Archive for August 2012
The Last Magic Question
Today we wrap up the Three Magic Questions that help you stop taking on the problems of people you manage. They work. Guaranteed. Here’s a quick review. You manage people. People want to escalate their problems to you so you can worry about them and they can wash their hands of them. You don’t like…
Read MoreAre You Working your Management Magic?
In the last blog we shared the first of the three Magic Questions to help you stop taking on the problems of people you manage. If you’ve tried Magic Question Number One, I’ll bet you’ve already seen a change in the way your team interacts with you. So now let’s take it to the next…
Read MoreThree Magic Management Questions. Guaranteed.
If you manage people – even one – you understand the frustration of having someone else’s problems escalated to you. There’s an easy way to deal with that when it does happen, and to stop it from happening again. It’s a three-step process, and it involves three simple questions. The Magic Questions. Master them and…
Read MoreTo get stuff done, stop doing things
It’s tempting to stay busy just for the sake of feeling busy. Spin lots of plates. Keep lots of balls in the air. You know the drill. Answer email during the conference call. Text while you’re driving. The more things you can keep moving at one time, the more effective you are, right? Turns out…
Read MoreDon’t be a Cricket Chaser
Regular readers of this blog already know I hate to fish. Sorry, I just do. My father tried to use fishing as a paternal bonding experience (one, I might add, from which our relationship never quite recovered). I would rather have had my intestines pulled out through my nose than get in a little rowboat…
Read MoreFear the Tweet
I used to think that the “send” button on an email was the most dangerous potential click on the computer. Not anymore. Now I think the most dangerous button is “Tweet”. You know the feeling. You get an email from somebody being difficult. You want to vent, so you forward it to one of your…
Read MoreSecret to success. Guaranteed. Read On…
I heard a really good keynote speaker several years ago, and he had some advice that has stuck with me for a long time. At the outset of his talk he claimed to have discovered the secret to success. Cue the skepticism. Everybody knows that the key to success is marrying rich. He was going…
Read MoreIt’s Never Too Late to Think
I work with a business owner I’ll call Al who recently lost a star employee. Al was totally blindsided, and didn’t see the loss coming. The employee appeared happy, challenged, engaged and committed. Next thing Al knew, he was gone. Al brought up the loss in a recent TAB board meeting. He talked about how…
Read MoreHow to Annoy the Crap Out of the IT Department (v.2.0)
OK admit it, you really do resent those geeks in the IT department. They work whenever they want to, they dress funny, and they probably spend most of their “work” time playing video games and hacking into our systems to read our personal email. Sure, we’ve already burned one blog sharing ideas on how to…
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