Leadership

Almost all managers (98%, in fact) believe employees should have had more training in professional development, conflict resolution, time management and other skills before they became managers, says research recently published on Forbes.com.

Since it often falls to us to train employees for future managerial roles, it seems we’re falling short in equipping them with the complex and intangible skills they need to become proficient managers.

If we’re approaching managerial training by throwing employees to the wolves and hoping for the best, we’ll continue to get disappointing results – especially if we expect to promote from within.

So how do top resourceful managers train their future peers?

Here are seven steps that can help:

Click to continue »

The answer is easy: No one’s perfect. Everyone makes mistakes.

Great leaders try new things and push boundaries. Sure they make mistakes, but that’s how they learn what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t. They don’t dwell on a failure. Instead, they see it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Leaders that stay with the status quo and don’t experiment, quickly become stagnant!

So why do some managers make more than their fair share of bad decisions?

Click to continue »

How do you stack up to other managers and executives around the country?

As you start 2017, we thought you’d like to know.

ResourcefulManager surveyed 1,838 managers and executives, who directly manage other employees. The result was our exclusive 2017 Face of Management infographic.

Here are some of the key findings:

• 52% feel their departments are understaffed
• 40% think they are underpaid
• 45% work 50 hours or more hours a week
• 61% say they are average communicators at best.

Here’s the full infographic:

Click to continue »

As 2016 winds down, I’d like to tip my hat to the ResourcefulManager community.

I’ve talked to a lot of you this year and have exchanged emails with even more.

You’re an exceptional group. You care deeply about your staffs and you’re constantly working to become better managers and leaders.

And I’d like to think that we have helped you along the way. The only gifts we had to give were our blog posts.

We had more than 280,000 of you visit our web site this year to read them and you viewed more than 655,000 pages.

So I’ve compiled a list of the most read posts in The Top 10 ResourcefulManager Blog Posts of 2016.

Click to continue »

Think of all the excellent managers and supervisors you’ve had. They were probably high achievers.

You’re probably one, too!

But high achievers are often so passionate about their jobs they don’t realize how hard they’re working or the load they’re carrying – they just want to succeed.

Which makes them prime candidates for burnout!

You’re probably thinking: I’m not burned out. I’m just a little stressed.

But guess what? “Stressed out” and “burned out” are just a few degrees apart.

Burnout sneaks up on you slowly over time, while you’re dealing with your busy and hectic life, and feeds off your energy.

So let’s make sure you don’t let stress get the best of you!

Click to continue »

In business, maintaining the status quo is death.

If you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind – particularly in today’s world.

Innovation is critical to every company, whether it is new products or services, more efficient manufacturing processes, or new marketing and sales channels.

Innovation does not require some exotic new technology. It requires an innovative culture – one that is embraced by the people at the top and flows through the whole organization.

Click to continue »

You pride yourself on having an open door policy. Employees know you’re receptive to their needs and can talk to you about anything.

That’s great, right?

But what sounds like workplace nirvana can turn into a nightmare. If you’re not careful, you could end up running daily therapy sessions or become the defacto office police department.

An open door that allows for constant access to you for every single issue, problem and decision may turn out to be counterproductive to you and your entire department.

Click to continue »

So, you say you want to be a manager!

Maybe even the top dog one day.

If so, here’s some encouraging news: The line may not be as long as you’d think.

According to a survey by professional staffing outfit Addison Group, just one in three employees have their hearts set on becoming a manager.

One in five have zero interest whatsoever in managing other people.

If you are among those who still want to get promoted and take that first step into management, here are seven things that will get you noticed by your own boss,

Click to continue »

Did you aspire to be a manager so you could move up in your company?

Or were you just really good at your job, got things done and they made a manager because of that?

If you’re in the latter group, answer this:

Are you a micromanager?

No? Really?

Do you delegate work to your team or do you feel the need to do everything by yourself?

Do you let your team work on their own and give you periodic updates, or do you hover and have to know what’s going on 24/7?

Still not sure?

Here are 5 warning signs you’re a micromanager:

Click to continue »

Advice is a lot like Castor oil – easy to give, harder to take.

And since that is so true, it means managers have their work cut out for them when it comes to giving good advice.

We all admire the wisdom of those who come to us for help (ha ha).  But that just doesn’t happen often enough. And therein lies the problem.

Good managers must give sound advice on a daily basis, and they can’t always wait until someone comes seeking it out.

Instead, it’s dished out cold, sort of ready-or-not-here-it-comes.

Of course, there’s a lot of advice available on how to give good advice. But much of it just doesn’t apply in the real world of work.

Click to continue »