Dear Madeleine, I know you have heard it before, but I just don’t know what to do about the amount of email I get. I cannot possibly attend to it all. I am constantly showing up at meetings and facing the question “Did you read my email?” The answer is almost always no, but people…
With so much emphasis on setting goals at the beginning of the New Year, why do so many people end up off track by the middle of March? Ken Blanchard discovered the reason early in his career after the release of his all-time best-selling business book with Spencer Johnson, The One Minute Manager®. In working…
People in HR and L&D departments sometimes hear stories about how when someone presents a training budget proposal to the finance department and senior leaders, the executives will sit with their arms crossed and a skeptical look on their faces that makes it clear they believe there’s no way training is going to add value…
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…
One of the biggest challenges leadership, learning, and talent development professionals face when they propose a new initiative is convincing their CEO of the financial impact of the proposed initiative. Without a clear sense of the positive financial impact, it’s easy for a leader to dismiss a new proposal as being too disruptive, too expensive,…
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Each of these one-word questions can push organizational leaders and their team members toward the clarity they need to achieve success. In this post I’d like to focus on who and what. When leaders set clear expectations, outcomes are much more likely to hit the mark. And it’s just…
More and more organizations are looking for their managers to use coach-like behaviors in conversations with their direct reports. Here are five of the most important techniques coaches use in their conversations with clients. Consider how these techniques could help the managers in your organization be more coach-like in their communication style. Be fully present.…
Dear Madeleine, I am a new manager of a large team in retail. The work is fast and furious and involves constant running around and heavy customer service. I have no complaints except one. How do you do your life when you work like a fiend with no coming up for air during regular working…
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…
I woke up this morning to a face full of licking and paws on my chest. Now, Chico isn’t a small dog—he’s a bull terrier who was described as “one big muscle” by a guy on his way to work today. So his stepping on my stomach didn’t just pull me out of my dreams,…