Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

I'm a big fan of Marcus Buckingham 's work, teachings and books, so I was eager to read his latest book, co-authored by Ashley Goodall , and released today. Titled, Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World , the book debunks what we've come to believe as basic truths in the workplace. What at first may seem provocative and counter-intuitive, you'll learn why the nine lies "cause dysfunction and frustration, ultimately resulting in workplaces that are a pale shadow of what they could be," explain the authors. Keep an open-mind as Buckingham and Goodall take you through these nine lies (each a chapter in the book) with engaging stories and incisive analysis as they reveal the essential truths behind these lies: People care which company they work for The best plan wins The best companies cascade goals The best people are well-rounded People need feedback People can reliably rate other people People have pot...

A great idea from the book,  The Little Book of Leadership Development , is to ask each team member to lead a meeting to gain experience leading your team. Authors  Scott J. Allen  and  Mitchell Kusy  suggest that you allow the team member to be responsible for: Developing the agenda Leading the meeting Disseminating the meeting minutes After a full rotation of your staff, your team will better understand how difficult it is to set an agenda and guide a group of people with many opinions and competing commitments. Most important, your team members will better understand how to lead a meeting and will actually become more effective team members. And, here are a few tips for your team members: Always distribute the agenda ahead of time. State how much time is being allotted to each agenda item and state whether it is an actionable item or merely a topic for discussion.

Here are 10 tips for how to maximize employee involvement: Have active ways to  listen to your employees . Check often with employees  to see if the information you are sharing with them is what they need and what they want. Share information about customer satisfaction  with employees. Discuss financial performance  with your employees and be sure everyone understands the importance of profitability and how they can contribute to profitability. Allow ad hoc teams among employees to form to address organizational problems  and work with those teams to tackle the identified issues. Encourage employees to make suggestions  for improvement whether those ideas are large or small. Take an idea from one employee and share it with other employees  and teams and let everyone make a contribution to build upon that idea. Train! For long-term employees, find ways to  keep their jobs interesting through new assignments  and challenges. Cond...

There is an important difference between giving your employees  positive feedback  and giving them  praise . Positive feedback focuses on the specifics of job performance. Praise, often one-or two-sentence statements, such as “Keep up the good work,” without positive feedback leaves employees with empty feelings. Worse yet, without positive feedback, employees feel no sense that they are appreciated as individual talents with specific desires to learn and grow on the job and in their careers, reports Nicholas Nigro, author of,  The Everything Coaching and Mentoring Book . So, skip the praise and give positive feedback that is more uplifting to your employees because it goes to the heart of their job performance and what they actually do. An example of positive feedback is : “Bob, your communications skills have dramatically improved over the past couple of months. The report that you just prepared for me was thorough and concise. I appreciate all the wor...

Despite the temptation to hire someone like yourself, hire someone to complement your skills --not to duplicate your skills. Managers often find it easier, more comfortable, or less threatening to hire someone with similar skills and work habits. But, to build a well-balanced team and to achieve maximum success, you need to have employees who can fill in your weaker areas. So, if you are a great idea person, but a poor communicator, hire someone with strong communications skills.  Similarly , if your team  excels  in sales but lacks  organization , add an employee who leads in organization. This may all seem like common sense. And you obviously need to hire someone to meet certain/minimum skill sets and who will be a good overall fit. But, do what you can to avoid the trap or temptation to hire someone just like you.

This may seem obvious, but some managers don't, or forget to, close their door when disciplining an employee. If you don't have a door to close, move your discussion to a private area away from the rest of your employees. Some employees like to be praised in public. Some prefer to be praised in private. But, all employees should be disciplined in private.

We all make mistakes. Yes, even leaders make mistakes. When you do, admit to them and apologize for the negative consequences they have caused your team members, vendors, or customers. Your ability to admit to a mistake will gain you the respect of your employees.