Category Archives: Wisdom Wednesday

Wisdom Wednesday – “Oh Man, Oh God”

We all find sanity and solace in different things…

Wisdom Wednesday – “You’re being incredibly unreasonable and someone needs to take the stick out of your ass.”

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 […]

Wisdom Wednesday – The Three Levels of Relationship in Any Workplace

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” […]

Wisdom Wednesday – Your Real Job Is To Be A Translator

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 […]

Wisdom Wednesday – Performance Punishment

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.)

Wisdom Wednesday – Rock Stars, Rock Steadies, and Rock Bottoms

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 […]

Wisdom Wednesday – Overt vs. Covert

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 […]

Wisdom Wednesday – Culture Eats Strategy For Lunch

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) […]

Wisdom Wednesday – Hiring Is A Million Dollar Decision

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 […]

Wisdom Wednesday – Every Bad Manager Thinks They’re A Good Manager

We didn’t see eye to eye on everything but I was very fortunate to have the first manager in libraries that I did as he was very experienced and knowledgeable (obviously people have to start somewhere but it can be a lot tougher if your manager is someone who’s newly hired or has only been […]