There is no dearth of information available and that is especially true when you are looking to improve your management skills.

My cyber buddy Elliot Ross writes an excellent blog about tech for tech challenged SMB managers.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote Self-starter Does Not Mean Self-managed and Elliot used it to discuss the same problem in IT.

In his post he hits the bull’s-eye with a phrase that any manager at any level in any size company would be wise to tattoo on their frontal lobe.

There is a big difference between delegating your IT services, and abdicating them.

Substitute whatever your group does for ‘IT services’ and you have one of the best and most succinct pieces of management advice I’ve ever seen.

But knowing it is not the same as applying it—every time for every person in every situation.

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Dan McCarthy, of Great Leadership fame, produced and directed a terrific Leadership Awards show for you. I didn’t win, but then I was up against stars like Wally Bock, so I’m not too disappointed.

Therefore, without more ado, Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeesssssss Dan!

Art Petty sings and dances with a glamorous showgirl on each arm with Leadership Caffeine-Learning to Lead in the Project-Focused World posted at Management Excellence.

Best Supporting Actress:
The nominations are:

Janna Rust in Self Leadership: Lead yourself to success posted at Purposeful Leadership.

Erin Schreyer in Do I Have Food Stuck In My Teeth? posted at Authentic Leadership.

Anna Farmery in Why you should hate a weekend! posted at The Engaging Brand.

Jane Perdue in Let Us Be the Water posted at Life, Love & Leadership.

Becky Robinson in How To Develop Others posted at Mountain State University LeaderTalk, saying, “In order to grow, people need exposure, opportunity, and challenge.”

And the winner is….. Mary Jo Asmus !

Best Supporting Actor:
The nominations are:

Tom Magness in Learning Leadership from “The Office” — Part I posted at Leader Business, saying, “If you are hooked on “The Office” as I am, you will appreciate this post. We learn leadership from good and bad role models. There are plenty of both with the show’s star and office manager, Michael Scott. If you are hooked on the show, or on leadership, you’ll enjoy these comments.”

Chris Young in Startups, Culture-Shaping, and the “Lifetime Employment Award” posted at Maximize Possibility Blog, saying, “Start-ups are exciting organizations to be a part of. However, leaders can often be blinded by their history with a team member who was “there from the start” and unwittingly give them a “lifetime employment award” at great expense to the organization’s culture and the morale of its other employees.”

William Matthies in Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.

Mike Henry Sr. in Community’s Forth Dimension posted at Lead Change Group Blog.

Tanmay Vora in Quick Thought on Leadership and Subordination to a Cause posted at QAspire – Quality, Management, Leadership & Life!, saying, “When people subordinate a leader, they are not a leader’s subordinates. They are subordinates to a cause. In that context, even a leader is subordinate to a cause. This post tries to emphasize on this very important facet.”

And the winner is…..Tanmay Vora

Best Actress:
The nominations are:

Mary Jo Asmus in Listening, Part II: What REALLY Gets in the Way? posted at Mary Jo Asmus.

Sharlyn Lauby in 7 Types of Power in the Workplace posted at hr bartender, saying, “Everyone has power. It’s using your power effectively that makes a positive difference.”

Alice Snell in Influence and Learning posted at Taleo Blog – Talent Management Solutions.

LisaRosendahl in Eliminating the Static in Performance Management posted at Lisa Rosendahl, saying, “Performance management is one of the most important things a supervisor can do and it is essential that it be done respectfully and professionally from start to finish.

Jennifer V. Miller in 25 Free Leadership Resources posted at The People Equation.

And the winner is…… Jennifer Miller !

Best Actor:
The nominations are:

David Zinger in Employee Engagement: The Zinger 2020 Vision posted at Employee Engagement Zingers, saying, “The future of employee engagement during this decade.”

Jason Seiden in Your Job Sucks? Really? I’m Shocked. Oh, Wait: No I’m Not. posted at Next Generation Talent Development, saying, “Leadership success starts with the ability to work through adversity… even when adversity comes in the form of our own bad attitudes.”

Steve Roesler in All Things Workplace: What Do We Expect From “Real” Leaders? posted at All Things Workplace, saying, “Leadership authority Steve Roesler says, “One thing I am sure of: You can’t microwave leaders and expect a 5-Star Experience.”"

Scott Eblin in Next Level Blog posted at Next Level Blog, saying, “One of the biggest questions for managers moving into executive leadership roles is “How do I delegate bigger decisions to my team and still manage risk?” Scott Eblin has been talking with his clients about that question and has come up with some answers.”

Tom Glover presents Challenges To Being a Team posted at Reflection Leadership.

And the winner is….. Scott Eblin!

Best Director:
The nominations are:

Miki directs MAPping Company Success posted at MAPping Company Success, saying, “In any leadership position you are responsible for creating the culture or subculture (the culture of your group within the overall company culture). Here are 7 basic areas you need to think through and do in order to create and implement the kind of culture you want.”

Wally Bock directs 4 Reasons Why Being a Boss is Not an Olympic Event posted at Three Star Leadership Blog, saying, “Olympic athletes are fun and inspiring to watch. But they’re lousy role models for a boss.”

Adi Gaskell directs A siesta a day keeps the afternoon slump away posted at The Management Blog, saying, “An article showing the virtues of having a nap in the afternoon if you want to be at your best throughout the day.”

Amy Wilson directs Pay for Performance is Dead…almost posted at TalentedApps, saying, “This post covers several signals suggesting that the pay for performance model that we’ve touted in the past might need a serious makeover.”

Nissim Ziv directs Leading a Team Effectively posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Teams can be a very effective in producing innovative solutions in the workplace. In jobs throughout every industry, employers always emphasize the need for “good team players.” Teams can generate enthusiasm and increase communication between workers from different departments. “Teamwork” should be the mantra of every organization. Yet, we all know that creating a team can be a bit like creating a monster.”

And the winner is…. Wally Bock!

Best Special Effects:

Aaron Windeler presents Leadership: You don’t know it when you see it posted at Scientific Management.

Nick McCormick presents Social Media Policy Guidelines posted at Joe and Wanda – on Management.

Benjamin McCall in Thing about Leadership… One size does not fit all, posted at ReThinkHR.org.

Shawn M. Driscoll in Dealing with Disillusionment posted at Shawn Driscoll.

Anne Perschel in Fixing the Hole in the Corporate Soul posted at Germane Insights, saying, “Business guru Gary Hamel published “The Hole in the Corporate Soul,” (WSJ) the same day I was writing how to fix it.”

And the winner is….. Anne Perschel!

Here are the rest of our nominations:

Ericka Hines presents Leadership: The future that will exist posted at Ericka Hines, saying, “My blog is targeted towards those in the public sector(nonprofits/social enterprise/government) . I try to make the idea of leadership accessible to understand and to do. I hope that this works for the carnival.”

Jason Reid presents Multi-tasking – doing things badly in twice as much time posted at Sick With Success .com, saying, “A look at how using synergy accomplishes more than multitasking (with examples).”

Andy Klein presents Embrace failure as part of growth posted at The Fortune Group Blog, saying, “When people know they can try and fail and not be reprimanded for doing so, they soon get good at what they do. Growth means trying, so encourage people to try!”

Katy Tynan presents The Simple Path to Leadership Bench Strength posted at Survive Your Promotion!.

Divinelysmile presents The Gender Gap: 10 Surprising Stats on Women in the Workplace posted at JobProfiles.org – Job Descriptions and Online Schools to Start Your Career.

Angela Martin presents 50 Famously Successful People Who Failed At First posted at Online Colleges.org.

Heather Stagl presents Monitor Your Organization’s “Non-Verbal” Communication posted at Enclaria LLC, saying, “It is widely cited that 93% of meaning in a conversation is derived from non-verbal cues. Extrapolating this phenomenon to organizational communication means that most meaning comes from outside official sources.”

Kathy C presents Coaching as a Leadership Competency posted at The Thriving Small Business.

Russell Dygert presents Steak or Hamburger posted at Becoming Who I Should.

Gilda Bonanno presents Using Improv Comedy’s “Half-Life” Technique to Stay Within Your Time Limit While Presenting posted at Gilda Bonanno’s blog, saying, “Public Speaking is an essential success skill for leadership development yet many aspiring leaders still struggle with it. One of the most frequent mistakes they make is to go over the time limit when presenting. This blog post describes a technique from improvisational comedy that can help presenters learn to deliver the essential elements of their message while staying within the time limit.”

Image credit: Great Leadership

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Whether we choose to or not, we learn from the day we are born to the day we die. Sometimes our learning is conscious and intentional, but not always. Sometimes it makes us better people, sometimes not.

I have two stories for you today that clearly illustrate my premise.

Let’s start with the unconscious/unintentional (so we can end on a happier note).

For years before the global meltdown the media shared stories about the opulent lifestyle led by the wealthy and ultra wealthy. And the last couple of years the stories have revolved around how, instead of shopping until you drop, to shop so no one knows.

Two professors, HBS’ Roy Y.J. Chua and Xi Zou, an assistant professor at London Business School wondered if the people who lived this life style are different from the rest of us. Specifically, they asked,

“Does the availability of luxury goods “prime” individuals to be less concerned about or considerate toward others?”

Surprise, surprise; the answer is ‘yes’.

Next is a look at how intentional learning can not only reverse your life, but take you to rarified heights—as it did Shon R. Hopwood.

Hopwood was a mediocre bank robber—five banks over two years yielded only $200K— who spent a decade in prison. Now, prison is boring and a lot of felons spend their time in the library, specifically the law library, and Hopwood was one of them, but unlike most of them.

Mr. Hopwood spent much of that time in the prison law library, and it turned out he was better at understanding the law than breaking it. He transformed himself into something rare at the top levels of the American bar, and unheard of behind bars: an accomplished Supreme Court practitioner.

As you can see, unintentional learning can make you a jerk, whereas intentional learning can change your status from jerk to highly respected.

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An angry email berated me for Saturday’s post, saying in part, “Why don’t you ever choose more typical CEOs and cultures to write about? I read blogs to help me manage more effectively and the stuff you talk about is almost impossible to implement.”

The answer, in a nutshell, is that you can’t implement anything at odds with your own MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™)

Therefore:

• If you don’t believe in a happy workplace where people have fun then there is nothing that Tony Hsieh or anybody else can teach you that will help you create one.
• If you stand on your dignity and can’t laugh at yourself there is no way you can implement The Levity Effect.

I could keep giving examples, but you get the point.

I, and dozens of other experts, have said over and over that people can’t sell something they don’t believe themselves.

Nor can they implement cultural features that are out of sync with their MAP.

This is especially true for managers because they typically hire in their own image, so that their team has similar MAP—and the same problem.

If you find yourself on this treadmill, rather than write an angry email or complain to your buddies look in the mirror and know that you can change if you want to.

It’s your choice.

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Saturday I recommended spending some of your valuable time on TED, so I thought I’d offer a sample of it that I really liked.

Derek Sivers received a standing ovation for his 3 minute talk on leadership using the video below.

Too often people over focus on the moving pictures, so be sure to pay full attention to what Sivers is saying in conjunction with what is happening in the video.

Because the words are so important you can read a transcript at Siver’s site (along with other good stuff). I hope you take a moment to do so.

I’m not backing down on my contention that leadership is for all, but I completely agree that everyone can’t be leaders simultaneously and that following is just as important, if not more so.

Leadership is over-glorified.

Yes it started with the shirtless guy, and he’ll get all the credit, but you saw what really happened:
It was the first follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader.
There is no movement without the first follower.
We’re told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective.
The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.
When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.

Image credit: dereksivers on YouTube

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Whether you are a in a position of leadership, one of the go-to people on your team or on the lowest rung of the ladder you need to know about emotional contagion and how your moods affect those around you.

Although much of the research has focused on bosses, everybody is a carrier and anyone can ignite an epidemic.

There is documented evidence for what all of us who have been exposed to “glass half empty” people already know—negative emotions can bring a group down faster than bad ventilation during flu season, whereas a sunny outlook can lift us beyond what is reasonable.

Yes, it’s difficult to be upbeat when you walk out of a meeting with an enraged client, or a design review for a project about to go over budget or a difficult conversation, but if you don’t you’ll bring down those around you and that can blow off an entire day, week or even longer.

For decades, I’ve used a simple approach learned from a book by Napoleon Hill and reiterated by others in various forms.

“Act enthusiastic and you will become enthusiastic.”

Sounds simplistic, but often simple is best—you’re not trying to solve the cause, but to mitigate the effect.

That means you need to stay aware of your own mood.

Long ago I realized that judging my mood based on its effect was a bad idea—by the time I had the feedback the damage was done.

After a lot of trial and error the easiest and most accurate method I’ve found of catching my mood early is to stay conscious of my facial muscles, wrinkled brow, smile, frown, etc., because my muscles react long before I’m aware of the mood that is affecting them.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize that, except that the obvious often zips right by us.

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Bob Sutton is Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford and a Professor of Organizational Behavior, by courtesy, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, but he is best known to the majority of people as the author of The No Asshole Rule.

He is also a genuinely nice guy, has a prominent email link on his blog and actually responds when you write him.

The blog is called Work Matters and it’s one of those ‘if you read nothing else…’ things. In the left column Bob has listed “15 things I believe” and my favorites form today’s quotes along with links for context.

Which ones would you choose?

Getting a little power can turn you into an insensitive self-centered jerk.

The best test of a person’s character is how he or she treats those with less power.

The best single question for testing an organization’s character is: What happens when people make mistakes?

Saying smart things and giving smart answers are important. Learning to listen to others and to ask smart questions is more important.

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