How do I want to be when I go back?

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When you're on vacation, do you ever find yourself thinking, "how do I want to be when I go back to work?" It's a great question to ask from time-to-time. Six years ago, that question led to a couple of small, seemingly imperceptible, tweaks that helped make a huge difference.

I'm on vacation right now in the same place - déjà vu all over again? – but the question hasn't really presented itself so far. Maybe because I'm still just vacating?

What's my biggest challenge at work right now? It's one we all face: time or the lack of it. We don't know how much time we really have (probably less than we assume), and it's the one thing we can't create more of.

Anyway, I'm sitting on my little Lanai by the Sea, thinking random thoughts about jazz, poetry, art, beauty, doing nothing, and how all that connects to my roles as a manager and leader.

Wish me luck when the question finally demands an answer. Should be any day now!

The Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings →

Andy Grove has been a hero/role model since I first learned that he personally taught a class for all incoming employees about how to participate in and lead meetings at Intel. He did this as CEO for years!

Indeed, every new employee, from the most junior production worker to the highest ranking executive, is required to take the company’s home-grown course on effective meetings. For years the course was taught by CEO Andy Grove himself, who believed that good meetings were such an important part of Intel’s culture that it was worth his time to train the troops.

We need to become more efficient, more effective, more strategic, more collaborative, more results-focused, more data-driven, more connected. More communicative. More helpful.

That's going to require a lot of people to be in a lot of meetings on top of what they're already doing, so I think we should fix meetings first.

Managers Can’t Be Great Coaches All by Themselves →

There Are 4 Types of Managers. One Is More Effective Than the Others

For managers and subordinates, the research should redirect attention from the frequency of developmental conversations to the quality of interactions and the route taken to help employees gain skills. Says Roca: “The big takeaway is that when it comes to coaching employees, being a Connector is how you win.”

So what's a "Connector?"

Connector Managers give targeted feedback in their areas of expertise; otherwise, they connect employees with others on the team or elsewhere in the organization who are better suited to the task. They spend more time than the other three types assessing the skills, needs, and interests of their employees, and they recognize that many skills are best taught by people other than themselves.

All of that’s consistent with the management skills training I’ve been exposed to this year. Frequent, deeper 1on1s with Direct Reports FTW! We can – and do – have regular tactical or task-oriented 1on1s, and that’s good. But are we coaching, offering criticism and guidance, and discussing development? Are we mentoring and connecting?