Chaos doesn’t scale. When I work with CEO’s and general managers they often tell me about their plans to scale the business. When I ask, “So how’s that going?” it often leads to a conversation about how they are doing…
Search Results for: Patty Azzarello
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The Real Job of a Leader Might Be Harder Than You Think
Success does not equal doing everything. In my work with a variety of companies, there is a very common and shared view that executives want their managers to be more strategic. Likewise, I see many managers struggle for three reasons:…
Want to Impact Your Bottom Line? Make Sure Every Manager Is a Good Manager
If you want to positively impact the bottom line in your business, insist that all your managers are good managers. Bad managers wreak havoc. Bad managers cost growth and profit. And I can tell you — there a lot of…
11 Things Leaders Need to Talk About When They Meet With Their Staff
A few years back I wrote an article called Stop Having Status Meetings! 5 Better Things to do Instead. Status updates squander time that could be spent using your team as a team. At the bottom of that article I mentioned…
It’s OK if You Don’t LOVE Your Work
Every time I hear some highly successful person, whether they are business person, movie star, writer, professional athlete, artist or reality TV star say, “You have to love your work”, or “You have to follow your passion”, I get annoyed….
8 Ways to Tell If Your Executive Communications Are Executive Enough
Are you coming across at the right level? Becoming proficient at executive communications is critical for every mid-level manager. Many leaders are very comfortable communicating downward or with peers, but when it comes to talking with top executives they are…
The Good Things You Can Learn From Bad People
Sometimes, the bad guy wins. Clients often ask me for advice on how to deal with highly political people who are not very good at anything other than managing up. And it’s especially frustrating because it seems to be working…
Workplace Communications: You Don’t Want to Be 100% Accurate, But 0% Effective
I remember in grade school getting an assignment to do a “report” on a topic or a book. Part of the assignment was always the length. “Make sure it’s two pages, single spaced.” Kids would struggle to make it long…
Management 101: It’s Vitally Important to Talk to People in the Trenches
As a manager, it’s vitally important that you talk to people at all levels in your organization — not just the managers who report to you. It’s not that your managers are maliciously hiding information from you, but if you…
The Most Important Thing: Don’t Just DO Work, Learn How to Deal With It
Busy is a choice. Through my work, I talk to many people (executives, mid-level managers, and individuals) at many different companies, and the one issue that seems epidemic is that people are all too busy. I’ve done webinars on Negotiating Your…
It’s True: Highly Talented People Can Get Scared at Work, Too
It’s been awhile since I’ve written about this, and there are so many new followers of this blog (thank you and welcome!), so I wanted to write this short blog because I think it’s really important to share this: Everyone…
Want A Competitive Advantage? Get Your Team To Make Faster Decisions
Editor’s Note: Readers sometimes ask about past TLNT articles, so every Friday we republish a Classic TLNT post. Can your team make a decision? I was recently thinking about a moment in my career that taught me several things about team…
5 Better Things to Do Than Have Status Meetings
What’s a good staff meeting? This is such an important topic that any effective manager needs to really get it right. Here are some questions I get: What should I be doing with my staff as a team? How should I…
Management 101: What To Do When You’re In Over Your Head?
Editor’s Note: Readers sometimes ask about past TLNT articles, so every Friday we republish a Classic TLNT post. I was recently telling a story about a time in my career when I had an all out panic. When I got my…
Workplace Energy: How to Find More When the Job Is Wearing You Down
As I was writing this post, I recalled when a former boss told me, “What I need most from you is to cope. I need you to be willing to come back every day.” This was a real gift to…
Building Influence: It’s About Making People WANT to Help You
HRSo many of my clients ask me about influence. They want to know how to better personally influence others or how to train their managers on influence and engagement. The answer is simple but not easy. The simple answer is…
Three Traits That Make Top Leaders Great
Editor’s Note: Readers sometimes ask about past TLNT articles, so every Friday we republish a Classic TLNT post. What makes the top leaders stand out is not their skills or experience. Once you get to compete for the top jobs, everyone…
Managers and Executives? They Just Need to Stop and Talk to Each Other
I work as a business advisor to executives, and in doing so also I often also have one-on-one conversations with their direct reports. I can’t count how many times, though I am having confidential conversations with each of them, I…
What Great Leaders Know: Sharing Power Builds Trust and Loyalty
Editor’s Note: Readers sometimes ask about past TLNT articles, so every Friday we republish a Classic TLNT post. This is not a deep psychology dive on ego and power in business leadership, which is a huge topic. But I want to…
Staying in the Moment: Why You Need to Savor Your Accomplishments
We all tend to get so busy that work and life can just fly by at a very fast pace. What I have learned is that if you don’t pause to punctuate your accomplishments, they have a tendency to fade…