Manager Tools

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Tired of management theory? Want to learn specific skills to help improve your management performance? Then Manager Tools is the podcast for you! Manager Tools is a weekly business podcast focused on helping professionals become more effective managers and leaders. Each week, we discuss specific actions for professionals to take to achieve their desired management and career objectives. Manager Tools won Best Business Podcast Award in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2012 as well as the People's Choice Award in 2008. Find more at http://www.manager-tools.com/

My Boss Doesn't Support Company Guidance
A manager is always obligated to support the organization, even if he or she disagrees with what the organization is doing. But what happens when your boss doesn't do that? Here's what to do.
Delivering the Performance Review - HOF 2025
Our Hall of Fame guidance on delivering a performance review.
Preparing Performance Reviews - HOF 2025
Our Hall of Fame guidance on how to prepare for performance reviews.
The Executive's Two Responsibilities (MT)
Executives and managers both have two core responsibilities that inform all else that they do. But the two key responsibilities are different between managers and executives. Managers manage; executives lead.
How To Present At A Conference - A Checklist - Part 2
At some point in your career, you're going to get to, or have to, present at a conference. There are some special considerations, and here they are.
How To Present At A Conference - A Checklist - Part 1
At some point in your career, you're going to get to, or have to, present at a conference. There are some special considerations, and here they are.
The Hip Pocket Presentation
Most managers don't know it, but if they want to further their career, they must always have a presentation in their hip pocket, ready to be given on no-notice. That's why it's called the Hip Pocket Presentation.
The Love Speech
For many years at our Effective Manager Conferences, Mark ended the day by giving what we came to call, "The Love Speech." Love matters in managing others. Here it is, for the record, for those who never got to hear it in person.
What To Do When You Get Promoted - Part 2
Promotions are exciting - congratulations! And now you have some work to do, but we will tell you exactly what and why and how.
What To Do When You Get Promoted - Part 1
Promotions are exciting - congratulations! And now you have some work to do, but we will tell you exactly what and why and how.
Career Insurance For Your Directs - Part 2
We recently re-released a Hall of Fame Career Tools cast about Building Your Network. That's only one part of a series of things everyone must do to manage their own careers. Everybody needs "Career Insurance." And too many managers don't educate their directs on what they have to do to be successful with their own careers management.
Career Insurance For Your Directs - Part 1
We recently re-released a Hall of Fame Career Tools cast about Building Your Network. That's only one part of a series of things everyone must do to manage their own careers. Everybody needs "Career Insurance." And too many managers don't educate their directs on what they have to do to be successful with their own careers management.
Google's Project Oxygen
We have mentioned, usually only briefly, Google's "Project Oxygen' for many years, in many podcasts. Now we tell the story - in part because we were there.
The Black Widow Mistake - Part 2
The Black Widow Mistake is named after the red, angular figure eight markings on the abdomen of the dangerous female black widow spider. The mistake that many aspiring executives make is to start narrowing their development at the same time that their executive role requires them to be thinking more broadly, including outside the organization. It can put a stop to your upward development.
The Black Widow Mistake - Part 1
The Black Widow Mistake is named after the red, angular figure eight markings on the abdomen of the dangerous female black widow spider. The mistake that many aspiring executives make is to start narrowing their development at the same time that their executive role requires them to be thinking more broadly, including outside the organization. It can put a stop to your upward development.
See One, Do One, Teach One
The way most managers develop their team is haphazard and neither efficient nor effective. How can we not develop our teams when doctors learn thousands and thousands of procedures, diagnoses, and surgeries in such little time? See One, Do One, Teach One. It's faster, and it works well if you're willing to delegate and give lots of negative feedback.
The Four Hidden Dangers of Not Delegating - Part 2
Too many managers fail to delegate sufficiently. In many cases, managers don't know how or what to delegate. But even when some managers have a sense of what and how, they don't delegate. This is often because they don't know the hidden dangers of NOT delegating!
The Four Hidden Dangers of Not Delegating - Part 1
Too many managers fail to delegate sufficiently. In many cases, managers don't know how or what to delegate. But even when some managers have a sense of what and how, they don't delegate. This is often because they don't know the hidden dangers of NOT delegating!
Proactive Reporting And The Bricklayer - Part 2
As managers get more responsibility, and potentially promotions to Senior Manager, they start feeling squeezed between the demands from above and the demands of running their org. The increases in requests for information from above take time to prepare for. The answer is to make your team's reporting more proactive.
Proactive Reporting And The Bricklayer - Part 1
As managers get more responsibility, and potentially promotions to Senior Manager, they start feeling squeezed between the demands from above and the demands of running their org. The increases in requests for information from above take time to prepare for. The answer is to make your team's reporting more proactive.

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