Preparation is critical for any meeting with your boss -- especially one you asked for. Of course, you want to be prepared on the specific reason you asked for the meeting -- but your preparation needs to go far beyond that to maximize the positive impact any meeting can potentially have on your relationship with your boss. It will also reduce the potential for a negative response from the boss.

This is an encore of an episode on your first meeting with a (new) client.

Everybody makes mistakes -- it is a part of learning and growing in any job -- especially management. What is important is how one handles the mistake -- how they get out ahead of it and what actions they take to prevent the mistake from happening again. It is important to own responsibility for the mistake -- even if it was by one of your staff and not you directly. You are responsible.

This is a repeat episode: Building and Maintaining a Network

It is estimated that 30% to 50 % of any department staff are "introverts". They can be extremely talented members of your team, but can easily fade into the background and their potential contributions lost if not identified and handled correctly. In this episode, we talk about how to fully utilize the introverted members of your staff.

A successful relationship with your new boss is entirely your responsibility. We discuss the importance of understanding how your boss interacts with staff (are they a hands-on or hands-off manager?); makes and communicates decisions; how they like to communicate, and other key dimensions of their management style. In addition, we talk about how to deal with the different management styles.

We all do it from time to time -- and are often annoyed when others do it. In a new position, we talk about "how it was done (better) where I was before". DON'T DO IT. Until you are well established and understand WHY things are done the way they are in your new position, don't talk about the way it was done in your previous position. People don't see it as helpful. At best they see it as mildly annoying. Avoid it.

Having an effective network only becomes increasingly important as a manager advances in their career. Knowing how to build and maintain a strong and effective network is a key management skill. It is also important to encourage one's staff to also have strong networks as such networks can also benefit the manager.

This is a repeat of the episode on the importance of maintaining a healthy Work-Life balance.

The primary task of any manager, of course, is to ensure that their department delivers results effectively, efficiently, on time and on budget. In this episode we cover the critical steps managers should follow to maximize their success in delivering superior results.