After a few days of rest, the human mind plays an ornery trick on managers. Staff members have a frustratingly human characteristic of change reversal. Ignore it and you will continually lose ground. Leadership management considers this rule and makes adjustments to reduce impact. Here is the rule: Humans tend to revert to the deeply …
Continue reading “Vacation Reverses Progress: Reinforce Routines on Return”
Managers and leaders communicate priority by where they spend their time. Production teams make America happen. A walk through a production press room tells the workers they are important and what they do is important. Stopping by the front desk in the morning and looking the receptionist in the eye followed by a specific word …
Continue reading “Presence Communicates Production Priority”
Don’t hand your customer toilet paper for a messy problem. Fix the plumbing. Creative managers create solutions alongside staff. Duct tape and WD40 and vise grips may be all that is needed to do small jobs around the house. That won’t do in a productive and viable business. You need to fix the plumbing. You …
The life of a manager would not be complete without that wonderful day where she finds herself stumped as to why a staff member acted in a certain manner inconsistent with policy. After several months of training a colleague, you find them going a different direction than guided. It is inevitable. It will happen. The …
Entitlement breeds discontent. There really is no productive way to look at entitlement. Don’t read this if you like entitlement organizations. Don’t read this if you enjoy getting something for existing. “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” Margaret Thatcher Business, NGO, and government must face the question. …
Controlled chaos is a normative term in the management of change. Change is never straight. Change defies a linear constraint. Change is messy and change is curved. Leaders must be curved people. Mentoring a growth team, we reviewed normal impact of change on the growth leader. In this model vision leads to planning and implementation …
“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” Phil Engage others in creative and synergistic endeavors. Purposefully find ways to force team member interplay for power results. Be sensitive and firm. This is not a day at the ropes course. This is in the work place on real tasks that have real risk …
Continue reading “The Rule of Synergy: Three Have to Have Accelerators”
Print13 happens in a few weeks. This international gathering of In-Plants and Commercial printers is a powerful way to meet some new folks, get educated and informed, and see what is new and changing. Your progress probably won’t be on a banner, but it should be noted. I want to note it. You can …
Continue reading “In Plant Planning Survey – 2 minutes. Free Download”
The Five P’s of a Manager’s Portfolio Allow Right Building Assessing a business operation takes scrutiny of the right five P’s. Get it wrong and you can find yourself damaging more than building. Get it right and the right stuff comes together. Look to the heart not the surface. Uncover riches. Character is like a …
Continue reading “The Five P’s of a Manager’s Portfolio Allow Right Building”
“80% of the results come from 20% of the effort. Focus on the right 20%.” Phil Right this minute, my desk is a mess. Multiple projects for clients and engagements in the non-profit sector press for attention. How do I decide what to pick up and what to put down? Building the people around me …
