Recipe for Good Management: Allow Employees to Take Initiative

What makes a good manager? There are all sorts of definitions about management that attempt to describe what a manager does. Some of my favorites include "getting things done through others," "being paid to make the difficult decisions," and "protecting one's people from the rest of the organization." Yet I believe a better definition might be found in focusing on what a manager does NOT…

What’s 200 Words Have To Do With Your Computer?

When I worked on Wall Street, I considered a move from one type of bond department to a new type of department. Even though I had been successful in the industry for 7 years, I was still afraid I that I wouldn't know how to be successful in my new department. Then I spoke with one of the other traders, George Adelle, who was also…

Extinguishing the Communications Fire Drill (How to Make Communications Technology Work for You, Not Against You)

Do you have enough time during the day to respond to all the messages others send to you and spend a high quality and quantity of time developing your people? Chances are, you don't. I've heard many managers complain because they feel drowned under the "product" of today's communications tidal wave - innumerable messages from cell phones, e-mail, fax, voice mail, etc.

Informal Rewards

Believe it or not --- while money is important to employees, it is not the top motivator. What tends to motivate them to perform, and to perform at higher levels, is the thoughtful, personal kind of recognition that signified true appreciation for a job well done. In fact, it's the informal --- that is, spontaneous --- rewards and forms of recognition that can be implemented…