The Cranky Middle Manager Show #316 The Final Cranky Show and the Future of Work with John Blackwell
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #156 Executive Stamina- Marty Seldman
Posted on 18. Aug, 2008 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Dr. Marty Seldman about Executive Stamina, which is almost as important as middle management stamina. We’re in this for the long haul, how do we keep body soul and career together? Also we take a look at the first marathon as well as wise words from Napoleon….
Dr. Marty Seldman
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Business is a marathon, not a sprint so we’re talking stamina today. Not only are we talking to Dr. Marty Seldman co-author of “Executive Stamina- How to Optimize Time, Energy and Productivity To Achieve Peak Performance”. We are also taking a look at Phidippides, the first marathon runner and someone who needed to learn the fine art of delegation.
3:15 The “Quote of the Week” is from Napoleon Bonaparte- forget guts…. endurance is the greatest virtue.
4:17 Welcome Marty Seldman, who along with his son Joshua, wrote the book. Joshua is a 24-hour endurance cycling coach. Show off. Stamina is both the day to day energy to perform at a high level, but it’s also about the term of your career. The two laws at work are ‘The Law of Diminishing Returns’ and the “Law of Gradual Change”.
9:02 Our listeners are a hard-working, dedicated group, so how can working harder have diminishing returns? We are over-committed and don’t realize what the tradeoffs are.
12:05 What are some of the warning signs that we are shifting and drifting? Are you doing the minimum to sustain relationships and your health?
14:48 5 areas to pay attention to:
- Work/Life Alignment
- Health and Wellness
- Job Performance/Business Results
- Career Management
- Maintaining positive relationships
17:43 How can you maintain networking and watch out for your career while still playing nicely with the other kids?
20:50 Okay, I know I should exercise and it just doesn’t happen. Why not? What the heck is wrong with me and what’s the minimum I can do and still say I’ve done it?
26:50 What’s the one thing Marty would change for most of us? Overcommitting and not maintaining boundaries. I also do not recommend slapping people like George C Scott in Patton, but I understand the temptation.
Resources
Don’t let the weasels get you down!!!
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #155 Rock and Roll Attitude- Joe Heuer
Posted on 10. Aug, 2008 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Joe Heuer, the Rock and Roll Guru. No high-minded stuff today, just lightening up and having some fun. What can managers learn from rock and roll lyrics? How do we develop a rock and roll attitude without alarming the nice lady from HR? Listen and party on…..
Joe Heuer
Show Notes
0:00 Today will be a non-stop parade of rock and roll references because sometimes you just have to lighten up. Managing can suck the fun out of you otherwise. Case in point? Antonio Salieri... Mozart had all the fun and got all the chicks…..take a lesson
3:05 The quote of the week is from Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., not exactly a party animal, but he encourages us to take a music bath… i just saw Mamma Mia and had to take a shower but I suppose that’s more of an editorial comment.
4:53 Welcome Joe Heuer, the Rock and Roll Guru. Hey, it’s the dog days of summer here in Chicago and I couldn’t take one more serious conversation so we’re going to have some fun. Let’s face it, any business conversation that starts with the Who has to be more fun than going over the financials…..
7:30 How the heck does someone start thinking about rock and roll and middle management, or worse, customer service?
11:52 How does rock and roll fit with our 4 Disciplines of Management? Joe pulls some good ones out of his hat.
14:52 How does rock and roll fit the corporate environment? Motivational speakers are apparently the professional wrestlers of the corporate world. Joe vents here…. you may agree or not but heck that’s rock and roll, right? And what is a rock and roll attitude?
22:05 What do Supertramp and Jesus Christ have in common- besides Roger Hodgson’s beard?
Joe’s Rock and Roll Resources
Support Adam Larson’s love of Queensryche!
Don’t let the weasels get you down!
The Cranky Middle Manager #154 Onboarding Employees with Caela Farren
Posted on 03. Aug, 2008 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Caela Farren, CEO of Masteryworks, about onboarding employees effectively so they stick around longer. Also we look at Lady Jane Grey and a chance to win a copy of the latest Cranky Middle Manager book.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Ever find someone to fill a position, breathe a sigh of relief and they’re gone and you’re back to square one? Today we’re talking to Caela Farren from Masteryworks.
Today’s episode is dedicated to Lady Jane Grey, who was queen of England for all of nine days. Getting a candidate not everyone can agree on and then leaving her without mentoring is a recipe for disaster, although no HR department I know still advocates beheading as a way to address the problem.
There is one episode left for you to win a free copy of my new book: “125 Quotes for Whacking Weasels- Centuries of Wisdom, Motivation and Snappy Comebacks From the Cranky Middle Manager Show” Here’s how it works… just drop me an email or post to the blog with a short line or two about why you like the quote of the week, and why you listen to the Cranky Middle Manager Show. I’ll pick the best quote to put on the back cover of the book along with quotes from some big shots and send you a copy. You have about 2 weeks left, get on it!
3:10 The quote of the week is from Plato- who understood that the beginning is the best time to teach anyone anything.
3:50 Welcome Caela Farren. It seems like a silly question, but why is the way we bring employees on board so important? When there are more jobs than there are good people, you don’t want to give anyone a chance to bail out on you. 46% of rookies wash out in 18 months.
6:30 What is going on in that first few days that chases people out the door before they even settle in? Sometimes it’s a bad hire, a greedy recruiter or a manager that doesn’t know how to properly interview. The open-ended interview question is important as are “value questions”.
Ask about:
people- what are they all about, what do they like?
ideas- what and how do they think?
data-how do they handle information?
things- do they work with things and with their hands?
10:49 we are now talking about personality assessments such as John Holland’s Codes, Myers Briggs Type Assessments and all that good stuff. Hire for skills and fire for personality, values and fit. You can’t really train for that stuff. She tells us a cool story about how one company uses the interview to identify fit…
16:02 Once we’ve hired someone, what goes on that first day that will help ensure success? Make them feel included. It worked in grade school. Hook them up with a mentor…but choose that mentor well.
21:14 when in doubt ask the magic wand question. The most important thing you can do is hook them to a good manager or a “buddy”
Resources
It’s an election year here in the US. Check out
The Post American World- Fareed Zakariah
The New Age of Innovation- Driving Cocreated Value Through Global Networks- CK Prahalad
Don’t let the weasels get you down!