Responsibility for leadership shouldn’t fall on only the person with position power. Leadership needs to be more of a partnership, according to Susan Fowler, co-creator of the newly redesigned Self Leadership program from The Ken Blanchard Companies. “We have to look at leadership as a two-sided coin,” says Fowler. “Some people in organizations don’t realize…
Dear Madeleine, I am a senior leader in a large commercial services organization. I spent many years learning how to make good use of an assistant and I’ve always made sure I had a great one. Over the last few years, the company has been reducing the size of the administration group and I have…
“Too many leaders have been conditioned to think of leadership only in terms of power and control,” says best-selling business author Ken Blanchard in the July/August issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine. “But there is a better way to lead—one that combines equal parts serving and leading. This kind of leadership requires a special kind…
Dear Madeleine, I manage a large team of graphic artists for a popular online magazine. A few of my people are employees who do other tasks for the magazine, but most of my artists are independent contractors. On the whole, they are professional and easy to work with—but a couple are simply a pain in…
Dear Madeleine, I am the manager of a large group of service professionals. Earlier this year, I was inspired by a management book to set goals with my people and then give them the autonomy to decide how to achieve them. It sounded good on paper, but here we are at the end of the…
Some people carry an extraordinary share of the load at work. You know them—people who seem to be on everyone’s go-to list. Sometimes it’s an IT resource. Sometimes it’s a project manager. Sometimes it’s the person who has the clout or the drive to get things done. Often, 20 to 35 percent of value-added collaborations…
We all have something in common—no matter what you do for living, what your social status or job is, whether you’re an executive or executive assistant—life seems to move way too fast. If only you could finish the last email or get that important project started then everything would be okay. If you just get…
Dear Madeleine, I am a senior project manager in a service organization. I manage client-facing work as well as hundreds of independent contractors. I recently got behind on my list—the endless small tasks that add up to outstanding service—and I shelved a few items to take care of when I came back from a week’s…