The first three installments in this series covering management’s most basic principles addresses Planning, Organizing, and Training. Once those have been done, or more realistically, once those are being done, the final principle is that of controlling action. If nothing is moving, the first challenge is to get things moving in an orderly manner. One...

POTC – the four elemental components of any effective management strategy I am still in Uganda and will be for several more weeks. It is my privilege to be training some new managers as they make the transition into the realm of those who lead others. I am well aware of the Peter Principle which...

Ok, we have to admit it. We are busy. Too busy. There are meetings to prepare for and participate in. There are reports to write, read, review, comment upon, and process. The day’s schedule is very often controlled by someone else or at the very least, torpedoed by unplanned events. In my time management seminars,...

  NOTE: This post is a continuation of a topic I started last week. If you haven’t read it already, I suggest you begin with “How to multiply your effectiveness – 2 critical assessments you must make.” I ended the previous post with a promise to disclose how Louis rated himself. But before I do...

Our particular, and in some cases peculiar, personality style gives rise and abets a favorite leadership style. In the 1960's, Douglas McGregor’s study suggested two divergent leadership/management styles – Type X and Type Y. The Type X style, according to the researcher, is a top-down, task oriented style. Type X managers favor giving orders, making...

There are four barriers that stand in the way of everyone and anyone. Once you realize what they are and define what they do, then and only then can you determine what abilities an associate should possess. You cannot readily find the people and means to overcome the barriers until you know what they are. ...

In the previous post I listed the four benefits gained from an effective strategic staff. Just to be clear, that strategic staff may be formal (paid and designated as your associates) or may be informal (either paid or volunteer but who round out your work load because you have come to rely on them and...

A strategic team is a person or persons who, by virtue of their competencies, motivation, and reliability will: Extend Your Reach - they make it possible for you to influence people and events far beyond what you naturally could. They provide access to people and events to which you would not normally have found entrance....

“Leading is easy, the hard part is getting people to follow.” Yogi Berra    Ok, so you can accurately read the circumstances and the people in them, have a clear concept of what has to be done, and can confidently articulate why it needs to be done. Can you get anyone to cooperate with your...

Every professional soon discovers that his or her name resides on dozens, maybe hundreds of mailing lists. Not only does the normal flow of correspondence find it way to you, so does tons more: catalogs, flyers, sales offers, opportunities to win $10 million, newsletters, magazines, newspaper clippings, contracts, receipts, bills, memos, notes, legal documents, and...