The Cranky Middle Manager Show #311 Serial Innovators Claudio Feser
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #258 Ruthless Focus with Wally Bock
Posted on 26. Oct, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today we talk to Wally Bock about “Ruthless Focus”, the book he’s co-authored. How do you keep yourself and your team lasered in on the objectives? We’ll also look at the guy who had to run the Theatre while Shakespeare was busy being Shakespeare and a somewhat ironic quote from Alexander Graham Bell.
2 new webinar workshops this month!
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams November 19
If you have questions about these workshops, group discounts or any Greatwebmeetings.com training program, contact me.
Get the schedule for the rest of 2010 by clicking here.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we dedicate our show to James Burbage, who ran the Theatre in London before Shakespeare moved to the Globe. Anyone who can run a decent business with actors is capable of ruthless focus, indeed.
2:56 The quote of the week is from Alexander Graham Bell. Yes, the man who inventedthe telephone, which is often an interruption, is lecturing us about paying attention. At least it wasn’t the #@$%%^ who invented the Blackberry.
4:45 Welcome Wally Bock. (Listen to earlier conversations with him here and also here) He’s co-author of “Ruthless Focus- how to use key core strategies to grow your business”. Why is this as important for managers as it is for CEOs? Well, it’s not as important what your strategy is, so much as whether you admit you have one. You have to stay with it until it doesn’t work any more.
8:04 What exactly is “focus” as they define it in the book? It’s about 1) One thing that’s most important to pay attention to and 2) Simplify all the stuff you have going on so you’re clear on what you’re doing.
10:10 It’s so easy to confuse action with achievement. And what’s the difference between focus and tunnel vision? Wally gives a great example.
13:31 How do you know when something isn’t working any more? The secret is to have an independent source of information. Most information managers get is filtered, first through the organization and your people will almost always tell you what they think you want to know.
16:30 Why does this focus need to be ruthless? Because you need to be relentless and you’ll be sick of your message long before it actually sinks in to the minds of your people. It’s exponentially annoying and therein lies the trap.
22:35 Just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean we do it. Boredom is one reason, the sheer volume of stuff coming at you is crippling. That’s why i’m a morning person….because when you let your day get away you get drawn off-focus.
25:18 How do you influence those above you when it looks like they’re getting off topic? You have to remember that they are the boss. I offer the question that helps me…”help me understand how this new idea will help us achieve our strategic goal?”
Wally’s Resources
Blogs
Leadership Freak (Dan Rockwell)
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #257 Good Boss, Bad Boss Bob Sutton
Posted on 17. Oct, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to one of the biggest names in the Leadership game, Bob Sutton. Bob is a professor at Stanford University and the author of the Work Matters blog and books such as “The No Asshole Rule” and “Good Boss, Bad Boss- How to be the Best and Learn From the Worst”. We also salute the foreman of the Chilean miners and get a quote from Lao Tzu….a most eclectic show today.
2 new webinar workshops this month!
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams October 22
If you have questions about these workshops, group discounts or any Greatwebmeetings.com training program, contact me.
Get the schedule for the rest of 2010 by clicking here.
Show Notes
0:00 I am stunned that Bob Sutton is with us today. He’s a big deal and is here despite what I wrote 3 years ago in Management Issues…. We dedicate this episode to Luis Urzua, the foreman of that group of Chilean miners who spent 70 days underground. No whining about whatever project you’re on… ever.
4:00 the quote of the week is from Lao Tzu. Are you a wicked leader, a good one or a great one? In otherwords, are you a Good Boss or a Bad Boss?
5:24 Welcome Bob Sutton to the show. What’s the key idea of the book? It’s about the “toxic tandems”: on one hand, you’re being watched more closely than ever and on the other hand we become more oblivious to our surroundings.
8:34 We’re not often aware that we are often the major cause of employee stress. Yeah you have that kind of power for good or evil. You can actually double someone’s chance of heart attack….seriously.
10:45 It’s a pretty simple concept: emulate your good bosses and try not to be like the idiots. So why is it so difficult? We get the blame when things go wrong but we have to not take the credit when it goes well.
14:02 Andy Grove of Intel is a firm believer in “fake it til you make it”. Doesn’t that seem a little wierd coming from someone with such high standards? Confidence largely is a result of self-fulfilling prophecies.
16:25 One of the biggest pitfalls for new managers is to recognize that the quality of input and data changes. People are both sucking up and telling you what you want to hear to cover their own behinds.
21:22 The “Golden Rule” is not always good advice. It’s a recipe for disaster to treat others exactly as you wish to be managed.
23:00 Will Wright, the dean of video game programmers has an “audience centered approach” to meetings. A toll booth on your email would be a good idea, don’t you think?
Bob’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #256 Giving Voice to Values Mary Gentile
Posted on 11. Oct, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Professor Mary Gentile about her new book “Giving Voice to Values, How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right”. We also talk about Abraham Lincoln and a quote from Francis Bacon. Are you just a stripped bolt stuck in the vise grips of the workplace? This is your safe haven!
2 new webinar workshops this month!
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams October 22
If you have questions about these workshops, group discounts or any Greatwebmeetings.com training program, contact me.
Get the schedule for the rest of 2010 by clicking here.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show,the second in a series on living values at work. Sometimes it’s enough to know that it’s not just you. We dedicate this show to Abraham Lincoln. You have to remember that he struggled constantly with his values and led the union because it was right, not because he actually was wildly enthusiastic about the abolition thing, but his values game him no choice.
3:23 The quote of the week is from Sir Francis Bacon ( our leading quote source as of this week). It’s not what you putin your mouth but what you digest that nourishes you , and it’s not what you say that determines your core values and integrity. Ponder that one ,if you will.
4:45 Welcome Mary Gentile to the show. Yeah, we’re talking values again, but it matters. “Speaking Your Mind When You Know What’s Right”,sounds deceptively simple. If we spoke up whenever anything annoyed us we wouldn’t stay employed very long. First you have to know your values and that those are pretty universal – “hypernorms” like fairness, honesty, integrity and compassion.
8:23 Speaking up doesn’t have to be that “Jerry McGuire” moment (although it does sometimes happen). It’s not about self-righteousness. The book is mostly case studies of real people in real constructive situations. Mostly it involves building a business case for the behavior you’re trying to encourage.
10:15 Who do you complain to about your company’s values? Who’s the audience? The US Supreme Court’s opinion aside, companies aren’t people so you have to talk to someone. Do you have to talk to the CEO to act on your values?
14:49 “Fudging the numbers” is the most common values conflict. Does it really matter that much? When do you have to take a stand and can you be ideologically pure all the time?
17:03 Business ethics classes usually devolve into the exact definition of what’s right and wrong and that’s just practicing rationalization. What if you knew what was right and wrong …. what would you choose to do?
18:45 What are the practical steps to voice one’s values? They involve principles such as “shared values”, “principled choice”, and “normalization”.
23:30 Loyalty sounds like a good thing, but being loyal to your peers can mean you do things you shouldn’t…
29:00 It’s amazing how often the person you bring the issue to is grateful for your input…often it didn’t sit right with them either.
Mary’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #255 Bury My Heart at Conference Room B
Posted on 03. Oct, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Okay today Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel talks to Stan Slap about his new book, Bury My Heart at Conference Room B, winner of the “Best Title of the Year” award, hands down. We are talking living your values at work and why companies HATE that. Oh and we talk about Daniel in the Lion’s Den and cross dressing writers. Not your average AMA workshop here kids……
2 new webinar workshops this month!
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams October 22
If you have questions about these workshops, group discounts or any Greatwebmeetings.com training program, contact me.
Get the schedule for the rest of 2010 by clicking here.
Show Notes
0:00 However you say hello where you’re from, well right back at ya. Today we’re talking Values at Work, the flavor of the month but important none the less. (Read my Management Issues article on that). We dedicate this show to someone who knew about that, Daniel and his den of lions. Knowing you’ll survive is one thing, having to go through it at all hardly seems right.
3:45 The quote of the week, rich with irony, is from George Eliot who lived her values, if not her wardrobe choices.
5:00 Welcome Stan Slap to the program. The title of the book comes from an incident where the US Government massacred Native Americans because they felt by living their traditions they’d be a threat to the government. Does your company get nervous about how you want to live your values? There’s no better way for the company to become the cause than to lighten the hell up and stop trying to BE the cause. What makes you free to commit to an employer?
9:05 What exactly are values? They are your definition of what your life looks like. How much of that do you have to compromise just to hold a job? It’s over 50% of your waking hours.
10:50 Stated values and how things really work are often not the same thing. How can you tell what the values of a company really are? How can you tell when they are in conflict? When people live their individual values it all becomes moot.
13:20 Managers don’t tell employees what their values are, so they guess based on your behavior. Think about THAT for a minute. If you don’t know what’s true for you, everyone else has undue influence on you.
16:20 What do you do when there’s an inherent disconnect. Take “family” as a value. Do you really have that if you never see them because you’re working to feed them?Why do managers usually legislate against ourselves?
20:07 You will never realize working your values if a) you don’t sell it to your employees and b) sell it to your employer. You need to make a business case. You first have to recognize what your values are and take personal responsibility for them.
26:03 If you have an emotional reaction to this conversation and want to get back on track, what steps can you take to get ourselves where we want to go? You have to recognize what your values are, promise yourself you’ll translate those to your people through your actions and behavior and then turn them into a “new story of performance”.
Stans’ Resources