How can managerial communication skills be a lost art? Don’t leadership development programs help managers develop communication skills? You don’t have to have a business degree or be accredited by a professional association to work as a manager. But as any subordinate knows, effective managers have developed the art of management. Unfortunately, many large organisations… Continue Reading
I sometimes wonder if Gurus practice managing up themselves. For example, their readers – presumably subordinates seeking a few tips on managing up – get asked: Q.1: Do you know your blind spots? Q.2: Do you take the primary responsibility for managing the relationship with your manager? Q.3: Do you understand your manager? Q.4: Do… Continue Reading
We all know that giving negative feedback to a subordinate is likely to be an uncomfortable experience for both. But as the supervising manager has the advantage of greater positional power, the nature of the activity suggests it holds greater risk for the less-powerful subordinate. The capacity and willingness of the recipient to absorb and… Continue Reading
I’ll be honest about these management books I have selected. None of them are quick fix-it type books. Instead, they offer readers an opportunity to explore new ways of thinking about commonly accepted practices (see my tips for selecting business books). But be warned. If you think these books look interesting, you are likely to… Continue Reading
When you buy business books, do you feel overwhelmed by the overflowing book shelves? According to Bloomberg Businessweek, 11,000 plus business books are published each year, buyer behaviour suggesting that: Purchasing choices are made based on brand, not content. Length does matter, brevity chosen ahead of authoritative analysis. Seduction is preferred to substance, catchy titles… Continue Reading
I am facilitating the following full-day Pre-Conference Workshop on Friday, 1st August 2014 at the Australian Institute of Training and Development. Evaluating Trainers: Revisiting Communication Competency – Workshop Overview What is communication competency in training and facilitating? How do we recognise it? How do we evaluate it? How do we formulate our feedback? This workshop… Continue Reading
Surprise is usually the response when people discover I use linguistics to help managers and other professionals. “Linguistics?” they say. “Not psychology?” Someone has even asked me how I handle psychopaths. I remind them that the work of managers involves a lot of talking such as briefing others, giving feedback, and managing teams of diverse… Continue Reading
I am presenting the following concurrent workshop at the Australian Institute of Training and Development’s 2014 National Conference, May 14-15, 2014. Hope to see you there. Learning at the coalface: Entering the leadership pipeline -Workshop Overview Recent discussions on workplace learning suggest that the L&D community is increasingly interested in informal learning. Until now, there… Continue Reading
The 70 20 10 model of development should be used as a guide not a formula, and should not be accepted at face-value by organisations. While the 70 20 10 model helps us appreciate just how much our on-the-job experiences contribute to total workplace learning, we need to be aware of the model’s limitations when… Continue Reading
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