The Modern Manager

You’ve planned a thoughtful agenda, sent materials as pre-work, and done everything in your power to set the meeting up for success. But then...someone takes the conversation off track. Or keeps bringing up old business and wants to rehash a decision. Or won’t stop talking. These disruptive meeting behaviors can make it hard to accomplish even the best planned meeting objectives. Effective meeting...

We live in a world of distractions. Between the endless buzzes and notifications, and the biological desire for dopamine, it’s almost impossible to expect anyone to concentrate and stay focused for more than 20 minutes. Yet that is exactly what is needed if we want to do deep, meaningful work. Jake Kahana believes that we can live a healthier life and do our best work by creating  structures and e...

Whether you’re leading a single team or an entire organization, you can’t deny that culture plays a critical role in your experience at work. The challenge is that culture is hard to design, cultivate, and sustain. It’s often the small things that make the most difference. So what can you do to shape a strong, healthy culture? Tristan White is the founder & CEO of The Physio Co, a unique healt...

Good intentions just aren’t enough when it comes to being an inclusive leader and creating an environment that truly embraces diversity. I learned that the hard way. It requires a personal journey in which you learn about yourself and others, but by doing so, you are able to become an empathic and inclusive leader needed to build a thriving team in which all people flourish.  Jennifer Brown is a l...

Decision-making can be one of the most challenging aspects of a manager’s job. You want to empower your team, but worry about whether they’ll make a decision that derails the project or negatively impacts your stakeholders. Finding the right balance is easier than you might think once you have a model for determining which decisions should be delegated and a clear method for identifying who will b...

Despite our best efforts, it's hard to ignore gender in the workplace. Gender roles and stereotypes have been reinforced in us since birth. Often, we don’t even realize our unconscious gender biases and their impact. If we truly want to create a work environment that rewards on merits, we must address gender with eyes wide open.  Andie Kramer and Al Harris, they are married practicing lawyers. The...

With so much emphasis on employee engagement programs, there is very little emphasis on the root cause of employee dis-engagement. Despite the overwhelming research on the negative effects of employee dis-engagement, very little is actually being done to move the needle. No amount of money or attention on employee reward programs, wellness efforts, or engagement programming will make a difference...

Motivation is a complicated beast. Almost every manager questions how to best motivate their team members at some point. External motivators can only take us so far. The real magic happens when we align internal motivators with the work context. Then, you don’t have to motivate people at all - they’ll motivate themselves. Steve Sisler is a Behavioral Analyst, speaker and author. Steve's consultati...

Most people think of project planning as the execution plan: Who needs to do what by when. But before we get to milestones, RACIs, or fancy gantt charts, it’s important to align the team up front on the strategy and scope of the project. Without this critical step, it’s easy for projects to go off course, friction to arise between team members, and time, energy and money to be wasted.   In this ep...

Organizations have up to five generations in the workplace, yet most people tend to congregate with others of the same generation. Even more problematic is the fear that sharing knowledge or making introductions for colleagues will somehow negatively impact one’s own career. As a manager, it’s your job to create an atmosphere of open dialogue where everyone can learn from one another, regardless o...

Why are big tech companies so successful? It’s not just that they create amazing products leveraging the newest technology. According to this week’s guest, it’s how they approach their work by focusing on continuous customer engagement and measuring outcomes. Even if you’re a service business, or an HR team inside a manufacturing company, or a small business retailer, we can all improve when we me...

We all have moments when we get in our own way. Our conscious mind is saying “this is what I want” but our subconscious mind is saying “actually...I don’t think so.” This result is a confusing mess of self-sabotaging behaviors.  David Neagle is the founder of the multimillion-dollar global coaching company Life Is Now, Inc, helping thousands of entrepreneurs, experts and self-employed professional...

Delegation is a critical skill for any manager, but did you know it’s also a mindset? Many of us have had less than ideal experiences delegating in the past, making us weary of trying again. It’s almost impossible to delegate successfully if deep down, you don’t believe it will work out. It’s time for a shift in mindset. In this episode, I talk through three common fears around delegating (which I...

Being a manager is tough. Being a new manager is really tough, even if you’ve done it before in another company or with another team. There are a few things you can do to start off strong whenever you’re taking on a new managerial role. But we can all learn from these lessons whether you’re brand new or have been with the same team for years.  John Murphy is the author of 10 Key Traits of Top Busi...

Fear is one of our most natural instincts. At its best, fear drives us to make good choices that preserve our safety and security, but at its worst, it inhibits us from taking risks and moving forward. After surveying more than 4,000 people, seven patterns of fear emerged. Knowing your fear pattern, and your colleagues', can help you all achieve your goals.  Ruth Soukup is a New York Times bestsel...

It’s that time of year again, when many of us begin thinking about what we’ve accomplished and where we’re headed - in business and in life. Using a structured process to help you reflect on the past year and plan for the next year creates a sense of accomplishment and momentum to move you into the future.  Doing it as a team helps build relationships, increases morale, and offers opportunities to...

How often does your team talk about goals (or impact or accomplishments)? And how often do you talk about your values?  Too often team or organizational values are meaningless words on the wall (or website). Unless we intentionally take steps to bring these values, the beautifully crafted inspirational values will likely never become core to the culture.  In this episode, I talk through various st...

Do you ever find yourself doing anything but what you should be? Are you highly creative, imaginative and loving? Does it ever seem like you’re too empathetic? These are just a few characteristics of a highly sensitive person. Note: Being highly sensitive is not the same as being highly emotional. HSPs are more attuned to the world around them due to how their brain is wired. As you’ll soon learn,...

“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” Oh yah? Says who?  Dr. Stan Robertson is an author, coach and speaker, and has come to be known as “the quit doctor” because of his relentless determination to heal the world of the stigma and shame associated with the concept of quitting. Dr. Stan and I talk about why quitting has a bad rap, when to quit and when not to, and how to quit successfully be...

A rockstar manager does more than make sure timelines are met and goals accomplished. They know how to get an individual or team to do the best work of their lives while finding satisfaction or meaning in the process. As this week’s guest learned, it’s not about being nice, but instead about how to be authentically yourself while enabling people to accomplish more than they ever thought possible....

In his book Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business , Gino Wickman says you have to have “the right people in the right seats.” Team values help ensure you have the 'right people' by making explicit the way the group expects people to act and interact. By doing so, you are able to elevate 'how work gets done' to the same importance as 'what is accomplished.'  In this episode, I explain what team val...

Respond, don’t react. Easier said than done. When our emotions take over, our logical brain shuts down, increasing the possibility we’ll say things we don’t mean or make poor decisions. Yet we have more control over our emotional response than you might think. Ron Shuali holds a Master of Education and has spent over 15 years presenting in the  education marketplace. He is a best selling author, t...

Meetings are one of the essential tools that managers use to get work done. While meetings are prolific, they’re only a tool to accomplish some larger purpose. How we design, structure, and engage people in these gatherings is critical.  Lindsey Caplan has been gathering people for over 15 years - first to entertain, as a comedy writer in Hollywood, then to educate for companies like DreamWorks An...

We all have days when little things seem to bother us more than they should or when our emotions take over and we over-react. It’s hard to lead others when you’re feeling unsettled yourself. It’s even harder when you discover your life isn’t aligned with true purpose. Dolores Hirschmann is an internationally recognized strategist, Clarity Coach, TEDx Organizer, speaker, and author. She has over 20...

It’s hard to get into a collaboration groove when a team’s composition is in flux. Establishing solid relationships is critical to generating trust and a sense of good will. Any time there is a change to the team’s membership, there are emotions at play - hopes and fears about what this new person will bring. In this episode, I walk through the approach I use with teams to help a new colleague–whe...