Superman or Manager; which are you?

How would your team do without you? Are you overwhelmed with the pressure of keeping up with everyone's work problems? or Have you ever dealt with an organization or a department that comes to a halt once the team leader isn’t around? And many times the CEO or manager is overworked, stressed and convinced he doesn’t have the right people on his team or they have no initiative?

It’s easy to fall into this trap particularly if you are a functional expert who is good at delivering on the technical/operational aspects of your job (and got promoted to manager because you are so good at your job). Many people in this situation have not made the transition from doing the work themselves to getting your team to do the work and cant grasp the fact that the output now required in terms of people not function.

There are of course a million and 1 reasons why some managers seem to end up doing all the work for their team; including – fear of failure, a need to be needed, a need to ensure things are done perfectly, etc. However, work grinding to a halt every time the manager is away is a wasteful unsustainable model and is counter-productive in the long run.

In this insightful article, the writers at Mindtools.com explore the issue of ‘Preventing Manager Dependency.’ Click here:  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/preventing-manager-dependency.htm#np

Here’s an interesting video showing practical ways to help your people tackle the issues themselves whilst still providing the required leadership.

Experiencing Communication headaches in your workplace?

If you have tried to recruit lately; particularly into entry level positions, you would have noticed the appalling lack of spoken communication skills that seems to be pervasive in these parts.

Even, experienced employees experience challenges perhaps not so much in the area of spoken communication but we experience challenges with - business writing particularly reports and proposals, effective presentations - for sales, for management reports amongst other scenarios and even simply communicating with our colleagues and target audiences in a way that influences them positively.

A good grasp of communication skills and emotional intelligence is an indispensable component for effectiveness in the work place, and even more so with people in leadership.

One proven technique address some of these gaps is the right training. We offer a practical approach to transferring skills that address some of these communication challenges.

Here are a few training sessions that deal with various aspects of communication organised by PSNL and holding in May 2011: http://www.psnlbusinesssolutions.com/open_courses.html Feel free to explore the website, email or call us for details and registration.

In my next post I present an article by David Shoemaker, VP Learning at eCornell that explores ways in which corporate training can address communication challenges in the work place. As always, your feed back is welcome.

Competencies for Leadership Development: What’s Hot and What’s Not

Reviewing your Leadership Development and Training plans? You'll find this article useful. Its a precis of research conducted by William A. Gentry, PHD of the Center for Creative Leadership. His survey which was conducted in 30 industries identifies 10 key competencies for leadership. As always, comments and feedback are welcome.

Read the full article here:

Competencies for Leadership Development: What’s Hot and What’s Not