The Manager Track

This episode is a re-release of Episode # 108, the most downloaded episode of 2022. In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast , we’re going to talk about some of the most common mistakes that I see with people running one-on-one meetings. We know that it is important to have recurring meetings with our direct reports, but when not run effectively, these meetings can turn into a huge time...

Over the past couple of months, I have done numerous 360-degree assessments and debriefs with leaders across the ranks. While the results are highly personalized based on the specific feedback from direct reports, colleagues and managers, there are also some themes that stand out to me as broader common challenges for leaders. In this episode, I'll share with you my personal observations on what t...

How would your team members describe the culture of your team? And would you even know how to begin designing a team culture? In my first few years as a manager, I definitely had no clue how to do this. And in honest reflection, I think I even abdicated the "culture work" to the company, i.e. the executives and HR. But that was a mistake. As leaders of a team, no matter how big or small, we have i...

Similar to your GPS recalculating the best route during a car trip, we need to constantly deal with changes in the workplace, and maybe even in our careers. We might encounter unexpected obstacles or circumstances and have to recalculate where we're going. If you've been thinking about career moves, are dealing with a setback, or are in the midst of a role transition, you probably know exactly wha...

Workplace belonging is critical to employee retention, happiness, & productivity. In fact, a study found that employees with a strong sense of belonging have a 56% higher level of overall job performance. Building and maintaining a strong connection with your team members is probably something you're thinking about a lot. We are going through times when people are resigning more frequently tha...

For the past 4 years, I've had the honor to support a nonprofit organization called Ignite, which stands for Inspiring Girls Now In Technology Evolution. In addition to a range of work I've done together with the Ignite team, the tool we've been using to help facilitate their growth in communication and what we're going to talk about in this episode is called Cloverleaf. I'm joined by Amber Zertuc...

9 out of 10 people on your team are thinking about their next career steps, their growth, and their development. If that's all chatter in their heads or chats with their friends, then you might be caught off guard by resignations or disengagement. As a manager, it's your responsibility to create the time and space to speak about your direct reports' careers (inside AND outside your org!) so you ca...

In a time when phrases such as quiet quitting , the great resignation , and employee disengagement continue to gain traction, it is vital that we as leaders talk about employee engagement. While occasionally, it's better for employees to leave and move on, in most cases that loss of great talent could have been avoided. When leaders create alignment and help people see and even co-create their pur...

If you want to hear from an experienced leader who has started and built a number of companies about what it takes to step into a leadership role and let go of the habits that once made you successful as an individual contributor... then this episode is for you! In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast, I am joined by Jason Scott . Jason is a CEO, founder, speaker, author, instructor, a...

What does dating someone and onboarding a new team member have in common? Both are about discovering the other's preferences and values and communicating your own. In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast , I will share why you should be creating a User Guide (aka READMEs) for the people you work with. Within the employee-manager relationship, there are only a few things more vital than...

Feedback is our #1 tool for improvement. But most of us need to learn how to give feedback effectively as it's not something we really learn until we find ourselves in our first leadership role. In addition to learning and practicing the tactical skills, we also need to pay attention to the feedback culture within our organization or team so that feedback is intentionally built into the habits and...

“How will I know that it's the right time for me to work with a leadership coach?” This is a question that I was recently asked in a podcast interview and I wanted to share my answer with you here on The Manager Track podcast . I'm going to share one of my own experiences working with a coach, along with three specific signals that it's time to work with a leadership coach. — RESOURCES MENTIONED —...

The question is how to lead a thriving team… but not just any team. We don’t want mediocre teams, but rather thriving teams where people feel like both they personally, and the team as a unit are thriving. In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast , I am joined by Kirsten Moorefield, who has spent countless hours with hundreds of teams from startups to Fortune 100 companies, observing a...

“Quiet Quitting” has been a buzzword for the last couple of months…and if you’re a little bit like me, you might even have started to cringe every time you hear the phrase now. I’ve refrained from speaking about the topic so far because it seems to be broadly misconstrued and it aims to address a complex problem with an overly simple term or solution for that matter. However, after sharing my thou...

Did you know that a good 70% of employees avoid conflict? Where do you land on this? Are you avoiding conflict at work? I definitely used to be guilty as charged ;-) and even though I feel equipped to navigate conflict these days, it still doesn’t come easy. If this sounds at least a bit familiar to you, then you've got to meet my colleague Sarah Albo. Sarah is a Conflict Coach (yes, that’s a thin...

In my first few months as a new manager, I couldn’t bear the thought of having to give feedback to my direct reports… …who happened to also be my former peers. But I knew it was inevitable. So I braced myself and started having feedback conversations in 1-on-1s and throughout the week. Although I was giving feedback (as I had to), I hated it. It felt uncomfortable, awkward, and weird. Over time, t...

Did you know that ‘improv’ training can improve teamwork, communication, presentation skills, and creative problem-solving, and can strengthen a company’s overall corporate culture? In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast , you’ll hear my conversation with Erin Diehl, where we discuss how the mindsets of improv are transferrable to leadership and teamwork, and how letting go and embrac...

If you have been eyeing a leadership role, but wonder if you are actually cut out to be a leader… Or if you are already leading a team, but you find it hard or exhausting, and you worry that you might not be made for this job… then this episode is for you! In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast , I am going to help you come up with your personal answer to the question of if you are cu...

Most companies have a predefined onboarding process for new team members which is great! But after having many conversations with leaders and employees I've found that there are often at least a few missing gaps. In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast, I am going to fill some of these gaps by covering, in my opinion, the five most commonly overlooked steps of the onboarding process: E...

It can be tricky when one of your direct report resigns, especially when they’ve been doing a great job. If you are a new manager, you may not have experienced a resignation yet, but it is inevitable that at some point an employee will resign. When you hear them say it out loud or you read their termination letter, you may experience self-doubt and question what you could have done better, or why...

Too many new managers are being set up to join the 40-60% of new managers who fail or underperform in their first 2 years. It often has nothing to do with their capabilities, but rather the lack of proper training, support, and guidance that is necessary to make them successful in this new management role. In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast, I will be sharing a list of 6 things I...

My business coach recently asked me some questions about the relationship I have with my business. As I answered the questions, it occurred to me that these questions apply not only to business owners but to anyone else who works. In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast , I will ask you 4 specific questions. I invite you to grab a pen and paper, then pause the episode to answer them as...

Being in a leadership role comes with a lot of unspoken rules. Things that are not written in your job description, yet are critical for you to know in order to succeed. More precisely, these unspoken rules are all about these small, often overlooked things that can make a big difference in how people see you, how they feel in your presence, and the trust they have in you. I got thinking about the...

Many workplaces have decided to go hybrid since the pandemic… but in doing so have unveiled an entirely new glass ceiling for those choosing to work from home. In this week’s episode of The Manager Track podcast, we’re going to talk about presenteeism and the bias toward proximity that leaves remote employees at a serious disadvantage for receiving promotions and bonuses. You will learn: What the...

Remember that time when you had a "WIN" at work?  Maybe you nailed an impressive presentation, got some awesome praise, or closed a major deal - and you felt great about yourself, right? But then on another day, you got some criticism, or maybe your presentation fell flat and didn't go as planned, or perhaps you lost an important deal or a big client and you blamed yourself because you knew t...