personal effectiveness

Transitioning into Management? Prepare to Be Unprepared

Transitioning into Management? Prepare to Be Unprepared

Smart, young apprentice talent is foundational to how most large organizations get work done. Worker bees at the bottom stay heads-down accomplishing tasks; Middle managers make sure the tasks fit into cohesive projects; Senior managers makes sure all the projects come together to accomplish a business plan. As a worker bee, the formula for career advancement can seem straightforward: outwork everyone. Before long however, that formula breaks down. Assuming they advance to the next stage, the people exiting the apprenticeship stage who don’t realize that the determinants of success are about to change can be in for a rough adjustment...

Getting Things Done: How to Drive Acceptance of Your Ideas

Getting Things Done: How to Drive Acceptance of Your Ideas

Big ideas usually are not accepted right away – at least not by everyone whom you need on board. Most of us have our own versions of my terrible meeting story, and the moral is always the same. You might feel confident to the point of certainty about an idea, but getting your audience to feel as confident as you do is often a slog. It takes cleverness, persistence, and plain old hustle to get a big idea across the goal line. 

The Seven Types of Failed Thought Leaders

The Seven Types of Failed Thought Leaders

A real thought leader is recognized as an authority in their field on the basis of their powerful, original ideas and ability to drive adoption of them by the mainstream. The three key words to pay attention to in that statement are recognized, original, and adoption. Thought leadership means more than just having ideas: you have to effect real change...