Hey folks, I’m sure you remember Nick McCormick (If you don’t here’s the link to his show). Well he just celebrated his 100th blog post, and to celebrate the milestone, he’s giving away a free copy of “Lead Well and Prosper” (the book that put Joe and Wanda on the map) to 5 random guests who comment on the post

Drop by the site to read an interview with Joe and Wanda and take a shot at winning yourself a free book.

http://begoodventures.com/joeandwanda/?p=114

Today Wayne Turmel talks to Dr Myra White about her book, “Follow The Yellow Brick Road- A Harvard Psychologist’s Guide to Becoming a Superstar”. What does it take to become a superstar? How the heck do you manage them? Napoleon struggled with Marshal Louis Davout so you’re not alone…..

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Show Notes:

0:00 Welcome to the Cranky Middle Manager Show all you budding superstars and those who manage them. Today we look at one of our 4 Disciplines of Highly Effective, Leadership Exhibiting, Project Nailing, Cheese Moving Managers- Business Acumen…. in particular managing your own darn career and becoming a superstar.

It’s not easy, so we dedicate this to Marshal Louis Davout who came close but never quite figured out how to manage his manager…. You can learn more about Napoleon on the Napoleon 101 Podcast…check it out
3:12 The quote of the week is from William Allen White- Becoming a superstar just means you do, or have more and make do with, more than the average schlub.

Hey, shameless plug… check out www.greatwebmeetings.com if you want to know how you can make tight travel budgets sting less…you can also check out our YouTube video: Why Web Demos Suck and What You Can Do About It

4:36 Welcome multi-talented Dr. Myra White. She’s a fellow Management Issues columnist, and author of Follow The Yellow Brick Road- a Harvard Psychologist’s Guide to Becoming a Superstar. What the heck is a superstar and what does it take to become one? Myra’s book looks at some very famous people and what makes them superstars…

9:00 Superstars know what they’re good at and what they’re not. How do they stop wrestling with their demons long enough to focus on their strengths rather than obsess about what they don’t do well? Richard Branson is a good example…

11:40 You have to create your own “personal success syndrome”. What does success mean to you? Will you know when you hit it? First thing is you have to get on the playing field…getting that first job or opportunity is critical. Believe it or not, The Wizard of Oz serves as a good model… Toto, we’re not a line employee any more……

19:46 My feelings about Glinda the Good Witch as a consultant aside, a key is to know how to give and get help. Giving help often isn’t hard, but asking for help can get in our way.

23:46 As a manager, how do you deal with a superstar and help them work with their teams…. you have to help them recognize their “superstar-ness” on one hand and help them learn patience and teamwork.

26:47 What’s going on in Harvard Business School…are Business Schools teaching things people need? Maybe it’s time to quite telling 22 year olds they’re ready to run the world….. Yes I’m getting old.

Don’t let the weasels get you down!

Wayne Turmel interviews Sarah Shaw, about what it’s like to manage in the “Oasis Economies” of the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates. Boom times make for interesting conversation. Plus we look at a Bedouin hero named Antarah who had it way rougher than you do…….

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Today we welcome a young woman who will help us understand the situation in the United Arab Emirates, as well as dispel some of my stupid assumptions about working and managing there. Sarah Shaw tells us about managing in the booming, constantly changing world of the “Oasis Economies”.

Show Notes

0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we’re continuing our periodic look at managing in different parts of the world- circumstances are different but middle management never changes… hasn’t throughout history, why should it start now. Today we’re looking at one of the most unique booming areas of all… the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates. We dedicate this show to Antarah the Black Knight. If you’ve ever had to do an impossible project to make your bones you can identify.

4:06 Our quote of the week is an Arabic proverb… it’s when you know what you know and don’t know, that’s when you’ll know… or something like that.

5:40 Welcome new friend Sarah Shaw. First we need to understand exactly what, where and how is the United Arab Emirates.

10:00 What are the challenges of creating a native business and management class in less than a generation and a half? The speed of change is part of it. Emirati culture is also an issue in blending Western companies and native Emirati workers. We spend some time dispelling some myths and learn a lot. Anybody want to pay me to go over and check it out for myself?

16:00 The cultural change is drastic. Sarah tells us her family history moving from a Bedouin, nomadic life to a more western one. There are a lot of misunderstandings between cultures, including an arab “expert” who told me something false. There IS an Arab word for customer… it’s Zabun. There, don’t you feel smarter now?

24:00 What’s the situation like there for ex-pats who suddenly find themselves there? Dubai is very much like Singapore in that it’s “Arabia for beginners”. I also apologize on behalf of American idiots everywhere….

28:00 We touch on the role of gender in the workplace… and the changes between the generations.

To Find Out More

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Department

The Dubai Tourism Department

Don’t forget to visit us at www.crankymiddlemanager.com or www.greatwebmeetings.com

Don’t let the weasels get you down!

Today we look at The Offsite, by Robert Thompson a book that teaches the lessons of The Leadership Challenge. Wayne Turmel talks to Robert about leadership, why Las Vegas is the last place you want to do training and we salute Pericles…

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SHOW NOTES

0:00 Welcome to the show for those too low on the food chain to claim Omniscience, but too high for plausible deniability.

Today we salute Pericles, the brains behind the Athenian glory years. We salute him for thinking out of the box…by putting Athens in a box, where it was safe. It also made the world safe for theater and man-boy love….. unintended consequences, more than likely.

2:39 Lao Tzu has our quote of the week… comparing your company’s strategy to cooking a fish is a novel approach, but no more so than some of the other analogies we’ve heard.

Don’t forget to visit us and subscribe to our newsletter…..

4:01 Welcome Robert Thompson, author of The Offsite, A Leadership Challenge Fable. Jim Kouzes has been with us a couple of times so check him out if this interests you at all. (Episode 82 and Episode 112 to be precise). I have selfish reasons for liking it, but it’s a good way to introduce the 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership. We also discuss why offsites often suck and what makes a good one.

9:23 Robert actually teaches the Leadership Challenge principles and we talk about the challenge of trying to teach leadership. This is trainer’s geek speak. So sue me.

14:30 Why are people so cynical about training, even expensive well-done training. Yes, it’s more about engagement and how to make it happen.

18:46 How does Robert deal with the prisoners- the ones who don’t want to be trained and aren’t there because they want to be?

24:00 The biggest challenge for managers is often the metrics they’re responsible for. How do you challenge the process and keep your job?

27:00 Robert has lots of people who have endorsed the book including our friends Marshall Goldsmith and Steve Farber among others, so he’s in good company. he also recommends

Twyla Tharpe- The Creative Habit

Leading Out Loud- Terry Pearce

I have a bad case of mental poison ivy… an idea stuck in my head that I need to scratch and know I shouldn’t. If I give in and scratch it, i’m going to be on the mailing list for every glorified chainletter going (under the fancy name of memes) and if I don’t scratch it I’ll go crazy.

Here’s the setup and then I’ll tell you why i can’t stop thinking about this.

Eric Pennington (from Episode 138- Waking Up in Corporate America) sent me this invitation:

“Sending you this your way to let you know that I’m tagging you for a book meme.  The rules are as follows:

* List the books you are reading
* Pick up the closest book to hand
* Open to page 123
* Find the 5th sentence
* Post the next 3 sentences
* Tag 5 more people”

Now, I get these all the time and as I say I usually delete them immediately. I’ve spent too many years training people not to forward me “the funniest thing they’ve ever read” or email chain letters to backslide and give in. I wasn’t going to respond, but then the itch started.

First, it asks for books plural. I am only reading one book this week (as opposed to the 4 i usually have on the go because publishers love having their authors on the show) so I’d have to include the last books i read or was juggling, which is fine. So here are the last five books from the current effort backwards.

Natasha’s Dance- A Cultural History of Russia  by Orlando Figes

Doctor Zhivago- by Boris Pasternak

Beyond Booked Solid- by Michael Port (for the show- not going to happen)
The Blood King- Gail Z Martin

Fired Up or Burned Out  Michael Lee Stallard (for the show- it did happen and you should listen)

Here are the sentences in question.Feel free to snore:

” Ivan Argunov, the Shermetev’s artist, depicted several ‘unknown peasant girls’ who were most probably wet nurses. The fact that a girl like this should become the subject of a portrait painting, commissioned for display in her owner’s house, in itself speaks volumes about her position in the culture of the Russian Aristocracy. Pavel Sumarokov,recalling daily life among the nobility in the eighteenth century, said that the wet nurse was given pride of place among all the domestic staff.”

Okay, wake up. Here’s what went through my brain in doing this exercise in no particular order of itchiness:

• I was a little embarrassed by the list and for all kinds of reasons. “What kind of pretentious idiot reads a cultural history of Russia? People will think I’m putting on airs…..” but then it makes sense because I had just read Doctor Zhivago (inspired by the movie “Into the Wild”, trust me there’s a connection) and I do love me a good fat Russian novel and I’m  a Russian history freak, especially the Revolution(s). So I was seeking context.Pavel, Adam, any chance someone wants me to speak there?
• Or was I more embarrassed by reading The Blood King (which I had to read because I’d just finished The Summoner, it’s prequel)- I am a sword and sorcery fiend… I read all kinds of crap like this…. i like it…. so sue me. Not really a reason to be embarrassed except if you read Eric’s blog on this and follow back to the folks he got tagged by they are all reading high-minded self-improvement stuff. I’m worrying about whether the mage will…well I won’t bore you with it.
• I’m all about following whichever rabbit hole I come across…. one Russian novel leads to another, or a history book, one cheap fantasy novel leads to the next in the trilogy (why are they always trilogies?)
• Does a mixed reading bag like this mean I’m well balanced or does it explain why I’m so broke? Should I get more serious and focus on reading what’s “useful”? I read these other people and it’s serious book after serious book….
• Do I lack focus or am I one of those elusive polymaths?

I won’t tag 5 other people, since they’ll probably have been tagged by the time I get to them anyway, but this is a fascinating experiment…. what are YOU reading?

Is this meme outdated because so many of us get our input from the Web (and how long will it be until the paper book is a relic)?

Is your input focused on one area or are you, like me literarily promiscuous ( the first Mrs. Cranky used to call me a book slut, but literarily promiscuous sounds more, well, bookish). I am now trademarking “literarily promiscuous”.

No judgments, share with us if you’d like. Just asking.

Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy is someone I’ve been meaning to have on the show for a long time, and it will happen soon (probably mid-May). His new book is out, “Straight Talk For Success- Common Sense Ideas That Won’t Let You Down” and he obviously wants you to buy it. But here’s the deal- if you buy it on  on April 22 you’ll get about a thousand dollars worth of free stuff.

Click here for more details and watch the skies for an upcoming interview with Bud.

Hey, nobody loves you like your humble servant. Happy to be of service.

I’ve gotten several emails over the last few days telling me that the RSS feed they use to subscribe to the Cranky Middle Manager is down. I know…and I’m writing this to let you know there’s been a problem with theTPN servers…. only problem is that you probably won’t know this post is up with an RSS feed….. ironic huh?

Hopefully all the server troubles will be fixed in the next few days. You can find out more here….The Podcast Network Blog.….. and send Cam your affirmations (he doesn’t accept prayer…but if I were him right now I wouldn’t be so picky).

Join Wayne Turmel and guest Michael Lee Stallard, author of Fired Up or Burned Out talk about leadership and creating a culture of connection. We also salute the first in a long line of people to think they could rule Mesopotamia but our boy Sargon did a better job than the current folks… Why do I tell you these things if no one listens to me?

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Show Notes

0:00 Welcome to the over-connected world of middle management. This show is dedicated to Sargon of Akkad, first ruler of Sumeria. It took a real leader to get people to follow someone they weren’t kin to, but he figured out how to create connections beyond blood. 5400 direct reports is a bunch and I’ll bet he didn’t do annual performance reviews.

2:54 The quote of the week is from Aristotle- we all need people unless we’re beasts or gods. My guess is neither is listening to this little show.

3:34 Welcome Michael Lee Stallard, one of the brains behind E Pluribus Partners. He is also the author of The Connection Culture- A New Source of Competitive Advantage. It always seems to take a personal crisis to bring our attention to what matters.

8:46 There is a business connection of course. Lots of research went into this work. What are the things that connect us to our work and our workplace? Trust, mission, identity and feelings connect us. When we feel threatened that darned cortisol takes over.

12:30 Some people are more comfortable with this discussion than others. (Hello, elephant). How do you start to have this conversation among your team? The Connection Culture e-book is a start. The 3 elements are Vision, Value and Voice.

Vision is how people see themselves. Anita Roddick from The Body Shop understood this. Values is how valued are you? Voice is about do you get a voice in what’s important to you? Oh, and a voice is not the same as a vote.

18:43 What’s the individual manager’s role in this (Note to all future guests, compliment the host’s questions)? One is to implement “Knowledge Flow” sessions. Tell them what’s going on in the company and ask their input. The second team is getting them together. Sargon understood this, why doesn’t YOUR boss? (Cheap plug here, webmeetings help and we can help with that, check out www.greatwebmeetings.com)

23:38 Connection in action can be seen in Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy. The other is Proctor and Gamble CEO AG Laffley.

Michael’s Resources

Let Your Life Speak- Parker Palmer

The Identity Code- Laurence Ackerman

Big Ideas to Big Results- Michael Kanazawa and Robert Miles
The Employee Engagement Network including David Zinger (you can hear his CMM interview here….)

Herman the Ermine says: Don’t let the weasels get you down

I will be speaking at the College of Dupage’s “Dupage Executive’s Network” meeting on April 29th on the topic of “While You Were Out- Blogs, podcasts, and other ways the world has changed……”.

The full details can be found here, but basically it’s

April 29th

College of Dupage  425 Fawell Blvd.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137  and the link to the event is here……

All Cranky Listeners are invited, I’ll buy the coffee afterwards!

Folks, just a quick note to let you know that there has been a weasel attack on the Cranky Middle Manager blog site. Hackers have tried to hijack The Podcast Network’s servers, taking all the shows along for the ride. This means the RSS feed, some of the links and other features have been in and out of service. The fine gremlins at TPN are doing everything they can.

By the way, a big shout out to those of you who emailed me to let me know you were having problems of one kind or another. It’s so cool that you care enough to reach out. I’ll hear from you any time….. meanwhile show139 will go up at the end of the week as scheduled. Check it manually if you have to but check it. And if you didn’t get the feed for show 138 with Eric Pennington, don’t miss it.