Manager’s Cheat Sheet

Over at InsideCRM, there is a great articled titled, “The Manager’s Cheat Sheet: 101 Common-Sense Rules for Leaders”. They include sections about meetings, client relations, and self leadership which I believe are all key part of being a great leader and manager. The last section of the “Cheat Sheet” is about how to go over and beyond which is in part seperates leaders from managers.

Go Above and Beyond
Managing people isn’t just about getting the job done. To truly be a great leader, sometimes you need to go above and beyond what the job calls for.

93. Lead by example. You can talk until you’re blue in the face, but the best way to get a point across is to be the model to emulate. Let employees follow your lead.
94. Get your hands dirty. Sometimes you need to show your employees that no one’s above doing unattractive tasks.
95. Make a difference to your employees. Don’t just be a generic manager — stand out as a leader and role model for your employees.
96. Gain your employees’ trust and respect. You’ll have a much easier time managing employees when they respect your rules and boundaries and trust your leadership.
97. Be empathetic to personal problems. Whether it should or not, what happens outside of work can have a big affect on the quality of work produced. Be sensitive if employees have personal issues that keep them from concentrating on work.
98. Be unique as a manager. Every position demands something different and you should be proud to be adept at your particular role rather than trying to emulate other managers.
99. Remember that ethics matter above all. Be honest and reliable in all of your business and personal relationships.
100. Be on the lookout for new ideas. You never know where your next great inspiration will come from.
101. Get to know your employees. Learn more than just their names. Get to know your employees’ family backgrounds, likes and dislikes. Doing so will make you more personable.

What is in Your Glass? (The Starbucker Meme)

Thanks Liz for tagging me to think about the Starbucker Meme! Here is my best shot.

1. How full is your glass?

Depends, but no matter how close it gets to empty there is always someone there to refill it up, and no matter how close it is to overflowing there are people to share it. There is always an opportunity whether full or empty.

2. What kind of glass is it?

Clear Glass

3. What’s in the glass?

Bubble Tea with Tapioca Pearls, my new favorite drink

4. Reasons for #1, #2, and #3

#1 answered above.
#2 I strive to be transparent like a clear glass, but it is one of the hardest things for me to. It
is easy to see any smears or prints on a glass, but when clean can be a beautiful site.
#3 One of my favorite drinks it is cool and refreshing. Also, the tapioca pearls in the drink are a
nice while drinking it through a straw.

Maybe we can see what other great bloggers are thinking:

– Anna
– Steve
– Jim

5 Steps to Gaining Influence

Over at the Leadership Turn Blog there is a great article on how to become an effective influencer. Jonathan maps out 5 steps that he feels are important to gaining influence.

In Summary: Five Easy Steps To Influence

Here are the five main steps to effective influential communication. Make this pattern second nature, leaving you to concentrate on the detail.

Gain Rapport

Be on their level, recognise their beliefs and values; match their behaviour patterns and blend your personality characteristics with theirs.

Ask Questions

Elicit needs and different responses; probe to identify their motives, attitudes and feeling.

Listen Actively

Demonstrate that you are listening: listen with all your senses; suspend judgement.

Stress Pertinent Benefits

Summarise how specific benefits of your proposal accurately reflect their needs.

Work Towards A Decision

Ask questions that will force a decision (or rejection); test interest through hypothetical questions; make positive statements which assume their acceptance.

When I read this I noticed that none of steps had to do with the leader but focused on
understanding those around you. Change is hard when cause is good, but when the change is only focused on benefiting the leader, it is nearly impossible. Seek the opinions of those around you, and it might help you discover something new about your team.

San Antonio Spurs on Team Building and Leadership

Last night I was watching my favorite NBA team, the San Antonio Spurs, win their third straight game in the first round of the playoffs against a team with two of the biggest superstars in the league. The interesting about the Spurs is that they are one of the winningest sports franchise, but one of the least talked about. During last night’s game I wrote down a couple of observations that I thought made the Spurs a great model for leadership and team building.

– Its about the team
– “I don’t worry about being the man” Robert Horry
– The team is there to win as a team because they understand that winning as a team leads
to winning as an individual
– No ego, even Tim Duncan listens to the coach. A lot of times the Coach Pop is harder on
him than the others
– Players hold each other acountable and cheer each other on

– Professional
-They come to take care of business
– Close out what they finish
– Seek character players, I do not remember in recent history of a Spurs player in the news
for getting in trouble with the law

– They see the big picture
-Do not get worried to early when behind and do not get excited to early when ahead
-Every valley has a mountain top and ever mountain top has a valley
– It showed last during the game because they were behind most of the game but stayed
composed the whole game and took the lead and the game in the last minutes
– Tend to start off the season slowly, but do not panic and ussually finish the season as
one of the hottest teams in the league

– Do not bring the best players in, but the right players for the team
– The right players make the best team, the best players do not always make the best team
– Besides the top three players on the team the rest are all role players that fit into the
large scheme the coach has.

All this = A Boring Team because they do the right things right and do not cause a stir.
All this also = Championship Team – 3 Championships since 1999 and won over 64% of their games during that time period. I would say they have a good formula for team success.

It Takes Synergy

I came across this index card over at Indexed, and then read a great post over at the Leadership Epidemic Blog and they both were saying a similiar thing. There are people who are good and implementing ideas and others who are good at coming up with them, but a leader can do both in order to become successful.

Third Edition of the Carnival of Leadership Growth

Welcome to the March 16, 2007 edition of carnival of leadership growth.

Alan presents Tired of having problems? Well guess what.. posted at Made to Be Great.

annette clancy presents Where's the humanity in organisations? posted at Interactions – Creative Strategies for Business.

Arvind Devalia presents Leadership in the current climate of change posted at Arvind Devalia, saying, “Practice leadership based on the courage to live the change you wish to bring about.”

Debra Moorhead presents “The Science of Getting Rich” Evaluated, Part Five posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Scott Schwertly presents Up or Gettin’ Up posted at Presentation Revolution.

Zechary presents Think It Over; ZecHaryW.com posted at Zechary White, saying, “Think these over, you’ll learn something”

Editor – Dave Prouhet presents Sales Process Flow posted at Business Advice Daily, saying, “Business leadership can only exist if there are paying clients. Part of good leadership is ensuring that the top line is consistently growing. And this happens with a sales flow process – a repeatable way to get sales and to grow sales. Enjoy.”

Erek Ostrowski presents Failure and The Measure of Success posted at Verve Coaching.

Wilson Ng presents The Merely Good and the Really Great posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife, saying, “The Pursuit of Excellence starts by a person understanding the difference between being merely good and being really great.”

Jane Chin presents What Comedy Improv Taught Me About Life posted at On Careers and Life, saying, “What I learned in comedy improv has helped me live life the way I want to live life as an entrepreneur. Each opportunity to get up and perform is like applying life skills in a sliver of time.”

Nneka presents Problem Solving Using Appreciative Inquiry posted at Balanced Life Center, saying, “Appreciative Inquiry emerged in corporate America as a way to improve customer satisfaction. Learn how you can use it in your life to meet challenges.”

Alvaro Fernandez presents Stress Management Workshop for International Women’s Day posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, “Exercises and tips for better stress management, based on a leadership training workshop we just gave.”

Marcy Nala presents Be Your Own Guru posted at The Abundant Life.

Alan presents It gets lonely at the top – How to handle rejection posted at Made to Be Great.

Praveen presents How to Succeed posted at My Simple Trading System.

Walt presents “A Winner Never Quits And A Quitter Never Wins” posted at Walt Nation!.

Debra Moorhead presents It’s Always A Wide Chasm posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Christopher J. Brunner presents The Adverse Effects of Poor Communication posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, “Some of the common communication mistakes that may adversely affect the success of your business.”

Travis Sinquefield presents ALA Loop posted at Disorganizational Behavior.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of leadership growth
using our
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Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

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carnival of leadership growth, blog carnival.

Having Fun Can Get You to A Lot

Today I was able to able to go volunteer at Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit agency that packs food together for children that are starving all around the world. Unlike most volunteer experiences, this one is really fun because the people who work their are passionate and the people you work along are having fun. You are able to be loud and encourage others while packing specially crafted meals for the kids around the world. What is also interesting is that they have children that have hodl their birthday party their and all the kids get to help other kids out during the party.

We spent a total of 2 hours there and an hour and a half of it we spent putting together these meals. In that time we put together almost 2 pallets worth of food which was enough to feed 34 children for a year. I really believe this shows the power of passion, good cause, and having fun can achieve.

Another interesting thing about the organization is that they are very fiscally responsible. They say that 94% of their donations goes towards the food program, which is higher than most non-profit organizations.

Edition #2 Carnival of Leadership Growth

Welcome to the March 2, 2007 edition of leadership growth.

Charles H. Green presents Seductive Statistics posted at Trust Matters, saying, “Effective leaders understand the difference between earning trust and measuring it.”

David Maister presents A Case Study in Professional Ethics posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, “Deciding to “own the problem” and accept responsibility for a screw up requires guts, courage and ethics.”

Caroline Latham presents I don’t want to ever retire. What can I do to remain sharp? posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution.

Walt presents No Plan B! posted at Walt Nation!.

Joseph presents How to attain success posted at Self Help and Personal Development.

Debra Moorhead presents The Meaning of TEAM posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Niels Hoven presents Ask Niels: How do I build an emotional connection? posted at Niels Hoven.

Laura Ricci presents Supporting Community Growth and Continuance posted at Laura’s Winning Ideas, saying, “team building, using the metaphor of a dance community”

almomento presents Open Call For Project MastermindX posted at BurstCreativity.

Anna Farmery presents Dear Boss posted at The Engaging Brand.

The Positivity Blog presents Take the Positivity Challenge! posted at Henrik Edberg.

Scott Schwertly presents The Power of “I” posted at Presentation Revolution.

Praveen presents Review of “The Rich Jerk” – Get It Free, Plus $1 posted at My Simple Trading System.

Charles H. Green presents Waddya, Nuts? posted at Trust Matters, saying, “It’s hard to be trustworthy if you yourself can’t trust. And part of trusting is not thinking that everything—good or bad—is about oneself.”

David Maister presents Lions, Wolves, Beavers and Humans posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, “Most leaders are incapable of team strategy because the key players have not agreed either to (a) collaborate or (b) invest in their mutual future.”

Kapil Handa presents Develop Leadership Skills posted at The Sum.

Jack Yoest presents Manager as Sociopath: An Interview With An Honest Boss posted at Reasoned Audacity, saying, “Your Business Blogger teaches management training. But there is no need to sit in my class, just visit An Interview with an Honest Manager.”

Debra Moorhead presents “The Science of Getting Rich” Evaluated, Part One posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Vahid Chaychi presents Viral Marketing Strategies – Learn How to Spread the Words for Free! posted at Internet and Search Engine Marketing, saying, “Do you know how websites like Hotmail and Google became popular and well-known? They didn’t spend a single cent for advertising. They used the power of viral marketing.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
leadership growth
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:

leadership growth, blog carnival.