5 Steps for Managing Upward

In my first “real” job out of college, I had no idea what managing upward was and had no idea how to do it. More importantly, I didn’t know why it was necessary. In hindsight, I got passed over for a job opening in the department that I wanted because I didn’t manage upward, I got more work than any other person in the department thrown on me because I didn’t manage upward, and I ended up being pretty miserable because I didn’t manage upward. In my personal experiences and in coaching middle managers, I’ve learned that the topic of

Birthing Babies and Running Races: Pushing Past Your Breaking Point with Positive Feedback

We were excited to be featured as guest blogger on the awesome Fistful of Talent this past weekend. Now, we’re sharing this blog with you!  — I’m in labor. One nurse is holding one foot; another is holding the other. There’s a doctor in-between my legs, and my husband is at my side. (He was instructed under no uncertain circumstances to go below my knees.) It’s time to push. I, of course, am drugged with an epidural. They have to tell me when to push because I luckily can’t feel a thing. I don’t know the results of my efforts,

Leaders Kill two Birds with One Stone through Delegation

Leaders constantly face demands on their time, and discerning what to do, how to do it and when can be a challenge. Delegation provides: An effective means for managing time wisely and An effective way to develop others. Leaders make more leaders, and are also good at killing two birds with one stone.   So how to delegate?   Delegation Steps and Levels: What needs to be delegated? All your responsibilities should be put in to one of three buckets: 1. Don’t do it- get rid of the task or responsibility 2. Do it yourself. 3. Delegate it. Take time

Want to be a millionaire? A Good Leader? Manage Your Time First

Want to be a good leader? How about a millionaire? Manage yourself and your time first. What does it take to think like a millionaire? In reading The Millionaire Mind, I was struck by what seemed to first be a contradiction. Based on the study of almost 1000 millionaires, it was obvious these individuals as a group managed their expenses just as wisely, if not more, than their revenue generation. Most bought at discount retailers and had very small or non-existent mortgages by buying older homes that retained or appreciated in value. Keeping costs low is a priority in the

6 Steps for Maximizing Feedback Through Feedforward

Described by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, feedforward is a process to solicit help in improving your performance once you’ve gotten feedback on what you need to improve upon. In our coaching process, and in many others, this is done through a 360° feedback assessment. (If you want other tips on how to solicit feedback yourself, Goldsmith’s book has a methods you can employ, or you can read ideas we recommend here.   How to do it: Once you get feedback, you then follow the feedforward process as Goldsmith describes by: What