I just finished a book called “The Big Fail: What The Pandemic Revealed About Who It Protects and Who it Leaves Behind” which is a fairly even handed look at the Covid pandemic, three years after it began, by the same journalists who wrote “Smartest Guys in the Room” about the Enron scandal. This book […]
We all find sanity and solace in different things…
Little break from my usual rambles about management theory to share a TikTok my wife sent me. It’s the hilarious story of a boss who totally overreacts and makes a bigger deal than needed out of an employee being late due to a flat tire. Absolutely hilarious and the person who made this TikTok nailed […]
The three levels of relationships that exist for all employees, at any level, are: 1. with those who are above you in the hierarchy 2. those who are below you 3. those who are at the same level as you In my experience, people tend to be good in one or two of these “directions” […]
I was in an OH&S meeting once where they were talking about buying walkie-talkies so staff could more easily communicate with each other in our large Central branch. One of the clerks spoke up and said “What sort of training will we get?” A high level manager could barely hide her distain as she replied […]
This ties into the post I did last week about Rock Stars, Rock Steadies, and Rock Bottoms. As a leader, important to regularly assess if you’re punishing your rock stars for being so good at their job (and maybe ask colleagues too as we all have our blind spots.)
I was recently out for supper with a bunch of friends including one high level manager who oversees a Canada-wide IT team for a large corporation. It was interesting to compare notes about our workplaces. He said he is all about high performers and strongly believes in performance management, expecting high results but also rewarding […]
This isn’t really advice I was given by someone but more of a personal observation I’ve made after seeing it repeatedly over the years. Whenever there is something decided, especially when its some sort of major decision, there’s usually an overt reason people give for the decision but also a covert reason they may or […]
I first heard this advice years ago when I was still in the role of Organization Development Specialist at Regina Public Library. In hindsight, I don’t think I appreciated what an amazing job that was to have right at the start of my library career. Our Director (still the same guy all these years later) […]
A long time ago, a colleague gave me a way to think of hiring that totally changed how I view the process of selecting a candidate. Before, I was just thinking “Who can best do this job?” but he pointed out that you’re not just hiring the person for the immediate job but potentially for […]
