Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

A few years ago, Southwest Airlines celebrated its 40th year and was kind enough to share in its in-flight magazine 40 lessons it learned since 1971.  The lessons provide good tips for business leaders. If you missed the full list, here are some of the highlights of timeless lessons: Invent your own culture and put a top person in charge of it .  A crisis can contain the germ of a big idea . Simplicity has value .  For Southwest, simplicity means using 737s for most of its fleet, which makes maintenance more cost-effective and allows more efficient training for flight crews and ground crews. Remember your chief mission . Take your business, not yourself, seriously. Put the worker first .  For Southwest, that meant being the first U.S. airline to offer a profit-sharing plan, in 1974.  Employees now own 13 percent of the airline. The web ain't cool, it's a tool .  Southwest was the first U.S. airline to establish a home page.  By 2010, ...

A former co-worker shared a great blog post with me this past week about the most common complaints about the annoying things bosses do without even realizing it . Here are the highlights : 1. Making social events unofficially required. 2. Pressuring employees to donate to charity. 3. Calling employees who are on vacation. 4. Holding endless meetings. 5. Not making hard decisions. 6. Delegating without truly delegating. 7. Hinting, rather than speaking straightforwardly. Read on for the details behind each of the above statements.

AMACOM's (of the American Management Association) sixth edition of the best-selling book, The First-Time Manager -- originally published in 1981 is a must-read for new managers and leaders in business. One of my favorite sections of the book is the one about class in a manager : Class is treating people with dignity. Class does not have to be the center of attention. Class does not lose its cool. Class does not rationalize mistakes. Class is good manners. Class means loyalty to one's staff. Class recognizes the best way to build oneself is to first build others. Class leads by example. Class does not taken action when angry. Class is authentic and works hard at making actions consistent with words. The First-Time Manager is an excellent how-to guide for anyone new to managing people.

Here are some good tips for leading a successful business operation from the handy booklet, 144 Ways To Walk The Talk, by Eric Harvey and Al Lucia: Involve your team in setting standards that are achievable but also require everyone to stretch their knowledge and skills. Remember that regardless of what you say, it is the performance you're willing to accept that becomes your true standard. Work as a team to stay abreast of technology advancements.  Have different employees read different trade and professional magazines and blogs.   Ask others to share key learning from workshops, webinars, seminars and conferences they attend.  Make it easy via meetings and or within an Intranet forum/Blog area to share what everyone is learning and hearing. Ask each member of your group to identify the three most significant obstacles to their performance.  Create a master list and develop strategies to eliminate them.  Then, reward employees for ident...

These  five quotes from the new book released this week, Manager 3.0 , really impress and inspire me: "The leader is the person who brings a little magic to the moment." -- Denise Morrison "The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already." -- John Buchan "The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do." -- Apple Inc. "The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place," -- George Bernard Shaw. "Twenty years from now you will more be disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did." -- Mark Twain Manager 3.0 is a management book tailored specifically for young business leaders and provides them with the tools to bridge generation gaps in the workplace and gain awareness of other's differences and their own. It's authored by Brad Karsh and Courtney Templ...

Handling conflict is one of the most difficult things a leader has to deal with.  Unfortunately, conflict in the workplace is inevitable.  In fact, research shows that 42 percent of a manager's time is spent addressing conflict .  And, over 65 percent of performance problems are caused by employee conflicts . Managers new in their leadership role typically have had little to no training on how to deal with conflict. Fortunately, in Susan H. Shearouse's book, Conflict 101 , you can learn: How conflict is created How we respond to conflict How to management conflict more effectively Shearouse explains that even though conflict is inevitable, it can lead to both growth and progress .  "There is little progress that is not preceded by some kind of conflict," says Shearouse. I found particularly helpful in the book the definitions of the following five different types of conflict and then how best to deal with each: Problems to solve Disagreement ...

In their book, Rapid Realignment , authors George Labovitz and Victor Rosansky, reveal the most common responses from thousands of managers and workers when they were asked to think of the best boss they ever had, and then answer the question: " What did that person do to qualify as your best boss ?" And, those most common responses were : My best boss listened! My best boss backed me up. My best boss trusted me and respected me. My best boss gave me feedback. My best boss left me alone. What else would you add to this list?  What did your best boss do?

Can you step back to lead forward ? That is the key question for you to answer as you start to read Kevin Cashman's book, The Pause Principle . Because, Cashman firmly believes that as a leader, you need to pause to lead forward . " What sleep is to the mind and body, pause is to leadership and innovation ," explains Cashman. He goes on to say: Pause transforms management into leadership and the status quo into new realities. Pause, the natural capability to step back  in order to move forward with greater clarity, momentum, and impact, holds the creative power to reframe and refresh how we see ourselves and our relationships, our challenges, our capacities, our organizations and missions within a larger context.   In his book , Cashman teaches you the value of using pause points to : Build self-awareness and clarity of purpose Explore new ideas Risk experimentation Question, listen, reflect and synthesize Challenge the status quo, within and aroun...

You practice SPARK leadership if you: S hare Information P lay to Strengths A sk for Input and Appreciate Different Ideas R ecognize and Respond to Individual Needs K eep Your Commitments A great reminder from the President and CEO of American Management Association, Edward T. Reilly.  You'll find more good advice in his new book, AMA Business Boot Camp .

Mistakes happen. The best thing you can do as a leader is to help your employee learn from his (or her) mistake . If your employee is afraid of ever making a mistake, he will be paralyzed from taking action or taking even calculated risks. If he knows that mistakes happen in the course of doing business and that one learns from making mistakes, you will have a more productive employee. Most important, be sure your employee knows that if he makes a mistake, he should let you know as soon as possible. As soon as he does, quickly rectify the situation. Then, discuss with him how the mistake happened. Find out what he did or didn't do. Ask him what he thinks he can do in the future to avoid the mistake from happening again. Chances are he has already figured this out. If not, teach him what he needs to do differently to avoid the mistake from reoccurring . Finally, you may discover that the mistake happened because policies, procedures or your assignment instructions were...

Today, I welcome the following guest post:   5 Core Values for the Workplace By Robert L. Dilenschneider, Author of  A Briefing for Leaders: Communication As the Ultimate Exercise of Power     There are many fine values, such as courtesy, confidence, ingenuity, thrift, and so on. The trouble is that the list of values grows easily and can cause many employees to lose their focus. They fail to prioritize. A "short list" of values is far more useful in putting the workplace back on track. Moreover, when the core values exceed four or five points, it becomes difficult to communicate and reinforce them. The following are five candidates for the practical values having foremost importance: Integrity Accountability Diligence Perseverance Discipline I know companies -- strong organizations -- centered on these values. They are invariably successful. Almost always, these core values generate other values in employees. But what if all our organizations ...

According to a survey as reported in John Baldoni’s book, Lead with Purpose , more than 80 percent of those surveyed say that leaders can best demonstrate that they truly do put people first by : Delivering intrinsic awards (comp time, bonuses, etc.)  Offering developmental opportunities  Providing timely recognition  Promoting from within

Inspirational leadership wisdom came awhile back from Bahram Akradi, the CEO of Life Time Fitness. From that health club's monthly fitness magazine, Experience Life , Akradi says: Once we get comfortable in our habitual patterns, we may fail to notice when they have outworn their useful purpose, or when new alternatives might serve us better.  Once you've encountered a second way of seeing things, you're more likely to entertain the possibility of a third and fourth way, too. Do something that makes you just a little bit uncomfortable--and that renders you a little more awake. Thanks Akradi for encouraging us to break out from predictability.

David Grossman , president and founder of The Grossman Group , published in 2010 a helpful, free eBook titled:  Mastering The Art of Messaging .  Three years later, it remains a valuable tool for workplace leaders. Grossman says that perhaps it’s the still tough economy, technology, or that every is just too busy, but whatever the reason, employees are feeling more disconnected than ever from the organizations they work for. At the same time, leaders continue to struggle with one of their toughest jobs, developing and articulating their overall strategy and priorities, especially during times of change . Grossman says the result is : confused employees unhappy workplaces stressed bosses demanding shareholders In Grossman's free ebook, he highlights all the essentials of creating a strategic internal messaging plan with the end goal of helping leaders create and communicate : clear, consistent, and credible messaging that connects to target audienc...

There is nothing more powerful for a leader to do than to lead by setting a good example . So, here are 15 things you can do to be an effective and successful leader : 1. Praise when compliments are earned. 2. Be decisive. 3. Say “Thank You” and sincerely mean it. 4. Communicate clearly. 5. Listen carefully. 6. Teach something new to your team members. 7. Word hard and lend a hand when deadlines are tight. 8. Show respect for everyone on your team. 9. Follow through when you promise to do something. 10. Allow learning to happen when mistakes are made. 11. Allow prudent autonomy. 12. Respond to questions quickly and fully. 13. Return e-mail and phone calls promptly. 14. Take an interest in your employees and their important personal milestone events. 15. Give credit where credit is due. And, last but not least, be humble!

Be decisive A manager who can't make a decision or who can't make a timely decision will frustrate his/her employees. Equally bad, a lack of decision will impede the progress of the manager's team. Some managers make endless requests for data as a way to postpone their having to make a decision. Employees end up spinning in circles, slicing and dicing the information far beyond what is truly needed for the manager to make a decision. Some managers are simply afraid to make a decision in fear of making a "wrong" decision. These managers don't necessarily request needless data, but simply just never made a decision. Successful managers (true leaders) gather the data from their employees, make any necessary follow-up requests (probing beyond what their employee may have researched/gathered on their own), and then make their decision...knowing that in virtually all cases most decisions are not black and white "right or "wrong," but are the ...

Touchpoint Leadership is founded on the belief that relationships are the primary unit of value in organizations and that for enterprises to be healthy, effective and immensely rewarding leaders need to put relationships at the heart of everything they do . Touchpoint Leadership is also the title of the new book by executive consultant  Dr. Hilary Lines and leadership consultant  Dr. Jacqui Scholes-Rhodes. According to the authors, to develop Touchpoint Leadership, a leader needs to focus on three developmental domains : Personal Interpersonal Organizational More specifically, to succeed in Touchpoint Leadership, a leader must: Bring his/her full self to interactions with others by developing self-awareness, a clear moral compass and deep reflection. Attend to what happens at the moment of connection with others, connecting to ignite energy and co-creation. Take a systemic view of the connections that need to be made to build collective value, in order to en...

AMACOM's (of the American Management Association) sixth edition of the best-selling book, The First-Time Manager -- originally published in 1981 is a must-read for new managers and leaders in business. The book covers eight core responsibilities of a new manager , including: Hiring Communicating Planning Organizing Training Monitoring Evaluating Firing Expert advice is additionally provided regarding: Using Your New Authority Managing Your Mood Building Trust One of my favorite sections of the book is the one about class in a manager : Class is treating people with dignity. Class does not have to be the center of attention. Class does not lose its cool. Class does not rationalize mistakes. Class is good manners. Class means loyalty to one's staff. Class recognizes the best way to build oneself is to first build others. Class leads by example. Class does not taken action when angry. Class is authentic and works hard at making actions consiste...

If you are a leader already engaging with an executive coach, or contemplating engaging one, here are four ways to make your coaching experience a success, as reported in a relatively recent issue of Fortune magazine: Find the right match . Find someone to push and challenge you. To encourage you and to hold you accountable. Be sure the person you engage with is a person you can trust and can talk to easily. Be aware of your company's expectations . If your boss hired the coach to work with you, make sure your boss, and your boss's boss, share their expectations and hoped-for outcomes with you. Then, make sure your coach knows that those things belong at the top of your goals list. Get your money's worth . Work with your coach on issues or questions that have a direct correlation to success in your job. Be sure your coach sees you in action . Allow your coach to observe you interacting with your peers or direct reports. This also gives your colleagues a...

Inc. magazine’s June 2012 issue features a compelling article about author and leadership expert Jim Collins , who has studied leadership for 25 years and penned four best-selling books. Two of the most powerful takeaways from the article for me are Collin’s definition of a great company : “To be great, a company has to make a distinctive impact. I define that by a test:  If your company disappeared, would it leave a gaping hole that could not easily be filled by another enterprise on the planet? Now, that doesn’t mean the company has to be big…just that if it went away, people would feel a gaping hole, and no one could easily come in and fill it.” The second takeaway is the list of 12 questions that Collins says leaders much grapple with if they truly want to excel .  Three of those 12 are these, the first two I tend to think don’t get asked often enough: How can we increase our return on luck ?  What could kill us, and how can we protect our flanks ?  ...