Inspired Middle Management

Is Humiliation a Leadership Tool?

Jul 30

Carolann Jacobs on July 30th, 2010

When I first got my Saint Bernard, Ponca, the biggest behavioral challenge we had was that she beat the other two dogs up. Bloodfang and Knight, the existing members of Team Dog, didn’t understand her boundaries and rules because their rules were different. One rule on Team Dog was that water is an infinite, shared [...]

Man (or Woman) Up! Curing the Epidemic of Weak Leadership

May 5

Carolann Jacobs on May 5th, 2010

This morning I was attending the Young Women Executives Forum at the Tower Club, and today’s topic was Conflict Management. This is a topic that I hit with my coaching clients 100% of the time. We all have a default mode for dealing with conflict. Some people use the “my way or the highway” approach. [...]

Managewhich Tip: Process-Focus Ain’t a Bad Thing

Jan 19

Carolann Jacobs on January 19th, 2010

We hear a lot about being results-focused and results-driven. Results are important, and somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of the importance of the journey. Case and point. In 1959, Cuba had an illiteracy rate of 23%. Post Castro revolution, in 1961, it was reduced to 4%. Let’s just say, this wasn’t the kindest [...]

Managewhich Tips: What is “Too Busy” Saying About You?

Jan 5

Carolann Jacobs on January 5th, 2010

We’re all busy. And, being busy in our culture can be a badge of honor. Busy = Important. “Busy” is also where Managewhiches get tripped up. Case Study 1: Jennifer was on the receiving end of some “unpleasant” news. Her company was cutting back on hours for its hourly employees and reorganizing some of its [...]

Managewhich’s Guide to the Annual Review

Dec 17

Carolann Jacobs on December 17th, 2009

For many middle managers, it’s that time of year again. Fiscal year’s over and review time is upon us. I’m guessing that this is an unpleasant task for most of you, which is a shame. Corporate America has taken one of it’s better opportunities for engagement and celebration and turned it into a administrivia-laden stress-inducing [...]

Managewhich Question: Who the “mans” the Role of Policy Police?

Dec 1

Carolann Jacobs on December 1st, 2009

“The rules make it fair for everyone,” a quote from one Managewhich who’s struggling with influencing and managing her peers. The Managewhich was describing how other groups are rewarded for complaining (as opposed to problem-solving), how other managers were giving undocumented vacation days in exchange for excessive for overtime, and other “rule-breaking” perks. Her point [...]

Managewhich? What to do With Complete and Utter Incompetence

Oct 27

Carolann Jacobs on October 27th, 2009

Her name is Oblivia. She’s nice. People like her. And, she can’t get anything done. Have you ever worked with someone who is Unconsciously Incompetent? That is to say, that they are so incompetent that they don’t even know that they are incompetent? It’s rare. Most of us know when we really, truly suck at [...]

Manage Which? Up Or Down?

Oct 16

Carolann Jacobs on October 16th, 2009

One of the recurring dilemmas for the Managewich is the balance between managing up and down. Today we’re going to examine the phenomenon of having to produce worthless crap that adds no value simply because the boss says so. Take my friend Breeze. Her boss, Hoover, continually asks for this spreadsheet or that report, all [...]

Woo Hoo Woo Hoo, Making My Radio Debut

Oct 13

Carolann Jacobs on October 13th, 2009

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m very excited to have been invited as a guest on the “Business Networking Brunch” this Sunday. We’re going to be on the air from 9am – 11am Central time on 1360 am in Dallas. Managewiches, I am there to beat the drum for the cause. Some of the topics [...]

Managewich Tips: Tired of Participating in the 80% of Change Initiatives That Fail?

Sep 8

Carolann Jacobs on September 8th, 2009

Change is hard… or is it? Think about a time when change was easy. What made it easy? For me, a good example to illustrate how change does and doesn’t work is recycling. At first, to recycle, we had to separate cans, glass and paper, and we had to sort through the plastics for the [...]

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