributions to management.
Instead of a quick link and a list in a blogroll we have created: The Order of the Golden Slacker. We will send the inductee a certificate to acknowledge them and we will write a longer post here to honor them.
If you are not already following the contributor we induct, what are you waiting for?

David Zinger and Phil Gerbyshak (The Slacker Managers) are proud to honor our first inductee and the September inductee into the Order of The Golder Slacker.
Ms. Lisa Haneberg

The Order of the Golden Slacker is …read more

Bain & Co. recently published their annual report about the top Management Tools of 2007. Some of their best include:

Strategic planning
Customer relationship management
Benchmarking
Mission and vision statements
Core competencies
Knowledge management
Strategic alliances

Of course there are quite a few more listed there that you can learn from. I cherry picked my favorite 7.
What about you? What do YOU see as the top management tools you’re using in 2007? Is Bain’s list correct or are they way off the mark? What’s missing from this list?
Hat tip to Skip at Be Excellent for finding this gem.
[Phil Gerbyshak tries to spend every day using the tools …read more

Twitter is a deceptively simple utility. That said, Twitter isn’t for everyone. In fact it’s probably not even for half of everyone. But for those that have the patience to find their personal sweet spot, Twitter can be quite good indeed. If you’re not familar with Twitter, it’s pretty easy to describe. It’s instant messaging with a group. You post a short message via IM, web or other utility (see below) and other Twitterers who are “following” you will see your message. Some have called Twitter a form of microblogging and I think that’s a helpful way of looking at …read more