Archive for March, 2009
« Previous EntriesAre You A Leader Or A Manager?
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009The company is in trouble – due to the recession, orders are down and so are the employees.
Picture a manager dropping by a regional office and a leader doing the same…
Manager: “How many orders have you got this month so far?
Leader: “How is the new focus on customer service working?”
Manager: “What are you doing to [...]
Management By Storying Around
Monday, March 30th, 2009
I get to listen to late night radio shows due to my insomnia. Last night I heard an interview with David Armstrong who is a CEO and author of several management books. He pioneered a technique which he calls “Management by Storying Around.” I assume that he borrowed part of this title from Hewlett and [...]
Go To The Head Of “The Table,”
Sunday, March 29th, 2009
There is a golden opportunity awaiting courageous HR people who are willing to take charge by going outside the traditional boundaries. In this economy, a company has 2 choices: Cut costs or raise revenue. Cutting costs to stay afloat is a temporary fix, because if you’re not growin’ you’re gonna wilt and die.
So, let us be [...]
Just Say No
Thursday, March 26th, 2009I’ve never been very good at just saying no to my bosses. When people today are complaining (practically rioting) about executive pay and bonuses, I can’t help but think about the Human Resource Directors who just couldn’t say no, let alone the Board of Directors.
Personally I think that the fuss from our government is a [...]
Twittering Your Way To The Unemployment Line
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009You probably heard about the guy who jeopardized his new job at Cisco Systems because of his comment on Twitter (how he hated the work). My mother told me a long, long time ago to always be careful what you put in print because it can haunt you forever.
In fact, I sometimes worry about what I [...]
A Guy Who We Could All Learn From
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
And that guy is Guy Kawasaki There are articles that I have kept forever. One of them is an interview with Guy about 17 years ago and it is like good wine – it gets better with age.
Here are some of the gems that Guy shared:
Most business schools don’t have a clue about the real world of [...]
People Don’t Work For Money
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009No, I lied. People go to work because they have to make money in order to survive. Yes, there are the exceptions – independently wealthy folks who take a job to stay busy and the wonderful volunteers who are giving back to society. The rest of us slobs have to slog into work everyday.
Now, that [...]
Don’t Sanitize Your Communication Toooo Much
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009When it comes to communication, my mentor is Frank Roche over at KnowHR. In fact, if y’all want to learn from Frank, buy his book advertised on his blog. In there, he talks about leaving some of the raw edges on your communication by not letting a good editor sanitize your work to the extreme.
This [...]
Mel Has Another Problem
Thursday, March 19th, 2009Our friend Mel (see last post) also disagrees with the Company’s Merit Pay Program. When Mel asks his supervisor about it, she sends him to the Human Resources Department who does a reasonable job at explaining it to him. Mel doesn’t have much of a quarrel with the system – he just has two concerns:
1. [...]
Old Pay Problems Still Hang On
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009I wonder if anyone in Human Resources has solved the nagging compensation problem like this one:
I’m thinking about a blue collar worker, we’ll call Mel, who peaks early. He has minor skills, works moderately hard and goes home. He does the job, but no more. Supervisors tolerate him and have no real reason to let him go. After so many years, Mel grows unhappy [...]