What to do when an employee is not performing
Have you ever seen a guy walking around with his zipper down? Or a lady with toilet roll stuck to her heels? As embarrassing as it must be for that person, we often feel somewhat embarrassed even to tell them. Is it a one-off mistake? Or is it a reflection of something more profound (e.g., […]
Why most teams fail to change their culture
When I go over my #linkedin feed, I’m flooded with posts about how companies need to change their culture and how people leave toxic environments. It looks like it’s a consensus, but still, so many companies fail to do that. When we say Culture, what do we mean? Most employees want a change. Ask them, […]
2 Management traps that will make you lose everyone’s respect and trust
“‘I can’t tell him what I’m doing!’ “I was walking outside with a friend enjoying a sunny day in Oregon. We like to catch up and share our work and progress. The sun warmed us as well as the long walk outside. I closed my eyes briefly and felt the sun rays on my face. […]
Three reasons why you’re not enjoying your role as a first line manager, and what to do about it
I sat with a good friend in a bar during one of his visits. He’s a very technical guy and knows his craft better than anyone I know. I told him about some of the work I do with first-line managers to help develop the skills they need to become outstanding. His face twitched weirdly. […]
How to respond when your boss expects the impossible
“We just got a new project assigned to our team. You have four weeks to complete it. Oh, and there is no change to previous projects priority and deadlines” – True story. Do you remember a situation were your manager asked you to do the impossible? Impossible means there is no way you will be […]
Solve your Goal Setting & Employee Evaluations with a straightforward strategy
December & January are the busiest months of the year for us managers. We need to publish our goals for the coming year, and we need to collect & write employee evaluations. I remember myself working nights and weekends to complete these tasks. Not always sure what the exact goals should be as sometimes we […]
How hostage negotiation skills can take out the heat off a tough conversation with your employee
Many managers feel that the worst part of being a manager is to have a tough conversation with their employees. Second only to laying off someone. We prefer as managers to focus on meeting our goals and solving challenges. Just last week I answered two questions on the topic. One was “How do I tell […]
Almost everyone has failed. Here’s how to make the most out of it
Lets have a look at one thing we can’t avoid in life. I have failed in the past and I will fail again in the future. We all failed and will fail in the future. We didn’t want to fail, we didn’t expect to fail, but we fail! What is failure? Usually, failure is defined […]
Here’s how to transform your team – fast!
By my partner Dammy Olopade Do you know how sometimes things don’t seem to go well in your team? You might feel unhappy with the way your team is performing? It might be the relationship between you and your team, or maybe between team members, or with your customers. Maybe you consistently miss milestones, maybe […]
How a simple process set my new team to a great start
You’re promoted to be a manager and get to lead your first team! Congratulations! Or maybe you already manage, but a re-org just happened, and you have a new team now! Bottom line – you have a new team and new goals — either way, you need to take action. Start with WHY Why? When […]
