Posts filed under 'Career'
I recommend this book for several reasons. First, the prints are visually pleasing, for me at least, with large fonts and ample white space. Second, Mr. Lucht’s writing style yields content that is easy to absorb. Third, and the most important reason of them all, John’s advices make sense and work, day after day.
Some people might read the book and point out “So what, those are just common sense stuff.” Well, they are and good advices in life usually do not require specialized academic training just to understand. The challenge, as we all know, is to practice those insights consistently day in and day out. Practicing management is about doing the right things and doing things right on a consistent basis. This book is a great read for everyone, not just for those in the management line of work or aspiring to get into one. I read the book from time to time and continue to get new “insights” every time I read it. I encourage you to check what other had to say about this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Insights-Journey-John-Lucht/dp/0942785312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277262909&sr=8-1
I happen to have a couple of the “Insights to the Journey” books to give away. Please post a comment below by 5pm Friday June 25, and you will be entered into the book drawing. Enjoy some summer reading.
June 22nd, 2010
For managers who actively seek out guidance that can make themselves more effective week after week, it is very hard to beat what Manager Tools (www.manager-tools.com) has to offer. Manager Tools podcast, started by Mark Horstman and Michael Auzenne back in 2005, has been providing actionable advices to manager of all ranks every week.
The Manager Tools podcast focuses on helping manager to improve his or her performance. Many consider Mark and Mike’s advices spot on, as well as a much more effective way of doing managerial work, I included. The podcast covers a wide range of managerial topics, including many coaching, feedback, and delegation related topics. Don’t take my words for it. Just check out the discussion forum and see what other people said about the podcast. Manager Tools also has won The People’s Choice Podcast Awards in the business category for 2006, 2007, and 2008, not to mention the podcast won the overall People’s Choice Podcast Award for 2008.
The podcast subscription is free. You just need a podcast manager software like iTunes or something similar. There are over 250 podcast episodes available since 2005, so there is an ample amount of great ideas to help you improve. There is also a premium service you can purchase, and you will receive the transcribed show notes. In my opinion, the show notes are nice but they are not critical to get the most out of the podcast. The podcast contents from the free membership or the premium membership is the same – the quality of the advice is the same.
Will listening to Manager Tools make you a better manager? It is definitely possible if you are willing to take the time and effort to adopt the practices and integrate the knowledge into your daily managerial routines. Putting the Manager Tools advices into action often requires behavioral changes, and they are not always easy. For the benefits of the people you are leading, there is no reason not to adopt some of the good practices. If some of your directs are also managers, ask them to check out Manager Tools and emulate the behaviors outlined in the podcast. We can always benefit from having more effective managers around, can we not?
May 24th, 2010
“Effectiveness is a discipline. And, like every discipline, effectiveness can be learned and must be learned.”
–Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive
With that quote from Peter Drucker, we celebrate the revival of my blog with this post. Moving forward, the mission of the blog is to share and to discuss everything that we can use to make us more effective in what we do. Being effective is a personal choice and a journey. Achieving effectiveness is also something that can be learned and get better at. Effectiveness and efficiency often go together, and they complement each other. By over-emphasize one or the other is not always optimal, either.
The information shared in this blog is not going to be anything revolutionary or shockingly new. After all, many business and management scholars have studied the subjects of effectiveness and efficiency for decades. The intent of this blog is to share, educate, and encourage idea exchange. In the end, I sincerely hope the information presented here will be more than a helpful reading but also something that is actionable.
Now back to Drucker’s book for a bit…
The book rests on two premises where 1) the executive’s job is to be effective; and 2) effectiveness can be learned. Dr. Drucker also defined “executive” as a knowledge worker who “is responsible for a contribution that materially affects the capacity of the organization to perform and to obtain results.” I believe that definition includes most, if not all, of us. Moreover, I will not going into the books in great details since many others have already done the in-depth reviews. You can check out the following URLs and see what others had already said:
http://www.manager-tools.com/book-review/effective-executive
http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Executive-Definitive-Harperbusiness-Essentials/dp/0060833459
May 13th, 2010
Over the holiday weekend, I finished reading The Truth about Middle Managers by Mr. Paul Osterman. I will share some of the ideas presented in the book, in direct quote or paraphrasing. I also included some of my own thoughts.
Overall, I was glad that someone wrote a book on this topic. I had often wondered just how relevant the middle management work is to today’s “flat” organizations. To my surprise, the middle management profession is still very much alive; however, the old advancement rules no longer apply. Companies are also less accommodating when it comes to nurturing and managing one’s career. In any case, feel free to derive your own conclusion on the middle management work. If you happen to pick up the book later, enjoy the reading. I did.
By the Numbers
- The number of managers in the economy is steadily increasing, not decreasing.
- The numbers do not tell how life inside organizations has changed for managers.
The Changing Role
- In today’s team and matrix environment, two major job activities emerge:
- Managing internal processes of the team. Trying to place the best people on the team. Setting priorities, etc.
- Acting as an ambassador to other teams. Managing boundary between teams, both an opportunity and challenge. Opportunity because of the visibility presented in the work. Challenge due to the significant and subtle relationship skills are required to be successful boundary work.
- Stress is up because the environment we manage is much more complex, which leads to increased hours and uncertainty that managers face regarding their own fate.
- Autonomy vs. Breadth: Because firms have reduced organization layers and with diffusion of IT, managers face more monitoring and control, which means less autonomy. For the same reasons, jobs are broader and more complex, which means more breadth.
Personal thoughts: These points match up with my experience pretty well – a lot of coordination and path-paving work we do on the daily basis.
Changing Rules for Success
- Opportunities and rules for advancement have changed. Under the best circumstances, managerial assessment is a difficult business for two reasons.
- Managerial work is relatively invisible and hard to capture in clean measures.
- When performance metrics are used, they are unreliable.
Personal thoughts: I was hoping the book can shed some insights, unfortunately, not much help here. How to advance within the organization via the middle management route also depends a lot on the individual’s values and philosophies. It also depends on how one defines success and planning out the goals for achieving it.
Shifting Commitments
- Managers maybe under increased pressure and may feel greater stress, they have strong commitment to the work itself. Middle managers are committed to their tasks, to their immediate jobs, and to their close colleagues.
- Many managers have lost their commitment to the firm as an enterprise and they are suspicious of the motivations and actions of top management.
Personal thoughts: These points also match up my sentiment pretty well. Everyone’s mileage will differ obviously. At the end of day, it would still appear that the people I work for and with have a sizeable influence on how I feel about my work. I continue to like what I do and will do my best especially for the people I care about. That is my own definition of commitment and loyalty.
July 7th, 2009
The 2008 podcast awards were announced, and several of my favorite shows were showcased on the list. My favorite one, Manager Tools, won both the individual category and the overall awards. Congratulations to Mark, Mike, and the folks at Manager Tools. Just as importantly, the Todd and the folks at Podcast Connect rock for bringing and building awareness for a number of worth-a-while podcasts out there.
Podcast Awards Link
December 8th, 2008
Liz Ryan writes articles for her column “The Savvy Networker” on Yahoo! Hotjobs as well as “The Workplace” column on Business Week Online. I recently got around and read all of her articles on Yahoo! Her articles are easy to read and packed with useful insights and advices on the proper etiquettes of business networking. I highly recommend them. Here are some take-aways for me:
- Build relationship and trust through human connections
- Focus on quality of the connections, quantity is secondary
- Be yourself but avoid being WRAM (World Revolves Around Me)
In addition to the Hotjobs articles, you can find more of her work at www.asklizryan.com. If you use LinkedIn like many of us do, check out some of her advices on practicing online networking effectively.
The bottom line is… the more people who know you well enough and can vouch for you with credibility, the better position you will be in for any kind of career movement. Most of us, yours truly included, are lazy when it comes to networking and would rather do nothing than connecting with old acquaints. All is not lost, you now have excellent tools like LinkedIn and Plaxo to help you to reconnect and stay in touch.
November 2nd, 2008
I pull a list like this together from time to time in order to remind me of the resources I have used and others might find helpful. With web 2.0 technologies, there are a number of excellent options out there. To take advantage of them, you will need the following in addition to a computer with a browser:
- iTunes: Apple has made listening and sharing audio properties ubiquitous, and there are some great podcasts out there. To take advantage of the free podcasts out there, you just need iTunes. You do not need an iPod unless you plan to take the podcasts with you on the road.
- RSS Reader: There are a number of great resources out there that come in the form of blog. RSS readers are pretty prevalent these days, and you can use the one that comes with IE, Firefox, or via Google. Personally, I prefer thick client and use NewsGator; however, I have used Google Reader and think it is great.
Here are the resources I have found helpful and review them regularly, at least once a week.
- Career Opportunities (http://welchwrite.com/career/): Great podcasts with transcripts posted via RSS. Doug Welch has shared a number of career insights, and I have enjoyed listening to him every week.
- Manager Tools (http://www.manager-tools.com/): Unmatched podcasts on all aspects of career management. The podcast series, for the most part, targets towards managers or supervisors but they have a number of podcasts that are still useful even if you don’t supervise anyone. The podcasts are all about practicing the techniques of being a top notch professional, in any field. Registration is free and highly recommended since you will also get the extra monthly member-only podcasts.
- The Executive Update (http://blog.netshare.com/): A number of insightful blogs from Kathy Simmons of NETSHARE, Inc. The services of NETSHARE cost money but the blogs are free. The target audience is mainly the “executives,” and that is applicable to all of us. Each one of us is the CEO and chief executive of “Me, Inc.”
- Leading News (http://www.leadingnews.org/): This site has a solid monthly newsletter and TeleForum with Marshall Goldsmith frequently as a guest speaker in the TeleForum. Marshall Goldsmith also has his own blog (http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/blog), and I enjoy reading it every time there is a new posting. At the minimum, subscribe the newsletter and find time to attend the TeleForum everyone once a while.
- Job Boards (Yahoo! HotJobs and Monster): For decent career related articles and writing, I think HotJobs and Monster have a very good collection. Sign up for their career related newsletter and check worth-a-while article regularly.
Feel free to chat with me if you have any questions. All aforementioned people have donated their time and shared very valuable insights via the technologies. To me, they are all top notch professionals and a class act by any measure.
July 20th, 2008
The Manager Tools posted an excellent episode on what to do first for someone who is taking over a team. The situation is just as applicable for someone new to the managerial job as for veteran managers. Speaking from my own personal experience, I have witnessed a number of new leaders who came in with both guns blazing and alienating the members in the team over time. Sure, some of them achieved the short-term results they were asked to deliver, but their contributions were quickly forgotten or dismissed soon after they left the team. Perhaps that is fine for some people, but I prefer the approach presented by Manager Tools and John Lucht. One of the very first topics presented in John Lucht’s book, Insights for the Journey, discusses the exactly same “Fit-in” philosophy.
Manager Tools’ podcast: The First Rule for New Managers
John Lucht’s Insights for the Journey
March 24th, 2008
Don Tennant, the Editor in Chief for Computerworld, is a favorite technology journalist of mine. Don frequently writes about topics in technology profession, IT careers, and IT management ethics and trends. You may not always agree with him, but I have found most of his articles to be interesting and enlightening, especially on the topic of globalization.
You can find Don’s blog over here.
February 11th, 2008
Anne Fisher posted an article on recession-proof one’s job. The advices presented in the article are great for anyone to follow, in recession or not.
Ask Annie Article
February 3rd, 2008
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