Management Craft

Looking for a Debate Partner...

I think this blog space could use a bit more spice. Everyone loves a good debate and people like to hear all sides of issues. And it is great entertainment when people respectfully but energetically disagree.

I would like to invite a manager or leader to periodically banter with me on this blog about current trends and challenges facing managers. We might do this through blog posts and we might do this through podcasts or we might do both!

I'm thinking that we could engage a lively discussion a couple times per month. Ideally, I would like it to be the same person each time, so we develop a groove.

Because this would be a partnership, I don't want to define much more than this because I would want to hear the other person's ideas.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, there is no pay involved. No one pays me to write this blog and so I am not going to pay someone to chat with me on this blog :-).

I am open to folks from any country, with the caveat that the posts and podcasts will be done in English. And it should be someone with an interest in writing and a good clear and energetic voice (no offense, but if you have a soft monotone voice, our podcasts would not sound very interesting).

If you think you might be interested, drop me an email at lhaneberg AT gmail DOT com with a paragraph or two about why this idea appeals to you and also a few suggestions for the topics you think we ought to banter about.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive!

A while back I asked for a new banner. It was a request buried in a post about a book review. Much to my surprise and delight, a fellow blogger and long time reader Astha Parmar sent me this nice one (if you are reading this in an aggregator, click onto the site to see it).

It's very cool, don't you think? Thanks Astha!

Since that request worked, here are a few more. BIGGER this time.

1. I would like to be hired to become an evangelist for a motorcycle company - Harley or BMW would be my tops picks, but Triumph, Ducati, or Honda would work too. I will travel the country, go to events, write, and speak - boosting the product to women, boomers, and/or solopreneurs. I want to get paid for this, either cold hard cash or free bikes and gear.

2. I need a surrogate "me" for a blog sabbatical I am contemplating. It could turn into a permanent partnership.

3. I am looking for some verbally frisky podcast guests - anyone want to spare with me over the phone?

4. I would love it if people bought up the remaining copies of High Impact Middle Management at Amazon.com There are just a few left and I am itching to have my publisher put it out of print so I can revise it and republish it with a fresh face and look. Until the copies are gone, I can't do didly with the revised edition.

5. I would like to volunteer to become a tester for all my favorite things - chocolate, chocolate, Macs, motorcycles, fancy dog products, and chocolate.

6. I would love it if each an every driver used vehicles that got at least 35 MPG in the city - 50 MPG or better would be even better (hybrid, electric, or two-wheels, basically).

7. World peace would be nice.

Thanks, in advance.

Blogs - a business or a person?

I was out of town last week and did not read any of the blogs in my aggregator. Now that I am back in Seattle, I see that Bren, from Slacker Manager has sold his blog and is recruiting new writers for Slacker Manager.

Bren is a great guy and I congratulate him on his success and will miss his voice in the business blogosphere. That said, this news brings up two questions for me.

1. First, are business blogs a business or are they a voice? Clearly the answer is, "it depends," and "both," but I wonder what your thoughts are? When I first read Bren's post, my initial response was:

Bren IS the Slacker Manager, how can someone else write for the blog - or how can Bren be separate from the identity of Slacker Manager? Is Slacker Manager Brendon Connelly or is it a business site that Bren created and wrote for?

I am torn on this.

2. Slacker Manager is certainly not the first blog to be sold - it is done all the time. Is this no different than any other start-up?

I don't think it IS like other start-ups. Blogs are built on the notion of being a place for open and authentic communication. Blogs are places where we get to know the authors and the blog's readers. Blogs are personal - even if the content is dead serious.

Golly, I hope this is not a big trend in business blogs that takes things over. Companies who buy blogs likely have the cash to make their sites more visited than the independents. Like the corner book stores, I worry that this trend will lead to business blog homogenization and depersonalization.

And I mean no offense to the writers posting "tryout" posts on Slacker Manager right now, they are excellent. But they are not THE Slacker Manager.

I have often thought about how I might handle the day when I don't want to write Management Craft any longer. The day has not yet come, don't worry, but it is inevitable that I will not be doing this forever. Maybe I am being a bit too naive or ego-centric, but I don't think you - my dear readers - would want me to sell the site and I don't think I could do it. I am Management Craft, Management Craft is me.

Is that how you feel?

I feel like I am sliding in the blog world a bit, but I guess that depends on my definition of success. Other than being an affiliate for Amazon and StyleWriter, I do not accept advertising. I have not put all the gizmos and buttons and widgets that you find on a lot of blogs. And you know what? My readership is not growing as much as it once did. There are so many GREAT blogs out there and your choices expand every day. Perhaps I am like the corner book store. My selves are rounded and warn. I have been writing Management Craft for three years (August 2004) and have completed 995 posts. A lot has changed in three years - that's like 30 years in brick and mortar land, right? :-)

If my definition of success is blog readers - stats - I am struggling a bit. If my definition of success is about WHAT I write, I would guess that I might need to fluff my pillows a bit but am otherwise still on target. Is that true?

This all leads me to wonder about how people are getting the management and leadership information and training they need. How is this changing?

Every now and then I think about inviting a partner to write with me on Management Craft. Perhaps someone who does not agree with me on everything - I love a great debate. But I have always dismissed the idea, I am not really sure why.

This is all very interesting to think about. Even if you are not a blogger, what's going on at Slacker Manager is indicative of the changes that will impact you in some way as a blog reader - heck, as a reader in general.

Bren, I hope you enjoy what's next. I will miss the original Slacker Manager.

Best Leadership Blogs

I received a very nice note from the fine folks over at the Kevin Eikenberry blog and company - They have nominated Management Craft as one of their top 10 leadership blogs.

Golly gee, that's very nice. Click on over and check out the other nine blogs, too. Kevin and team wants to know which one if YOUR favorite and is asking you to vote. You can vote for your favorite here.

I am so thankful to you for reading Management craft. In August, it will be three years old. That's 90 in internet years, right?

Management (and leadership, here's my view about leadership) is noble and important work. I enjoy sharing best practices and stories with you. We have a management shortage that is only going to get worse. Not because we don't have enough talented young professionals, but because so many young people don't want careers in management. Many of the jobs are so poorly designed that only crazy people would apply. We need to fix this because our companies need great management. We need to align and design the jobs and make management a satisfying work experience.

That's my goal with this blog - I want to increase conversation about great management such that we can together fix the jobs and find great people to lead our teams. Join in!

New Self-Development Blog, Sharpening the Saw

Nikhil Gupta started this blog about self-development as a result of attending one of my Breakthrough events. How cool is that!? We all need self-development, so check out his blog here and let him know what you think.

Me a Hero? Naaaaa

Have you heard of the Hero of the Week blog? Each week Reginald Adkins recognizes a blogger and interviews him or her about their blogging.

This week, the hero is little ole me. You can see the post here.

And here are the heroes that came before me:

Ted Demoupolos
Phil Gerbyshak
Sandy Renshaw
Kirsten Harrell
Kammie Kobyleski
Mike Sansone

Thanks Reg!

How We Grow Bullies and Bad People

The blogosphere is buzzing about the cyber-threats and bullying that popular blogger Kathy Sierra is experiencing.

Why do people have to be so immature and destructive? In the workplace, we'd investigate and take action. The virtual businessplace is more difficult to deal with.

Kathy is an excellent writer and blogger, but she's thinking of quitting her blog because she does not feel safe. Such a shame. I hope that those responsible are identified and dealt with.

Why does this type of stuff get this far? Free speech, sure. But I think a bigger problem is that we tolerate the actions that lead up to serious threats. We facilitate the escalation of bad behaviors. How?

We find distasteful jokes funny and acceptable.
We make degrading porn readily available and acceptable to view.
We air TV shows starring people at their worst - cheaters, bullies, murderers - and we make them stars.
We love to watch people who are out of control (and who are encouraged by the attention).
We read blogs that are written by people bullies and self-absorbed brats.
On and on.

I have worked on many gnarly issues in the workplace and they almost always escalate due to an acceptance of lesser bad behaviors.

We vote with our eyes, actions, and time. If we do not read blogs that trash other people, those blogs will disappear. If we don't tolerate sexism or bullying, or off-color jokes, people stop. When we don't tolerate this stuff, we see less really bad stuff like what Kathy is dealing with today.

I used to work for a company that had an out of control senior exec. At company functions he got drunk and abusive, and at work he was highly moody and was known for lashing out at people. I can honestly say that during the time I worked there, he never lashed out at me. Had he, it would have been his last time. I think he knew this. The shame is that the organization was immature and put up with this destructive behavior. I was always afraid of what might come next. I would not rule out something very bad.

Who knows what all the actions were that led up to this situation with Kathy Sierra. I am guessing that there were many marginal comments and actions that were tolerated - perhaps even reinforced - that encouraged the escalation of this situation.

What are we tolerating today with your attention, time, and eyeballs? Attention emboldens people, so give your attention carefully.

How many blog posts?

Question: When you read over 100 blogs, how many blog posts will pile up if you leave the country for 21 days?

Answer: 983

Question: Which blogger posted the most during this time?

Answer: Scoble with 50 posts. You go, Robert.

I gots lots of reading to do!

Top Blogs

Here are the top blogs according to Business Week readers. Of the winners, the only one I have in my aggregator is Scoble. And I am not sure why I read Scoble, either, because I am not into tech stuff that much. Well, yes, I do know - I like the way Scoble thinks and reacts to things - he seems more authentic and courageous than many people I read or know.

Lots of techy blogs on the list, which one would guess. Anyway, check out the list!

Hat tip to Scoble for the link.

Over 50 Great Blogs

This past Tuesday, I was part of a panel discussion for the Puget Sound ASTD chapter. The topic was using blogs to enhance training and development (or your training business). With me on the panel were four of my favorite Seattle business bloggers:

Curt Rosengren - The Occupational Adventure (for the category of career development)
Lori Richardson - Sales Coach  and Score More Sales (for the category of sales/revenue generation)
Lynn Gaertner-Johnston - Business Writing (for the category of writing and communication)
Fran Fisher - Powerful Conversations (for the category of coaching)

I handled the category of leadership and management. We each shared 9 blogs, podcasts or sites other than our own that we thought trainers ought to know about - together that's 50 great sites, the vast majority being blogs.

I have posted the list below for your reference. Because we each could only share a few, there are many of my favorite blogs NOT on this list. I currently read about 200 great blogs.

These are the 50 that we collectively think are highly relevant to trainers.

Cool news: Since the presentation on Tuesday, I have already gotten two emails from people who started new blogs as a result of the session. Both new blogs are from fun and smart professionals, so please check out their new blogs and add them to your reading list. Let's give them a little newby blogger love!

Doug Nathan - Conflict Matters
Tracie Hiemstra - Self Coaching

Welcome to the blogoshpere Doug and Tracie!!!

Here's the list by category:

Management and Leadership

Leadership Now - Don Blohowiak    
Management Skills Blog - Tom Foster
Genuine Curiosity - Dwayne Melancon   
Agile Management Blog - David Anderson   
Manager Tools Podcast - Mark Horstman & Mike Auzenne
Slacker Manager - Brendon Connelly
Slow Leadership - Adrian Savage
Cranky Middle Manager - Wayne Turmel
Tom Peters - Tom Peters

Career Satisfaction & Development

Bob Baker's Artist Empowerment Blog - Bob Baker   
Brazen Careerist - Penelope Trunk
Come Gather Round! - Dick Richards
HELLO, my name is BLOG - Scott Ginsberg   
Innovation Weblog - Chuck Frey   
Monster Blog - Various
Orbit Now! - Troy Worman
Make It Great!     - Phil Gerbyshak
Worthwhile Magazine Blog – Various

Business Writing and Communication

Grammar Hell    - Jack Smith
Daily Walks - Diane Varner
Bad Language    - Matthew Stibbe
Creating Passionate Users - Kathy Sierra   
Talking Communications - Farrell Kramer
Presentation Zen - Garr Reynolds
Manage Your Writing     - Kenneth W. Davis
Voice Coaching for Podcasters - Scott Paton & Jan Janzen
Legalwriting.net - Wayne Schiess   
The (New) Legal Writer - Raymond Ward   
More Clients Blog - Robert Middleton
Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter - Heidi Miller

Coaching

Shaboom, Inc - Molly Gordon
Knee Deep - Michele Corey
Heart of Business - Mark Silver
The Blog Coach - Paul Chaney
Slide show: Why and How of Blogging - Nick Finck   
Choice Magazine - Maureen Ford, Editor in Chief
International Coach Federation
Puget Sound Coaches 
Peer Resources - Rey Carr

Sales & Revenue Generation

Reviews on Top Sales Books - Brandon Hull   
White Paper Source - Michael Stelzner
Selling to Big Companies - Jill Konrath   
Start With a Lead - Brian Carroll
Rain Today - Mike Schultz
Account Hunter - Shane Murphy
TonyRamos.com - Tony Ramos   
Profit Builders     - Keith Rosen