The students in my MBA class on Leadership in Action are confronting the difference between the reality of leadership and the romance of leadership. By romance, I am referring to the concepts or ideas they have of what it is to be a leader. For example, some of them believe that if they just have […]
One of the myths the students and managers in my leading and managing change classes persist in believing is that people don’t “buy in” to a change is because there is something they don’t understand. They are mistaken. Implicit in this “myth of understanding” is the belief that understanding is the key to agreement, acceptance, […]
I was recently asked by a manager in one of my classes what she could do to increase her credibility. I told “Keep a Due List and follow up on it.” Most people have some form of a “To Do” list, which lets them know the things they have to do. But credibility and a […]
A project manager in a program I recently led asked “How can I best manage my people to accomplish a change?” I told him, “Don’t manage your people, manage the agreements you have with them.” Agreements are the foundation for performance. Many managers believe the key to getting things done is to appeal to people’s […]
One way to effectively manage a boss is to give her a deadline when she doesn’t give you one. One of the complaints I frequently get from managers in my MBA classes is that their bosses rarely say by when they want something done. Bosses say things like “when you get a chance”, “this week”, […]
Have you ever noticed that people could be much more effective if they would just ask for clarification? A student of mine came up after I had handed back an exam and said “I don’t see why I lost these points (pointing to his score on a question). I didn’t really understand this question, so […]
One way to become more effective is to work on what is real, not on what you made up. I recently showed the daughter of a good friend around the Ohio State campus. She is interested in going to college, so I took her around OSU so she could get a feel for the. As […]
I recently talked to Jeremy, a staff member whose organization is changing from one type of work structure to another. Prior to the change, each work unit in the organization made recommendations on how the allocation of work in their area, who should do the work, and the timelines that should apply. According to Jeremy, […]
To keep the support of their sponsors, black belts and other specialists will do well to manage the agreements they have with sponsors. The director of a lean management program recently approached me with a problem he was having with program sponsors prohibiting students from implementing their lean projects at work. According to the director, […]
Influencing others – having an impact on their ideas, opinions, and actions – requires using different types of conversations and not recognizing this limits our effectiveness. I recently read an article in which the authors maintain that effective leadership requires influencing others and that leaders can influence those others through five different influence styles. The […]
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