Me On The Other Side of the Microphone….

Posted on 11. Jun, 2008 by Wayne in General

Twice in this week I have ( or will be) interviewed by other people.

First, Nan Russell at Work Matters has an internet talk show, and your humble servant is this week’s guest.

Take a listen to it here.

Then Eric Pennington, who was our guest on Episode 138 turns the tables. On Friday at 12:30 Eastern Time I will be on his show… you can hear it live (or listen to the recording) here.

It’s kind of fun being the interviewee…..

The Cranky Middle Manager #147 Ken Blanchard Is Here

Posted on 09. Jun, 2008 by Wayne in Podcast

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Cranky Middle Manager talks to one of the all-time greats, Ken Blanchard, about his new book “The One Minute Entrepeneur”. We know why Wayne wanted to talk to him, why’s he talking to Wayne? Gift horses and all. Plus we learn about the Korean King Sejong the Great.

0:00 Welcome to the show all ye who try really, really hard. Today we talk to Ken Blanchard about his new book and the last 25 years of management development. We dedicate this episode to King Sejong the Great of Korea. Others will notice when you’re management material. Oh and Tom Peters is the last one on my list.

3:45 Immanuel Kant had a lot to say about wisdom… good advice here. Also a shameless plug for a webinar on June 26th. Just go to www.dimdim.com and look for featured meetings. You can read about the webinar here.

5:45 Welcome Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager. Whatever the reason, we’re glad he’s here. One Minute Manager has sold over 13 Million Copies!!! Why? Maybe because everyone was tired of hearing how the Japanese were so brilliant. It came out the same time as Megatrends and In Search of Excellence, kind of a golden age of management books. It’s a classic, even if it is false advertising.

8:45 Over the years, middle managers have struggled with operational leadership. Vision is great but you have to help your people get things done. The real impact comes from operational leadership…so why is most of what we hear high-level leadership? Ken talks about a new concept- the triple bottom line.

12:34 Ken Blanchard is a “Seagull Manager”….. I love when people we look up to admit their flaws….. the greatest detriment to being a good manager is our own ego.

17:34 If you want to know why this show is different from others, the fact that Ken Blanchard just said, “Duh” sums it up, but sometimes there’s no other response. After all these years people management still impacts your business as much or more than other factors. This is a big issue for entrepeneurs (you can hear Jay Goltz talk about it on episode 130 )

23:30 Big Disclaimer…her name is Margie, not Marjorie…. Ken’s wife and co-founder is Margie… I know that…. didn’t hear the mistake til the third time through. Humble apologies. There are 5 principles of being an entrepeneur:

• Passion
• Profits (know your numbers and take care of the take care)
• People
• Priorities
• Perspective

27:00 Ken’s resources

Ken recommends Patrick Lencioni (who has been on this show)

Good to Great by Jim Collins.

Don’t let the weasels get you down!

The Freedom to Manage: Guerilla Managing Remote Teams

Posted on 07. Jun, 2008 by Wayne in General

Folks, I’ve been asked to host a webinar in association with Dimdim entitled: The Freedom to Manage: Guerilla Managing Remote Teams.

When: June 26th, 11am Eastern time (US) 4PM (GMT)

How to register: visit www.dimdim.com and look for “Featured Meetings”

No dial-in necessary, just headphones or speakers for your computer

Oh yeah… it’s FREE to keep the budget weasels at bay

Are you tired of waiting for approval from the folks upstairs for budget to manage your remote team the way you want to manage it? The nice lady from HR won’t approve your training request? We’re going to look at 4 ways managers of remote teams can take control of things and help their team work better at little or not cost.

Anyone managing teams across time zones or leading virtual projects (all the responsibility and none of the financial authority) will find something of use and you’ll learn from managers around the world as well.

Just go to www.dimdim.com and give them your email address. You’ll receive your invitation via email. This is less a Cranky Middle Manager event than one for www.greatwebmeetings.com but heck, it’s information you can use and it’s still me.

I look forward to seeing you there!

The Cranky Middle Manager Show #146 The New World of Work- Melanie Holmes

Posted on 02. Jun, 2008 by Wayne in Podcast

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Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel takes a look at what employers are really looking for in managers, and how we can prepare for a job search if we need one. We talk to Melanie Holmes from VP of World of Work Solutions at Manpower and writer of the Contemporary Working Blog. We also celebrate the third anniversary of The Cranky Middle Manager Show… Whacking weasels since May 31, 2005

Show Notes

0:00 Welcome to the 146th Edition of the Cranky Middle Manager on our third anniversary. Since our guest, Melanie Holmes, works for a Temp Agency, it seemed the right time to commiserate with Commander Friedrich Adolph Riedesel. Managing temps has never been easy gang. Especially when the project fails.

3:11 The quote of the week is from another German, John Paul Richter…. change exposes character more than permanence….. stability is overrated. Righhhhhhht

4:45 Welcome to Melanie Holmes, the absolutely delightful VP of World of Work Solutions…nice when you can pick your own job title. She looks at the trends impacting hiring companies, government agencies and the like. What do employers have to say about their middle managers? If you’re looking for sympathy we won’t find it with Melanie I’m afraid….

7:35 What skills do employers most want to see in their managers? It’s soft skills rather than technical expertise. Communication, teamwork and working and playing well with others are all on the menu. Melanie gives a good IT example- like we’ve always said onthis show you have to understand what your business does and how it works. Check out our Manifesto.

10:00 Where does the company’s responsibility lie? What about our own? We talk about the value (or not) of an MBA.

15:00 How do we get in front of the right people with our resumes? Melanie suggests getting rid of the standard format for resumes and CVs to show off these special skills. If you’re hoping job boards gets the job done, guess again. you’re better off on Myspace and Facebook…. really.

19:20 What are the growing job areas? Engineers, machinists and skilled trades, finance and, for a group of people that are always around, sales weasels are in short demand. Who knew?

22:00 What about all of us who do development on our own. Josh Kaufman’s Personal MBA (you can hear him on our show here) is an example. Also don’t forget Manager Tools and all the other great blogs and resources….How do you quantify all the cool stuff you’ve been doing? Get proactive people.

26:54 If she had a magic wand, what would she tell her client companies to STOP doing that tortures their middle managers? Not allowing people to cross disciplines is a big one. We also quote Gautam Ghosh on the Working Week podcast about that situation in India.

30:00 Is the “war for talent” a conspiracy theory??????

Resources: Check out the Manpower BLawg with lawyer Mark.

Don’t let the weasels get you down!