Three Tips for Becoming a Servant Leader You and I both know that we’re not supposed to boss people around anymore, that we’re supposed to be servant leaders. Well, a client asked me, “What the heck is servant leadership?” When you’re a traditional manager, you might have thought of accumulating people and power. If you […]
Take Advantage of Opportunities for Speed Coaching Do people ever come to you for advice? I bet they do. Are you ever puzzled about whether to answer them or coach them? Maybe you’re not sure how to coach them quickly. Sometimes you might think, “I can provide an answer faster than I can prompt an
Lead Your Agile Transition Through Influence I bet you’re transitioning to agile or something like it. How’s it going for you? If you are anything like many of my clients, the answer is, “meh.” Kelly, a colleague had trouble with her stories. “Everything takes us forever. We can’t get anything done in two weeks. Everything
I spoke at AgileIndyConf last week. I had a blast. Met lots of great people from Indianapolis, got to hang with people like Christopher Avery (@christopheraver), Ron Jeffries (@ronjeffries), Chet Hendrickson (@chethendrickson), Angela Harms (@angelaharms), Mike Kelly (@ michael_d_kelly), Joe Astolfi (@joeastolfi), and many more. (If I missed you, please add yourselves in the comments
I have another management myth up over at Stickyminds. This one is Management Myth #11: The Team Needs a Cheerleader! I once worked for a manager who ignored all the problems we had, who said, “Let’s go, gang, we can do it!” I thought I would die. I’m an optimistic person. But I don’t believe
I had an email conversation with a colleague about when you let people fail versus when you rescue them—how you nurture leadership. The context is with people who are new to management, or new to a particular piece of work in a project. If you’re agile, I say you pair these people and be done
I’m not a rabid football fan. I enjoy the game, but I can happily breeze through the fall without realizing which teams are where in the standings. And, when it comes to the college teams, I have no clue. So, when the whole Paterno/Sandusky scandal broke, I first thought, “Oh, Joe Paterno was supposed to
My most recent post, We Cannot Choose Between Management And Leadership, has struck a chord. That’s the good news. The bad news is I have not defined enough terms. Okay, I’ll attempt that now. And, thank you, gentle readers, for hanging in there with me, waiting for my crazy travel schedule this spring. Many Kinds
I subscribe to a number of services that look for pithy quotes from Big Names, authors, and other people who are looking for publicity. I saw one about moving from manager to leader. Ok, so these are writers or reporters, and they may not know. Choosing to be a manager without being a leader is
Vol 8, #8: Three Myths and Three Tips I have been fortunate this year to be working and speaking internationally. And, almost everywhere I go, some manager or project manager takes me aside. “Johanna, can I ask you a crazy question?” I always answer that I’m sure the question is not crazy. The manager shakes