Management Mastery

This week on Management Mastery, we interview a guest: Jake Kilrain a former senior sales executive who talks with Fred and Rick about his experiences when he first became a manager.  He relates his experience of going from being a member of a department to being its head, and some of the problems related to going from being a peer to being the boss.

The ability to successfully delegate is critical to the success of any manager. Nevertheless, errors in delegating can lead to results that sometimes can be worse than not delegating at all. We’ll cover some of the more common mistakes and how to avoid making them in this episode.

Leaders often experience feelings of isolation at greater levels than other employees.  They have fewer peers, lots of scrutiny, a good deal of pressure, make decisions sometimes without much data, and have information that must be kept confidential.  In addition, they have to watch for feelings of isolation among their staffs.  In this episode we’ll discuss some of the challenges leaders face regarding feelings of isolation and how to address them.

No manager likes to hear bad news.  But a good manager knows how important it is that their staff feel comfortable enough to give their manager bad news when it is important.  In this episode, we’ll talk about how to develop the level of trust needed to ensure your staff will tell you what you need to hear.

Asking yourself “Am I delegating the right amount?” is an important question for you as well as the members of your staff.  Delegating is entrusting a task to another person. Here we’re referring to an assignment given that is beyond one’s normal job description. This might be adding additional duties or handling a unique or special project. A key aspect of delegating is granting autonomy and trust to staff members who are looking to developing skills and want an opportunity to grow in their careers.  

In this episode we’ll look at the value delegating has for the manager and staff member and what the manager must remember if delegating is to be successful.

We have discussed in previous episodes the importance of content and presentation in being an effective communicator.  In effective communication, how much you say – that is the quantity of your communication and when you say it – that is the timing of your communication – can, at times, be as, if not more important than the content of what you are trying to communicate.

In today’s corporate environment, the merging of two or more departments or functional areas is commonplace.  Such consolidations can be extremely disruptive and can negatively impact the performance of the departments involved.  In this episode, we discuss ways to avoid many of the mistakes a manager can make during such a merger. 

In today’s corporate environment, the merging of two or more departments or functional areas is commonplace.  Such consolidations can be extremely disruptive and can negatively impact the performance of the departments involved.  In this episode, we discuss ways to avoid many of the mistakes a manager can make during such a merger. 

Who is in sales?  Every one of us in every function, in every company, in every industry.  Large company, or small, we all have “clients” and we are all “salespeople”.  By that, we mean we all need, at least from time to time, to convince that is, “sell” someone on an idea or get them to agree to do something for us. That “something” can range from actually buying your product, to giving you a promotion, to agreeing to help you on a project, or completing an assignment you’ve given out.  In this episode, we talk about how to be an outstanding sales person regardless of what you’re “selling”.

Every manager has clients – whether they are inside or outside of the company, the ability of a manager to forge and maintain positive relationships with those clients is central to their success or failure as a manager.  In this episode we will discuss ways to build successful relationships with your clients: