Inspired Middle Management
Manage Which? Up Or Down?
October 16, 2009 | 
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Photo by Daniel R. Blume
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 of which demands that Breeze and her team drop whatever [productive] work they are doing to deliver this new requirement ASAP.
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Tags: Action Coach, Brain-based Coaching, business coach, Career Management, Carolann Jacobs, coach, coaching, Corporate Coach, DFW, Executive Coach, Executive Coaching, Extraordinary Results, facilitation, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Workplace, Leadership, Leadership Coach, Legacy Leadership, Neuroleadership, vivid epiphany | 
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Woo Hoo Woo Hoo, Making My Radio Debut
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 I plan to hit:
- Why middle managers are integral to execution
- Why leadership is important in all levels of the organization
Posted in Inspired Middle Management | Tags: Action Coach, business coach, Carolann Jacobs, DFW, Extraordinary Results, facilitation, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Workplace, Leadership, Leadership Coach, Legacy Leadership, managewich, Middle Management, middle manager, Middle Managers, Neuroleadership, sandwich generation of managers, vivid epiphany | No Comments »
The Customer Experience & The Managewich
Photo by Tamer Shabaneh
My hubby and I just got back from an awesome trip to Cancun. I bought the trip somewhat last minute from Sams Club of all places. It was a surprise for Russ’s birthday, so I wanted it below the radar. The trip was almost too good to be true price-wise, and even though I did my research, my biggest concern was that the hotel was going to be awful.
Posted in Inspired Middle Management | Tags: Action Coach, Brain-based Coaching, business coach, Carolann Jacobs, coaching, Corporate Coach, DFW, Executive Coaching, Extraordinary Results, facilitation, Inspired Workplace, Leadership, Legacy Leadership, managewich, Middle Management, middle manager, Neuroleadership, vivid epiphany | No Comments »
The Omniscient Managewich
I have a question for the sandwich generation of managers, middle managers or owner managers, stuck in the middle of competing priorities and agendas:
Why is it so hard to know what someone else really wants or believes, and yet, how is it that we know others’ intentions just by looking at their body language or actions?
Paradoxical, yes?
Posted in Brain-based Coaching, Inspired Middle Management | Tags: Action Coach, Brain-based Coaching, business coach, business coaching, Career Coach, Carolann Jacobs, Corporate Coach, Executive Coach, Executive Coaching, Extraordinary Results, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Workplace, Leadership, managewich, Middle Management, middle manager, Middle Managers, Neuroleadership, Organizational Change Management, sandwich generation of managers | No Comments »
Managewich Tips: Tired of Participating in the 80% of Change Initiatives That Fail?
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 ones that could be recycled. There was a special, thinner, less sturdy bag that we had to use. We had to take it to the recycling center ourselves. I quit somewhere in the middle of the first bag of cans.
Posted in Brain-based Coaching, Inspired Middle Management | Tags: Action Coach, business coach, Career Coach, Carolann Jacobs, Corporate Coach, Dallas, DFW, Growth Coach, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Workplace, Legacy Leadership, managewich, Middle Management, middle manager, Organizational Change Management, Organizational Coach, vivid epiphany | No Comments »
Managewich on the Run
“Stuck Inside These Four Walls, Sent Inside Forever, Never Seeing No One Nice Again Like You…”
Oops, sorry. That’s “Band on the Run.” But it could describe the managewich’s office, yes?
Whenever I hear about the “Fight or Flight” Response, I wonder…. is it really either or?
Posted in Brain-based Coaching, Inspired Middle Management | Tags: Action Coach, Brain-based Coaching, business coach, Carolann Jacobs, coach, coaching, Corporate Coach, Executive Coaching, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Workplace, Legacy Leadership, managewich, Middle Management, middle manager, sandwich generation of managers, vivid epiphany | No Comments »
Tips For the Managewich: Don’t Kick the Dog
Ever had that experience where your manager got reamed by a customer, peer or her manager and then turned around and took it out on you? It gets the expression “kicking the dog” because it’s basically taking out frustration on the defenseless.
Those of us who aren’t that resilient have known for a while that this is a derailer of productivity and a behavior that is predictive of mediocrity because we’ve sat in our little neutrally colored cubicles and stewed about the unfairness of it and wasted time reviewing what we should have said or done differently.
Posted in Inspired Middle Management | Tags: Action Coach, business coach, Career Coach, Carolann Jacobs, coaching, Corporate Coach, Dallas, DFW, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Middle Management, Inspired Workplace, Leadership, Legacy Leadership, Life Coach, managewich, Middle Management, middle manager, vivid epiphany | No Comments »
Middle Manager’s Dilemma: Differentiating Pushback from PITA
Upside Downside by Thomas Lieser
Are you the gal who’s known for pushing back on every proposed change? Do you know that gal?
Almost every one of us knows someone who sees the downside to every initiative, and one of the challenges that my client, Negative Nellie, reports is that it’s hard to get people to take her seriously. She’s frustrated, because she’s trying to point out risks and set reasonable expectations. She believes the people around her are frustrated and annoyed from the eye-rolling and the sighs.
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Practical Middle Management Tips: What to Do When Your Boss Thinks You Suck Like a Hoover
Photo by Therese F
Don’t you just love it when you think you’re working your fingers to the bone, you’re doing the best job you can and your boss lets you know that you are the Hoover Windtunnel of suckage?
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Brain Food For Middle Managers: How to Keep the Creativity Alive
Photo by Giorgio Montazeri
I just got back from vacation. Sorry about the long stretch not posting on the blog, but the site was undergoing some changes. And, when I go on vacation, I go offline.
That most middle managers can’t go on vacation without being tethered to the office by a laptop or other mobile device is not only a crime, it’s counter-productive to the company. This is something that Albert Einstein knew on an experiential level. Whenever he had a problem he couldn’t tackle, he did something else. He spent time with friends and family. He gave his brain a break.
Posted in Inspired Middle Management | Tags: Action Coach, business coach, Carolann Jacobs, Corporate Coach, Executive Coach, Growth Coach, Improve Performance NOW, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Workplace, Leadership, Legacy Leadership, Middle Management, Middle Managers, vivid epiphany | No Comments »
