Early on in my management career, I gave what I thought was a pretty good idea to one of my direct reports. Bill LOVED the idea, and he immediately implemented it, and it made a big difference for our customers.
Shortly after implementing it, one of our customers mentioned to my manager how much she loved Bill’s idea. My manager made time to come by and congratulate my associate for the great idea, and rather than mention that I gave him the idea, Bill’s took full credit for it.
As soon as I heard Bill take credit for MY IDEA, I immediately …read more

Today’s the day that folks in most of the US “spring forward” and get an hour less sleep – and hopefully an hour MORE daylight in their day. I could sure use more daylight. The coldness of winter definitely depresses me.
Now that I get an hour more of daylight, I’ll get an hour more of productive time in my day. Getting up at 6 AM doesn’t feel quite as bad knowing there’ll be some sunshine sometime in the day.
What’s a manager to do with an extra hour of productivity?
LOTS of things!

5 things to do with an extra hour of …read more

Take 10 seconds: Who was the worst manager you ever had?
Bet it didn’t even take you the full 10 seconds.
Take 10 more seconds: What did he/she do that made him/her the worst?
Here’s your Monday morning management tip
NEVER do what drove you crazy to ANYONE who reports to you, or who you report to!
These are quick things you can implement quickly on a Monday morning, and that you can use all week long.
Do you have a tip to share? Please share it below in the comments, so we can all make it a GREAT week!
Angry photo credit to sxc.hu

MULTI-TASKING MUST DIE! I said, and I believe it. I just can’t do it, at least not with everything. You probably can’t either.
At the very least, I know I can single task my direct reports and so can you. If you’re having a conversation with one of your direct reports, the worst thing you can do is try to multi-task them and focus on other things. Not only is it rude to the other person, but it’s also not a very effective way to get anything done. Every time I find myself multi-tasking the people who report to me, I …read more

For the past 3 years, my team and my peers teams along with our manager, have gotten together for a 15 minute huddle to talk about what’s going on with our respective teams. It starts with one manager sharing what projects being worked on, his or her personal time off, and anyone who is off on the team for that day, then another manager shares, then another manager shares, then associates share, and then we go back to clarify anything and take questions.
These are the most powerful 15 minutes of our week for a number of reasons. I’ll share the …read more

John Blumberg shared a shocking statistic: 7% of employees leave their managers because they didn’t say good morning.
How hard is it to say “Good Morning” to the people that report to you?
Must be harder than I thought, as 7% of managers don’t say it often enough to their employees.
Being the imperfect manager that I am, I wondered to myself what I’m not saying to my team enough, and I came up with a few things I’m going to work into my daily conversation with my team.
A few statements:
Good morning.
Thank you.
I appreciate the work you do.
You make my job easier.
Great …read more

Paul Williams is a former Starbucks marketer who runs the Idea Sandbox. Often, Paul challenges the way I think with his refreshing way of looking at marketing in a whole new way, in a way that removes all the crap and just focuses on the key points.
Recently, Paul wrote Starbucks Has Nothing to Lose – Freakin’ Go For It!. He’s got 5 great points for Starbucks…and if you shift the focus away from Starbucks towards your team, you’ll see they are very applicable for those of us who manage people.
I’ve revised them to make them most relevant to managers like …read more

This week’s Monday Morning Management Tip is a simple, but not easy, one: solicit feedback. I’ll talk about the who, and the how, of feedback below. The first few times I did this, I didn’t like what I got back from folks, but I carried on and did it anyway. You should too.
From whom should you solicit feedback?

Your boss
Your direct reports
Your customers/clients/users
Your peers

How do you solicit feedback?
First, realize that feedback is a gift, so forcing people to give feedback will not work, at least not if you want honest feedback. Some won’t trust you enough, feel like they don’t know …read more

Thanks for tuning in for another Monday Morning Management Tip. Quick tips to help you impact your team on a Monday morning.
This week’s tip is managing by walking around. Invest 15 minutes this Monday morning in your team to getting up, walking around and seeing how team is REALLY doing.
I’m not saying you should micro-manage your team’s tasks; I’m saying to take a genuine interest in your team.
Ask about your direct reports family, about projects they are working on, about what they’re eating for lunch, or whatever else might matter to them, on their turf. Get out from behind your …read more

“Great leaders of the most successful companies in the world are great stewards.” – Jason Jennings

Those words rang in my ears as I left the 2008 HDI Annual Conference a few weeks ago, and they are still bouncing around in my head today.
Jason Jennings shared a great message, about how the organizations he studied all had a few key things in common, and sealed the deal with the quote I share with you above.
Great leaders…are great stewards.
So simple, yet so profound. Let’s break this down to try to understand what it all means.
What is a great steward?
A great steward puts …read more