“You ever hear of tavern training?” my neighbor, Tony, asked me. We were having one of those conversations that start with “Can I borrow your leaf blower?” and wind up over a beer in the kitchen. Tony was talking about his first promotion to supervisor. He worked in a factory up in Ohio. One day the » Read More
Tag: Promotion
Selecting New Bosses: Three things you shouldn’t guess about
One of the biggest crapshoots in many a company is selecting individual contributors for positions where they’re responsible for the performance of a group. There are lots of ways to get it wrong. Some companies give people a boss’s job if they’re stellar performers in an individual contributor’s » Read More
The instant you become a boss
Everyone agrees that the transition from individual contributor to boss is difficult. One reason is that some things change for you the instant you become a boss. Here are a dozen things that happen in the blink of an eye. 1. Some people will think you turned into a jerk. You won’t be the exception. Those people » Read More
What I’ve learned from 25 years of working with first-time bosses
I’ve been working with first-time bosses for over a quarter century. I’ve studied what makes a great boss and how the transition unfolds and sometimes unravels. I’ve trained new bosses and I’ve coached more than a few. Here’s what I’ve learned. A “boss” is someone responsible » Read More
The Joy of Helping
One of my must-reads every week is Adam Bryant’s “Corner Office” column in the New York Times. He gives us condensed versions of long interviews with CEOs. What I like most is that, week after week, Bryant lets us see human CEOs. Every one is a mix of strengths and weaknesses, positives and negatives. A » Read More