Performance/Management Consultants have heard all of the jokes about consultants. Some of these jibes even make me laugh. Perhaps the most enduring criticism is...
Now in its third season, The Apprentice is still drawing fans to the show to hear these now famous words from Donald Trump. Veteran watchers know that many times, it seems that it is the project manager that feels the burn of these words.
You might agree with me that getting involved with the personalities of the participants is easy --- some you like…
Imagine you had a secret owner’s manual for each one of your co-workers, your boss, your spouse, even yourself. Imagine you understood why they approach things the way they do. Imagine you could...
Recommended Reading: First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
First, Break All the Rules is the culmination of over 80,000 interviews conducted by The Gallup Organization. This is insightful work; no pundit-speak and no ivory tower theorizing. The authors stress that good managers spend more time with their best performers than with their less productive counterparts, that they fit people into the right roles and hire for talent rather than experience, that they focus on strength rather than weakness, and that they clearly define the right results as opposed to the right steps. Buckingham and Coffman also illustrate ways to promote and compensate people for honing their valuable talents instead of seeking new tasks that will take them up the company ladder. Buckingham, a senior lecturer in Gallup's Leadership Institute, delivers the text as if he knows what he's talking about, which he does.
