Influence is one of the most powerful tools a manager has.  In this episode we will discuss What It is, why it’s Important and how can you increase yours and use it most effectively.  

Communication is how you move from merely providing information to entertaining, directing, or inspiring others and, eventually, to influencing them.  And, influence is more than words, it is about building a strong emotional bond with your audience.  Keep in mind, when we say “audience” in this episode, we mean everything from a single person to a room-full.  Influence is all about building an emotional connection with your audience.  That connection is what determines whether or not people are going to like you, trust you, and want to follow you.

When asked why they enjoy their jobs, young professionals consistently tell us that 3 of the most important things are:  “A job that is challenging, the autonomy to do my job, and being able to learn new and marketable skills.”  In this episode, we discuss ways a manager can help staff get what they are looking for in their jobs. 

In one way or another, every good manager is a coach.  As a coach, you want to make your staff members as effective and productive as possible. 

One of the most useful tools for developing staff is through the use of “Coaching Through Questioning”.  In this episode we explain this management approach and discuss how it can make you a more effective manager and your staff more productive.

We show how to use questions to help clarify expectations, identify gaps and opportunities, and explore different practices and ideas.

Truly effective managers act more like the leader of a team than the boss of a department.  In this episode, we discuss what it takes for the boss of a department to become the leader of an effective team and why it is important.

A real temptation for a newly assigned manager is to tackle the biggest problem facing the group to show they are up to the job of managing their new department.  Like taking on too much right away, this can lead to serious problems.  In this episode, we will discuss ways to successfully avoid the potential pitfalls in taking on a complicated assignment too quickly.

Whether you are new to your position, or have been in your position for a period of time, setting realistic expectations for yourself will always be a challenge.  It is in your best interest to be actively involved in discussions of the expectations of your boss and of your staff so you can then determine the best method(s) of prioritizing them and attacking them.  How you handle these challenges will go a long way toward ensuring your success.

When a new boss arrives either through a promotion,

Often when a new manager takes over, the boss, clients, staff, or stakeholders may have a number of issues that need to be addressed. Taking on the right issues can lead to success; taking on too many and doing a poor job at them can lead to failure. In this episode, we will discuss ways of successfully avoiding some of these potential pitfalls.

The minute you get promoted, you will no longer be the same person to your boss, your colleagues or your new staff.  In this episode we will cover these changes and how to deal with them.

It should be obvious to any manager, no matter how new, that the more engaged in their work an employee is, the more productive they will be – and the less likely to leave for another position. 

But in this time of remote working, the “great resignation” and economic uncertainty, what should a manager be doing to ensure maximum engagement of the members of their team?  In this episode of Management Mastery we address this critical