Whether you lead a large IT organization or you lead a small group of dedicated volunteers, there are four questions every follower will ask according to Dr. Lorne Sonny in the Business Ministry Journal as noted in Hans Finzel’s The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make (I couldn’t find a direct reference to Dr. Sonny’s work) They…
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The synthesized voice over the speaker startled the crew, “Ugly, ugly giants bags of mostly water.” Star Trek The Next Generation fans may remember this quote from the “Home Soil” episode that originally aired in February, 1988. Despite the capabilities of the universal translator, much was lost in that translation. Although the words may have been translated…
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A better title on the business card. A little more take home pay each week. And automatic influence and credibility in the organization. These are the things that we get while climbing the corporate ladder, right? Umm, no. Authority Is Not Influence Many leaders assume that one of the automatic perks that comes with their…
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Photo Credit: lumaxart via Compfight cc “We need to pull out of the stops for this one. These changes have got to be put in place before the end of the year. Otherwise we’re out of compliance and our customers cannot do business. I know it won’t be easy and there will be a lot…
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Leaders get a combination of what they create and what they allow. That’s one of the themes that runs throughout Dr. Henry Cloud’s Boundaries for Leaders: Results, Relationships, and Being Ridiculously in Charge published in April of 2013. Ok, but what does that mean? What Leaders Create As leaders, we have influence over the…
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In his book, Five Minutes on Mondays: Finding Unexpected Purpose, Peace, and Fulfillment at Work, Alan Lurie shares some of the inspirational messages that he was asked by his boss to provide at a standing team meeting each Monday morning. Many are thought-provoking and call business men and women to reflect on the way we work together as…
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Kevin and I regularly speak on IT Leadership topics at conferences across North America and Europe. With the conference season just around the corner, here are a few places where you can catch us speaking. Steel City SQL in Birmingham, AL, Aug 20, 2013 DevLINK in Chattanooga, TN, Aug 28- 30, 2013 PASS in Charlotte,…
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Have you ever received an appointment request for a meeting that you knew was going to be unproductive? Nothing was accomplished the last time this team met; the only thing that was decided was that we needed to meet again. What a waste of time! Meetings are not free, even if everyone is local and…
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About a year ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a weekly podcast from Manager-Tools. In each cast, Michael Auzenne and Mark Horstman share some of the lessons they’ve learned about how to be a more effective manager. These are actionable techniques rather than purely theoretical concepts. I regularly listen to one of their…
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[This is part four in a series of posts about how to effectively transition to your new role after being promoted.] Series Outline So I Got Promoted, Now What? Stop Doing Your Old Job Employ the Same Successful Tactics Get to Know Your Peers Get a Trusted System Manage Your Email Manage Your Calendar Start…
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