The Cranky Middle Manager Show #311 Serial Innovators Claudio Feser
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #239 Family Drama Means Work Drama Sylvia LaFair
Posted on 25. May, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today we look at the role our family dynamics play in how we work with others. Sylvia Lafair is the author of “Don’t Bring it to Work- Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success”. We also look at Peter the Great (unless you’re related to him) and a quote from Helen Keller.
Sylvia Lafair will tell us how family dynamics impact how we work. A little therapy for your workday.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!S
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
Now you can get 3 of the best Cranky interviews on project management on one CD for $15 plus postage
- Green PM
- Lazy Project Management
- Managing Projects Across Distance
Click here to learn more and to purchase this CD. Contains a discount coupon for all Greatwebmeetings.com webinar workshops.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we are talking family dynamics and how the way you work with your family is probably also your MO at work. As exhibit A we present Peter the Great who treated pretty much everyone like his dimwitted half-brother.
2:37 The quote of the week is from Helen Keller. Nothing like being deaf dumb and mute to make you appreciate your family. I find keeping them in another country works too.
4:07 Welcome Sylvia Lafair to discuss how family dynamics mirror work dynamics and vice versa. I wrote on her blog recently and it’s good to talk to her. It would be lovely to leave all the family drama at the door and not bring it to work….except that we do. Procrastination, for example, goes back to refusing to clean your room even when you know you should get it done. When stress hits, we all revert to patterns we learned as kids.
8:00 Yes, I just confessed that the amygdala is my favorite part of the body. Emotions are incredibly powerful and can’t just be ignored. It’s in the hard wiring. Yes, I blame my challenges with reward and recognition on my mother which is neither fair nor relevant to 2010. Oh, and apparently is a big ole Drama Queen.
11:49 I watch this play out with my kid at work. We can transform these patterns but we have to see them first.
12:42 Does this mean we have to psychoanalyze all our employees? How important is it we know their story? Not as important as knowing what patterns show up in their work.
15:00 Sylvia walks us through coaching a chronic procrastinator. She gives us very specific language for having the conversation. Two key things. You need to ask: What do you want as an outcome? and you need to shut up.
19:50 When giving feedback, it’s important that you expose yourself first (not in the bad HR way). This leads to mirror neurons firing in their brains and they relax. If you don’t come in as a friend, the threat response takes over.
21:00 Sylvia’s process is OUT- Observe, Understand and Transform. It takes a little work but we get her to talk more about transformation and how it happens.
25:00 Is this all Western Freudian nonsense or is it internationally relevant as well? Sylvia finds families are families. Only the terminology changes.
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Follow Wayne on Twitter
Follow Sylvia on Twitter
Wally Bock’s 3 Star Leadership
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #238 Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door Harvey Mackay
Posted on 16. May, 2010 by Wayne in General
Today Wayne Turmel talks to motivation and career guru Harvey Mackay about his new book, “Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door-Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You”. We go old school today to give you some good advice. Also we look at a Renaissance Mercenary who made a career out of some serious outsourcing and a quote from Emerson. Don’t say we aren’t classy.
Sit down, shut up and listen to Harvey. He hasn’t been around this long without learning a thing or two.
Don’t forget May’s How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams webinar workshop. Click here to learn more and register.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
Now you can get 3 of the best Cranky interviews on project management on one CD for $15 plus postage
- Green PM
- Lazy Project Management
- Managing Projects Across Distance
Click here to learn more and to purchase this CD. Contains a discount coupon for all Greatwebmeetings.com webinar workshops.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today since we’re talking about finding a job and being in charge of your own career we dedicate this episode to John Hawkwood, the Renaissance mercenary master of outsourcing and living on your own terms.
3:35 The quote of the week is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Is your career a matter of luck or cause and effect?
5:07 Whether you’re currently employed or you’re out on the street, we all need to think about our careers and where the next job is coming from. Harvey gives us some hard numbers about how hard it is to find a gig. In your career you’ll have 10+ job changes and more than 3-5 full blown career changes in our lifetime.
10:50 The biggest challenge for a lot of us is the belief that our work will speak for itself. It doesn’t work that way, the competition is too strong. The only thing that will save you is your network. What shape is your network in?
13:30 What does a network look like today? Online social networks are an addendum, not a replacement for your own personal network. You have to put yourself out in the mix. Harvey has a radical solution if you get let go from a job… go volunteer. You’ll learn networking, sales and management skills plus meet lots of people.
18:11 No one wants to deal with you or hire you if you have a pout on. Harvey gives us some tough love (and a couple of cliches) about adjusting your attitude. We impact our own mood through the people we meet and the input (books, blogs and stuff) that we read.
22:49 You can’t reach out to your network when you’re out of a job if you haven’t been in touch before that. It takes a plan and some work. Informational interviews are a good way to do that.
25:58 What do we need to focus on when we go out on an interview? Do your homework and personalize the contact when you send out a resume or CV.
Harvey’s Resource
There’s a ton of stuff on his website , including his free book on networking
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #237 Why We Hate IT Susan Cramm
Posted on 07. May, 2010 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel takes a break from abusing HR and Sales and takes on the scariest department of all- IT. Susan Cramm from Valuedance is the author of 8 Things We Hate ABout IT- How to Move Beyond the Frustrations To Form a New Partnership With IT. We also look at the most Evil IT director ever and a quote from someone noone ever gets right. Ahhh, we do love to stir up trouble on this show.
Susan Cramm joins us to talk about hating IT.
Don’t forget May’s How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams webinar workshop. Click here to learn more and register.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
Now you can get 3 of the best Cranky interviews on project management on one CD for $15 plus postage
- Green PM
- Lazy Project Management
- Managing Projects Across Distance
Click here to learn more and to purchase this CD. Contains a discount coupon for all Greatwebmeetings.com webinar workshops.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to one of the more fun shows we’ve had in a while. We’ll talk about why we hate IT. This is tricky since so many of our listeners are IT but if anyone knows about self-loathing it’s middle managers. We dedicate this episode to Dionyisus the Elder of Syracuse- the model for evil IT directors everyone. A little technical knowledge and a lot of power is not a good mix.
3:40 The quote of the week is from Marshall McLuhan. If you’re in IT are you intelligent AND lighthearted? Didn’t think so.
4:50 Welcome Susan Cramm of Valuedance. You gotta love a book called 8 Things we Hate About IT. How did she limit it to that few? Okay why do we hate IT? It has a lot to do with how much money we spend and how little value we see. Too little, too late, for too much money is not a recipe for creating great relationships.
9:20 The real owner of IT should be the department heads, not IT and that’s the core of a problem- a disconnect between accountability and authority. I tell a story from a prospect I actually spoke to. Does your company have this same problem? (Call me if you do!)
13:37 The first thing on her list is “you need service and IT needs control”. Are you waiting on the IT breadline?
15:49 There are cheap consumer grade products out there that project teams can use but IT often stops them. IT needs to help set boundaries and then get out of the way. I’m a big fan of the Skunk Works concept. Come out of the innovation closet!
19:15 There’s a natural tension between tactics that managers need to implement and the strategic alignment which is IT’s job. It helps if everyone understands the end goal. It would also help if we spoke a lingua franca (which is ironically in a language no one understands). The best way to make sure we’re talking about the same thing is smallscale examples instead of big projects.
26:00 How can you succeed where others have failed miserably? Make sure you understand the impact of your project on your external customers and have something worth doing and then pass that on to others. Get them excited and ask for a little bit of money and time and prove your concept before going big.
28:00 We use less than 28% of the functionality of our IT products and systems. You have way more capability than you think. Oh, and IT shouldn’t necessarily be doing the training. Do you want your sales demos taught by the same guy who fixes your hard drive? Oh and if you want your people to use technology, you have to be one of the first to adopt.
Susan’s Resources
Remember that bad books are a gateway drug!
Don’t let the weasels get you down!