The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #217 Stanley Bing
Posted on 30. Nov, 2009 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel meets one of his idols, Fortune Columnist Stanley Bing. We plug his new book, “How to Relax Without Getting the Axe”. We also salute Roman slaves the SEC should hire and get inspiration from Lord Byron.
Today we talk to the Mysterious Mr Stanley Bing
If you like to laugh at business people, check out my book ” 125 Quotes for Whacking Weasels, Centuries of Wisdom, Motivation and Snappy Comebacks from the Cranky Middle Manager Show” 
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we celebrate Gnaeus Pompey Magnus- Pompey the Great. Well actually we’d like to celebrate the slave who whispered in his ear but of course we have no idea who that really was. Using humor to aerate the egos of the great is nothing new but today’s guest does it better than most.
3:15 The quote of the week is from Lord Byron- if you’re talking about fools, satire is the best weapon to use and that’s what today’s show is about.
5:27 Welcome Stanley Bing to the show. We’re off to a good start despite my blaming him for inspiring this show. His book is all about learning to take it a little easier than we do, and for inspiration look to our bosses. They’re not lazy, they just manage to relax and actually have some fun. Let’s start with having breakfast. You do remember breakfast, right?
10:00 There’s no honor in taking all the bullets and taking on everyone’s burdens. Steven King is a great example of short bursts of productivity and lots of downtime. Oh, and the Protestant Work Ethic is overrated (and slightly racist).
13:30 Delegation is vital, if a bit complicated. Don’t underestimate flattery as a tool. Also, other people’s assistants make great helpers.
17:40 Employee engagement is all well and good, but Bing believes you should be only as engaged as you need to be at that moment. We also do a slight riff on HR and Quality.
21:40 We often complain about crazy bosses… but maybe they’re bosses because they’re crazy. The qualities of dementia necessary to run anything are extreme. Take a tip from them…rope off mealtimes as zones of defensible entitlement.
Check out Stanley Bing’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #216 Creating a Sense of WE Judith Glaser
Posted on 22. Nov, 2009 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Wayne Turmel welcomes Judith Glaser back to the fold. She’s all about creating WE, a sense of togetherness and team. Also we talk about her new book, Moses, Shakespeare and all kinds of management foolishness. Plus there’s a new Greatwebmeetings site with classes you can sign up for starting the first of the year.
Judith Glaser is back for yet more Crankiness. You can hear her first conversation here and the second one here.
Don’t forget to check out www.greatwebmeetings.com and www.crankymiddlemanager.com while you’re surfing around.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show one and all. Today we are talking the “soft stuff” of management- getting people to come together so we dedicate this show to someone who did that well, but could have used some hard process skills- Moses.
2:46 The quote of the week is from Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale- who knew he would be able to say something that would apply to virtual teams 500 years later? This guy was good.
4:30 Welcome Judith Glaser back to the show to talk about “42 Rules for Creating WE”. Silly me, I thought I knew what WE meant…..
8:00 True “WE” is all the unwritten stuff, the beliefs and unexamined assumptions that are always there and often cause trouble. She gives us a case study that tells the tale.
11:15 I call a halt to the consultant speak and get some firm definitions. She’s up to the task. A great example of how assumptions can upset WE. The killer is to have the conversation about assumptions. We also define the “elephant in the room”.
15:30 Do we make it okay to challenge assumptions? We delve down into the brain science behind fear and rejection. My mother overestimated sticks and stones and underestimated words.
17:40 Leadership is more than the standard vision of a single person leading from the front. I refer to a Management Issues article I wrote on the topic (shameless plug).
19:30 One of the rules is “To be Selfless You Have to be Selfish”. That includes standing up for yourself.
24:05 Another is the very mushy-sounding “Live in Your Heart Zone”. Basically you can’t just rely on logic. Managing from the Reptilian Brain is a problem. I also learn more about the chemistry of the heart.
Judith’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #215 Social Networking for Managers with Penny Power
Posted on 15. Nov, 2009 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel talks to Penny Power, co-founder of Ecademy and an expert in the world of social media and online networking. Why do managers who aren’t looking for jobs need to expand their network?? Also we look at Abraham’s go-to guy and quote Augustine of Hippo. This show just smacks of class doesn’t it?
One of my favorite people, Penny Power joins us today. If you don’t listen to me, at least listen to her. Her book Know Me, Like Me Follow Me is not a guide for stalkers, but one of the best books on social media for beginners out there.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Pull up a seat and gird your loins. We dedicate this show on networking and social media to Elizier of Damascus.
2:36 Let’s all get connected. If you’d like to connect to me, and by extension each other, you can find me on Twitter
4:13 The quote of the week is from Augustine of Hippo. Try to imagine what his Facebook page would look like…. anyway…….
4:55 Welcome Penny Power to the show. Before you roll your eyes and think “Oh no, not Social Networking again” be glad it’s not leadership. Okay? Up until recently she was one of my “invisible friends”. She and her husband Thomas co-founded Ecademy. She talks about how that developed and how it’s different from LinkedIn.
7:30 Why should gainfully employed managers with limited time pay attention to their online networks? Connectedness is becoming more and more important to our careers and daily lives. I question whether “stuff happens” when your network is big enough but let’s let her go….
11:46 Even if you can get by without an online social network, the kids coming up and looking for your job ARE connected,and that’s an oncoming train. Customer Service, in particular, is going to be impacted. This is not a fad, gang.
15:44 What are some do’s and don’ts of building an online brand? The big thing is to remember it’s social. Taking and broadcasting is not true engagement. Win-win is the focus and you never know when it’s going to pay off or how. But what does she mean by “Know me, like me follow me?”. The biggest “don’t” is trying to control the conversation.
22:22 The younger generation (that makes me sound so old!) understands this so much better than many of us who’ve been around for a while. Who are you? Who connects to you and why? People bring their networks to work. We have to get comfortable forming real relationships online because that’s how many of us are forced to manage now.
27:00 How are people supposed to get comfortable with tools if their employers don’t encourage them to learn and get training on them? (If you go to www.greatwebmeetings.com I’d be happy to talk to you about that). Why are some people able to say things online that they could never say face to face?
31:00 Does the online world have a culture that transcends nationality??? Penny waxes poetic about this. Are you a friend?? Should someone know you?
Penny’s Resources
The CrankyMiddle Manager Show #214 Inner Productivity with Chris Edgar
Posted on 08. Nov, 2009 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Christopher Edgar, author of “Inner Productivity: A Mindful Approach to Efficiency
and Enjoyment in Your Work”. I also try to spit out a couple of words of Mandarin, we salute a prolific writer who couldn’t pass a simple test, and quote Robert Browning. Not a bad day’s work.
Chris Edgar looking mindful.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show and a big “ni hao” to our friends in China. I have no idea how or why, but our audience has grown a lot there and it’s now our second biggest audience. Anyway today we are talking productivity and mindfulness. As a result, we dedicate this show to the prolific Feng Meng Lung who wrote productively yet couldn’t pass his civil service exams which suggests his head wasn’t really in the game. Do you procrastinate? This is the show for you because the problem is all in your mind.
3:00 The quote of the week is from Robert Browning. Do you know your search?
4:34 Welcome to Chris Edgar. This show treads some lines we don’t normally tread but as Dr Phil would say…you know what you should be doing and how’s that working for ya? What does he mean by “mindfulness” and it has an awful lot to do with procrastination because we love to get distracted and aren’t always hip to why.
7:24 Many of us know the systems and have every tool we need to get the work done, so why is procrastination such a problem? The problem is a wandering mind. He comes from the legal profession which would seem an odd path to trod for someone in this field.
11:57 This isn’t about religion, but about practice and exercise. A lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction to meditation or other “touchy feely” ideas but the benefits are real.
12:50 It’s important to understand the difference between Response and Reaction. Reaction is automatic and unconscious. Response is how we CHOOSE to respond to the stimulus. Misery (or procrastinating) is optional.The trick is to slow down and find out WHY you’re feeling like procrastinating.
15:30 A practical example of how this works….
17:00 What’s the difference between INTENTION and ATTENTION? Attention is putting our mental focus on something. Intention is taking a big-picture view of what we’re trying to achieve. You can put a lot of attention into playing Solitaire on the computer but are you achieving your Intention?
20:00 Being mindful can be as simple as askingAdd New Post ‹ TPN :: The Cranky Middle Manager Show — WordPress yourself “why am I doing what I’m doing right now?”. Physical symptoms can be a sign we ought to ask those questions. Tension, discomfort and stomach pain are all clues.
23:00 What is “breathing through” a situation? You think by now I’d know what breathing is.
25:00 Chris takes us through a couple of simple “mindfulness” exercises. When you’re thinking about NOW you can’t think about anything else.
CHRIS’ RESOURCES