Understand Yourself Personally

I have been struck by all the stories about Oprah leaving daytime television. At the root of it all is her ability to follow her intuition and as Gayle King said, "..knowing when to say no and when it is time to go, is worth studying at every business graduate school in the country." She always knew the talk show was the core of her brand and she took the relationship with her viewers very seriously. At the same time it seems she understood what was important to herself personally. She maintained control of her company, pursued projects she believed in, endorsed people she trusted and stuck with a business model she understood. All important lessons for corporate leaders.

Can A Southern Gal “Unfriend”?

The newly named word of the year according to the New Oxford American Dictionary is “unfriend.” It beat out words including “netbook” and “hashtag”. As technology evolves we all adopt new words, but the key question for this one is how do we put it into action?

According to one article entitled “ 12 Great Tales of De-Friending” it seems that there can be fall out and hurt feelings if this is not handled well. An agency is insulted by someone leaving and everyone drops him at once or politics come between friends. Since so many of us have a mix of professional and personal contacts in our Facebook or linkedin lists, I suggest we carefully consider an unfriend strategy.

What does that mean? In my mind it means going back to the manners you learned growing up. Consider whose feelings will be hurt, who else might see how you behaved and be affected, and how you will be perceived. We have now opened many aspects of our lives to the scrutiny of others and who we associate with and how we treat them in the social space is now part of our reputation.

PRWeek Guest Blogger

I wanted to let you know I am the guest blogger on PRWeek's website this week. The key topics are around digital transformation. As leaders if you follow the columns you will see I believe it is critical for each of us to personally transform and embrace this new space. We can opt in to training but it takes a daily commitment to listening and participating in the social media space to be able to counsel clients.

Are you a value add or a value minus?

As the Dilbert strip above demonstrates you can chime in without much value. My goal as a manager is to contribute to each meeting I attend. That can mean asking questions that lead a team in a new direction, bringing forth a unique point-of-view or helping them combine information to create a new outcome. Sometimes you can rest on the years of experience you bring in the room; however, most of the time it means doing your homework and thinking about the content in advance. And, if you have no value to add, my best advice is to cancel the meeting or stay quiet and let the team work it through themselves. Just talking for the sake of it never pays off.

Why Employee Engagement Is the New Buzz Word

Every human resources department today seems to be worried about employee engagement.
As the recession improves and jobs open up companies are worried about their best jumping ship. Thus, the question how to engage them now and what drives loyalty. According to Paul Herbert of Business Week the topic should be flipped to discuss poor management. Managers with vision who stretch employees and provide opportunities for them to strive do not need to discuss employee engagement he argues.

You have 24 seconds-Go

As managers I believe we can often do a better job planning ahead for meetings and headlining. How many times do you begin typing on your bb or tuning out because you truly do not feel you need the level of detail or jargon being presented? I came across an older story about a crowd sourcing contest to take 24 seconds to Save the World for MTN Dew. What I found fascinating was what you could communicate in 24 seconds. In the attention deficit world we have today managers need to learn to headline and quickly communicate key points.

This Is It

I saw the Michael Jackson movie with my daughter and was impressed by his focus on what he wanted to deliver for his audience: adventure and escapism. Michael was a perfectionist and motivated those around him to meet his standards. He worked as hard as anyone on the production. They were in awe of his musical talent and dancing abilities. I saw him teach them how to slow down and in his words "let things simmer." He was patient in his quest for it to be perfect and was willing to rehearse and create over and over as needed to get it right.

The Meltdown

There is often someone in your office who is in meltdown mode. My best advice is to listen, listen, listen. They need you to feel their pain before you able to to help them solve their problems. Once they have fully vented I begin to ask probing questions to truly get to what is creating their stress. Uncovering the source, which is most often the need for the right resources or talent, enables you to begin to provide solutions. If an easy solution is not evident the next best thing is to give them a timeline you will get back to them with some actions. Empathy and clear next steps go a long way.

It Helps To Fail

I had the pleasure of hearing Pattie Sellers, the Editor at Large, of FORTUNE magazine speak tonight. She created the Most Powerful Women list and writes long form profiles. Her views on what makes a strong leader included the following: First, it helps to fail. Second, resilience is important. Overall, she claimed the most important quality for leadership is adaptability and flexibility. Follow her at Fortune.com-Postcards.

My Father Has Always Been A Mentor?

The first manager I ever encountered was my Dad. He taught me two things very early: “Be kind to everyone and never lose your sense of humor.” He connected with people every day and as a dentist they actually enjoyed visiting his office. Not many dentists can say that. No matter what business he has been in he has made everyone feel welcome.