Great Circle

Randy Frazee (in his book The Connecting Church) wrote the following:
“Whatever we measure is really our mission“
In other words, you might say that you are committed to being a cheerful parent who makes his/her children feel appreciated and safe in the world. And yet your measurement of how well things are going at your house [...]

After the success (cough cough) of my Top Ten Customer Service Maxims, I thought I’d try the same thing with managerial behaviours. Again, I’ve left the last 3 blank, not because I’m lazy (cough cough) but because I’m interested in your wisdom here, Dear Reader.
Here are my takes on useful managment behaviours:

When you train, don’t [...]

Several months ago I had the pleasure of reading Rosa Say’s signature work Managing with Aloha.  If you find yourself in a new context as a manager or you are discovering that older methods of managing are just not helping you glean the best from your staff (or retain them), this book is a must.
At [...]

People used to say about one of my old workmates:”Bill’s got 110% enthusiasm. But it’s that extra 10% that gets him in trouble”.
I’ve come to disagree.
Bill’s problem was not too much enthusiasm; that was his strength (or one of them). His problem was the weakness(es) that undermined the good his optimism and energy accomplished. His good work was undone by poor communication.
If [...]

Let’s face it Boss/Manager/Leader, your time is valuable … and so is that of your staff.
Before you go dragging busy people into another team meeting, ask yourself these questions:

Is there actually a more effective delivery system for the information I want to pass on?
Is there too much talk and not enough action in my department or office? How’s [...]

Sick of meetings? Finding you’re jumping through hoops instead of getting your work done?
You’re not alone and business commentators have been singing the praises of decentralising and debureaucratising workplaces for a couple of decades now. I love this recent post by Kevan Hall - and the picture at Slow Leadership expresses what most of us are thinking [...]

 As a design nut and hobbyist systems thinker, I really liked the post that starts below. It was very thought-provoking. Hope it helps… (Pete)

Quick;
Cheap;
Innovative;
Good.

You can choose any two of the four, but whichever two you choose rule out the other two. It goes like this:
If you choose to provide a product or service that [...]

When supervising others (be they paid staff or the unpaid volunteers who help in the school office), there comes a time for confronting and challenging their behaviour. I found a terrific article online which gets inside the situation and gives some nice short sharp “how-to’s”, such as specific behaviours (and missing behaviours) to focus on.
It [...]