Taking on your first official management role is exciting. It’s also challenging, overwhelming and perplexing. In a webinar with over 900 first-time managers, The Ken Blanchard Companies asked people to list their biggest challenge when they made the leap from individual contributor. David Witt, Program Director for Blanchard, wrote about their responses in this LinkedIn…
Management
Why New Managers Must Excel at Setting Goals
Goal-setting in the workplace is key to getting things done. Countless studies on human motivation and performance bear this out. Yet it’s a fact that’s often lost on first-time managers. And even if they understand the importance of setting goals for team members, new leaders miss the nuances of this important management skill. I turned to…
4 Key Skills Employees Need for the Workplace of the Future
I’m a sponsored blog partner with Spherion (a staffing and recruiting organization) and am participating in the release of findings from Spherion’s Emerging Workforce Study. All opinions are mine. What are the top skills that the employee of the future needs? A recent study commissioned by Spherion and conducted by Harris Poll aimed to find…
4 Things Top Managers Do To Improve Employee Engagement
Improving your interactions with employees isn’t rocket science, but it does take effort. I interviewed top managers to find out specifically what they do to create connection and engagement with their employees. You’ll find a list of four tips for managers to communicate more effectively with their team members over on TINYPulse’s Employee Engagement &…
Tips for Maintaining Your Focus as a Leader
In the new book The Disciplined Leader, John Manning writes about the importance of focus—and how it drives leadership success. After reading the book, I had the opportunity to ask John some follow up questions. What follows is an edited version of our conversation. Jen: In the book’s introduction, you write that leaders must learn…