Archive for the 'Leadership' Category

Crisis Management

“In times of crisis, give help first, then advice.”

Seems like a simple, easy to follow quote.  Ever catch yourself giving advice first?

Here is an example:

Your friend routinely skips breakfast.  By 1pm each day, he is ravenously hungry.  You stop by his office to ask a question and there he is, eating pretzels by the handful.  He starts to choke, and is visibly scared.

You could:

A - start lecturing him…”See what happens when you skip breakfast?…you always eat so fast at lunch it is no small wonder this hasn’t happened before!”

B - help him stop choking right away.

Think about this when a colleague has trouble at work finishing an assignment.  Assisting in finishing a PowerPoint presentation may not be a life-threatening situation - but it can feel like it to the person that is “choking.”

Help first, then advice.

Joe Raasch :: Oct.03.2008 :: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Personal :: No Comments »

Issues Managers Face in the Workplace (redux)

Several months ago I completed a series about Issues Managers Face in the Workplace.

Here is a recap of the 12 posts:

  1. The Problem Employee
  2. Setting The Agenda As A Manager
  3. Managers Have Choices
  4. Do Your Employees Buy In Or Tune Out?
  5. Motivating Your Employees During Tough Times
  6. Managing People: the Sisyphean Challenge
  7. Evidence-based Management of People
  8. Emotional Intelligence and Managing People
  9. Super Tuesday and Making Room for Change
  10. Management and Why the Giants Won Super Bowl XLII
  11. Management and Playing Dirty
  12. Occam’s Razor and Complicating Matters as a Manager

What would you add to this list?

Enjoy!

Joe Raasch :: Sep.15.2008 :: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Organizational Development, Performance Management :: No Comments »

Power and Example

On August 27th at the Democratic National Convention, President Clinton gave a speech in support of Democratic nominee Barack Obama (full text of speech here.)

One line in particular resonated with me:

“People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example

than by the example of our power.”

I am usually bemused by turns of phrase in speeches, especially political ones.  This one transcended the rhetoric.

An Example of Power

The New York City police department has been doing interesting training exercises in the past year or two.  They are sending 100s of police officers in a ’saturation’ exercise into neighborhoods - and then leaving.  This is a thought-out, strategic display of power to mitigate the risk of large scale problems in various parts of the city.  It scares the citizen on the street, and for NYPD, hopefully any terrorist activity. 

The Power of an Example

Think of the best leaders you’ve witnessed.  One example is Winston Churchill.  He walked the streets of London during the worst bombing of World War II.  With his position in the English government he had every opportunity to flex his power from somewhere safe, and let the average citizen suffer on their own.  He did not.  What do you do with your team to set an example versus demand one?

At Work

There are times when presence, context, and respect could require a display of power - though I can’t think of many.  Next time you feel an urge to say, “do you realize who you’re speaking to?” or “I am the (insert lofty title here), you can’t do that to me,” - think if a power play will be a better example than demonstrating by example (accomplishment, tact, collaboration) your power.

Joe Raasch :: Aug.29.2008 :: Leadership :: No Comments »

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