Management Craft

Tip of the Day - #27

Lead like there's no tomorrow.

A coworker of mine got some pretty wicked news that she has a very aggressive form of cancer at 36 years of age. Another coworker recently lost a parent in a tragic accident. An old coworker recently lost her job when her company went belly-up.

It is a shame that it often takes events like these to snap us back to appreciating each day and living fully for the moment.

Books, articles, and classes tell us to live in and be fully present.

And yet so few of us live this way.

Think about who you are being right now. Are you holding back more than you should? Are you putting off going for what you want in life? Are you appreciating, and yes even loving, your life today?

I don't want to live in fear for what could happen, but I do want to get better at living well, healthy, fully and for today (with an eye to the future).

Are you feeling lucky? Here are 10 Ways to create your own luck.

10. Get real. If you are on a computer, surfing the net, and reading blogs, you have a lot to feel lucky about. Your life is great already.

9. Determine who you should know. They say it’s not what you know but who you know. So get to know the right people!

8. Be more observant. Luck is all around you.

7. Take a chance every now and then. S-t-r-e-t-c-h yourself.

6. Do your research. Master a topic so that your brain can get into the nitty gritty of the inner workings where the tiniest of advantages can be discovered and utilized.

5. Say you are lucky and you are (Pygmalion).

4. Be more curious and ask lots of open ended questions that open doorways to new conversations and opportunities.

3. Notice the habits and disciplines of lucky people around you. Learn from what they do.

2. Share your dreams until you are blue in the face due to lack of oxygen.

1. Play more to win more (in life that is, I am not advocating gambling).

That's my double ringer, by the way. Totally legit. I got this against my brother at my dad's 75th birthday party last year. I blogged about the shindig here. (We call it a hoot'n-anny but I don't know how to spell it)

Tip of the Day - #26

Ask your boss to lunch.

We should do this periodically, and most of us wait for our boss to ask. The topic/reason should be nothing heavy or super-duper official. It's just an opportunity to catch up and build the relationship.

So go dutch an enjoy getting to know your boss a bit better.

Tip of the Day - #25

Walk at a Brisk Pace

The pace of the workplace is important, and we can influence this with something so small at how fast we walk.

Option 1: It’s Tuesday, and a long way from the weekend. Work is just not that interesting and you’re shuffling along at a Savanna pace.

Option 2: It’s Tuesday, and there’s much to get done so that you can enjoy the weekend. You walk at a brisk pace and keep the blood flowing to your brain.

Option 2 will serve you and those around you better.

Other things you do affect pace, but this one thing makes a big difference.

Tip of the Day - #24

Give honest, sincere appreciation.

This tip comes from Dale Carnegie’s, How to Win Friends and Influence People from a section called, The Big Secret of Dealing with People. Here’s how he distinguishes appreciation from flattery:

“The difference between appreciation and flattery? That is simple. One is sincere and the other is insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out. One is unselfish; the other selfish. One is universally admired; the other universally condemned.... If all we had to do was flatter, everybody would catch on and we should all be experts in human relations.

When we are not engaged in thinking about some definite problem, we usually spend about 95 percent of our time thinking about ourselves. Now, if we stop thinking about ourselves for a while and begin to think of the other person’s good points, we don’t have to resort to flattery so cheap and false that it can be spotted almost before it is out of the mouth.”

Well, there’s nothing unclear or indirect about that advice from Carnegie, is there!

This is a great tip for everyone, but particularly important for managers and leaders, who rely on the strengths of their relationships to get things done.

Tip of the Day - #23

Play Hooky

We all need to take a break every now and then. I'm gonna do that today, so this post is ultra short. Just a couple of announcements about what's coming up next week:

- I will share snipets about the book, Motivation is an Inside Job by Norman Crouse.
- I will get back to the post I wanted to do on Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People as I have a loaner and another copy on the way. You may recall that I searched high and low last weekend for my book and ended up realizing I had too many books!

My eBay book garage sale is still going on and will end this weekend. Part of the proceeds are going to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. You can read more about this here and check out the books for sale here.

Enjoy your weekend!

Tip of the Day - #22

Simplicity this Spring!

I thought I would follow-up my post on simplicity called, Cheese and Tomato Sandwiches, with another post that built on the idea of sticking to the basics.

I was looking for my copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, because I think it’s a great example of a book filled with simple advice that has withstood the test of time.

I looked and looked, and eventually realized that I had a problem larger than a misplaced book. Like many book-o-philes, I HAVE TOO MANY BOOKS. In my office, I have 5 sets of shelves, each 2 shelves high. I also have several plastic bins FILLED with books. And these are all nonfiction books, our pleasure reading books are in the living room. This is just too much!

This is a picture of just one of my five sets of shelves and about half of the plastic bins.

The best way to discuss simplicity is to model it. So, for this spring’s cleaning session, I am going to seriously downsize my books so that I am better able to use them. Here’s what I have decided:

1 set of shelves for business books.
1 set of shelves for training and OD books.
1 set of shelves for travel and author signed books.
1 set of shelves for writing and reference books.
1 set of shelves for current reads and overflow.
And NO books in plastic bins.

Here’s what I am going to do with the excess books:

I have 1 box of books I will donate locally.

I have listed 85 books (many by the greats like Peters and Goldratt) on eBay (sounds like a lot, but eBay makes it easy to list books using the ISBN). I am going to donate half the proceeds to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in New Mexico (you can read more about them here in a post I did on my Chile Pepper blog) and will get a few new organization tools from Ikea with the rest. The books all start at $1 and you can check out my listings here: My ebay name is wseattlewriter!

This is a great time of year to get uncluttered. If you have not touched something in over a year, question whether you really need to hang on to it. A cluttered office leads to a cluttered mind.

I never found the Dale Carnegie book, by the way, I must have loaned it out!

Tip of the Day - #21

Obliterate Micromanagement!

The Fast Company blog had this post called, What makes a micromanager?

The only possible positive result that can come from micromanagement is very short term. By micromanaging, we can get a specific thing done right now.

But the longer term damage makes this a poor management approach.

And let's talk for a minute about WHY we micromanage?

I have heard managers say that they meed to micromanage due to to deficiencies of their team members. "If they'd just do the job the way I want it done, I wouldn't have to micromanage!"

In reality, micromanagers need to point their finger in another direction. Micromanagement demonstrates the failings of the manager, not the employees. Most of the micromanagers I have worked with have had poor self-esteem and confidence.

The Fast Company post describes a pretty extreme view of micromanagement, but think there are many more moderate micromanagers out there.

Probably some of you reading this.....

Ask your team members or a trusted peer if you micromanage. If they answer yes (or no, unconvincingly), then something needs to change.

And micromanagement is not nearly as fun as empowering others (while holding them accountable).

Tip of the Day - #20

I am swiping the Fast Company Blog's tip because it's a good one!

Always do what's right - you've got to live with the consequences

Read the tip here.

Tip of the Day - #19

Be Infectious

Today's tip comes from Creating Passionate Users in a post called, Can You Teach someone to Care?

A lot of managers have asked me this question and Kathy offers a great response.