The Modern Manager

By Mamie Kanfer Stewart

Business Careers

What's The Modern Manager about?

Host Mamie Kanfer Stewart shares practical approaches to help you be a great manager. Solo episodes are like mini-courses, providing actionable tips based on experience and research. Guest episodes are engaging conversations that elicit insights and suggestions for how to apply the ideas.

Episodes features topics like: effective meeting practices, communication skills, managing conflict, team building, time management, group dynamics, goal setting and accountability, team competencies, productivity and collaboration technologies, organizational culture, and more.

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258: Establish Powerful Men...

06.06.2023

Of all the learning resources available, sometimes the best one is another person. No matter how much we know about a certain topic or industry, there is likely someone who knows a bit more. Mentorship allows people to grow and ...

The Modern Manager episodes:

06.06.2023 258: Establish Powerful Mentorship Relationships with Scott Jeffrey Miller Of all the learning resources available, sometimes the best one is another person. No matter how much we know about a certain topic or industry, there is likely someone who knows a bit more. Mentorship allows people to grow and ...
05.30.2023 257: How to Have Better Conversations with Chuck Wisner While we may not realize it, stories are constantly underlying our thinking. We formed stories about ourselves when we were younger, we interpret messages through our pre-existing stories, and we tell ourselves stories to help us understand the world around ...
05.23.2023 256: Embrace ‘Both-And’ Thinking to Optimize Polarities with Ronni Hendel Each person brings their values and perspectives to group decision-making. But what happens when those perspectives seem to be conflicting? We need to be cost conscious, and we also need high quality. We need honesty, and we also need kindness ...
05.16.2023 255: The Benefits of and Processes for Great One-on-Ones with Jason Wick How can a manager help their team members grow if they aren’t aware of their skillsets, dreams, and roadblocks? Managers play a critical role in supporting their people’s growth, and in order to do this, they need a better understanding ...
05.09.2023 254: Shifting Expectations of Work with Mia Baytop Russell The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the way we work. From hybrid work to workplace culture; from motivation to burnout; from work-life balance to communication; the pandemic changed nearly everything about the workforce. Not only did employees ...
05.02.2023 253: From Overwhelmed to High Performing with Byron Morrison Setting healthy productivity habits is crucial for our overall well-being. When we are productive, we feel good about ourselves and our accomplishments; we are also more likely to achieve our goals. However, if we are not careful, an excessive emphasis ...
04.25.2023 252: Facilitate Powerful Collaborations with Deb Mashek Collaboration is essential for success in today's workplace. No matter how much intelligence and creativity any individual possesses, collaboration between team members always leads to better results. Collaboration allows team members to pool their ideas and expertise, leading to more ...
04.18.2023 251: Align Your Productivity Approach and Your Work Style with Sandra Halling Being productive is a skill that comes naturally to some people, but it can be more difficult for others, especially those with learning differences or other challenges. Depending on your attention span, level of motivation, executive functioning skills, and environment, ...
04.11.2023 250: Lessons Learned from 250 Episodes Welcome to episode 250 of The Modern Manager! Phew! I’m so excited to reach this milestone, and I’m so grateful for everyone who has listened to and supported the podcast along the way. Thank you for being here; here’s to ...
04.03.2023 249: Use a Strengths-Based Approach to Develop Your Team Members with Scott Whiteford Do you know your team members’ unique talents? Every member of a workplace possesses a unique set of talents and skills that can be valuable to a team. By utilizing these diverse abilities, teams can become more efficient, innovative, and ...
03.28.2023 248: How to Fix Common Mindset Mistakes with Dre Baldwin At some point, we’ve all been told to “Work smarter, not harder.” But what does that actually mean? Working smarter often means recognizing the importance of mindset in our work. The way we approach tasks, challenges, and even successes can ...
03.21.2023 247: The Power of Meditation for Managers with Shai Tubali You’ve probably heard of meditation as a personal practice, but did you know it can have benefits to your professional life? Regular meditation practice can help reduce stress, improve focus, and increase emotional regulation. In addition, it can spark increased ...
03.14.2023 246: What Managers Can Learn From Generational Differences with Vivek Iyyani While everyone approaches their work with a different mindset, there’s one factor that can heavily influence the mindset you bring to work: your generation. From Gen X, to Millennials, to Gen Z, different generations can bring unique perspectives to a ...
03.07.2023 245: Elements of Team Effectiveness with Dave Gloss Teams are the backbone of organizations. When functioning well, team members feel a sense of belonging, while maximizing their collective resources and skills to accomplish the organizations’ goals. In addition, effective teams will enable organizations to become more efficient and ...
02.28.2023 244: Inspire Employees Through Deep Purpose with Ranjay Gulati Why does your team exist? What is the deeper purpose behind the list of tasks you accomplish each day? Without a clear, defined purpose, teams will lack inspiration and focus. This can lead to team members feeling unmotivated, reducing productivity ...
02.21.2023 243: Lessons Learned from Building a Strong Team Environment with Abhishek Nayak A positive workplace culture can be the difference between a thriving and barely surviving team; between people staying because they love their job and people eagerly searching to work somewhere else. When managers create an environment that is welcoming, trusting, ...
02.14.2023 242: Develop Self-Awareness and Self-Regulation with Robin Hills As managers, emotional intelligence plays an important role in how you interact with your team and make decisions. Being aware of your capabilities, motivations and emotions, and knowing how to act on them, enables you to connect with your colleagues ...
02.07.2023 241: Support Your Team Members During a Tragedy with Holly Welch Stubbing When a crisis hits someone’s life, the effects aren’t limited to home. Personal, communal, or even global crises can have a significant impact on someone’s stress levels. In situations where a crisis or tragedy has occurred, there’s likely little you ...
01.31.2023 240: Change Your Questions with Marilee Adams Of all the mindset tips and tricks, there is one aspect that is often overlooked: the questions we ask ourselves. Questions have the potential to shift conversations, open new ideas, and broaden understanding. The thoughts we have are in response ...
01.24.2023 239: Optimize Your Team for Remote Work with Kapil Kale Developing a remote work culture is a crucial step for businesses to take in today’s workplace landscape. However, developing a remote work culture requires different skills and practices than an in-person culture. The majority of people working remotely report struggling ...
01.17.2023 238: How to Talk About the Hard Things with David Wood You probably know the feeling of ‘there’s an elephant in the room’ and no one wants to address it. But letting things go unspoken creates problems in the workplace. This is true of the large and small things. Are you ...
01.10.2023 237: Create the Conditions for Joy in the Workplace with Akaya Windwood Managers often focus on creating work environments that cultivate inclusivity, productivity, and innovation - which are all important. However, when was the last time you intentionally created an environment for… joy? Turns out, when employees are joyful at work, they ...
01.03.2023 236: Say What Needs To Be Said with Kim Scott We've all heard it a million times, especially as kids: "Be nice!" Most people have been taught that if you don't have something kind to say, don't say anything at all. However, what do you do when you have necessary ...
12.20.2022 235: Get Your Team Working From Their Inner Genius with Catherine Mattiske Each person on the planet has a way of being and thinking that when tapped into feels both natural and fulfilling. This is called your inner genius. The goal for each person is to find their inner genius; the goal ...
12.13.2022 234: Work Environments That Work for Everyone with Genie Love Many studies have shown that the best and most innovative companies are those who embrace diversity and make an effort to recruit people with different personalities and different strengths. While some areas of diversity are visible, one in particular is ...
12.06.2022 233: Don’t Bring Home Stress to Work with Andrea Liebross Work and home life are not two distinct worlds. Despite the concept of work-life balance, they are inextricably intertwined. What’s happening at home often affects us at work, and vice versa. While we can’t close off those two worlds from ...
11.29.2022 232: Goal Setting and Goal Accomplishing with Hilary DeCesare Goals are the backbone of our teams. Around this time of year, businesses and individuals often set goals for themselves, but not all goals are created equally. Truly effective goals are strategic plans for the entire year that guide us ...
11.22.2022 231: Being Thoughtful about the End of Year Holidays with Jen O’Ryan It's that time of year again. Holidays are coming up, and while some messages and practices will be perfect for your team members' individual needs, others won't match up with their values, beliefs, or lifestyles. Despite the busyness of this ...
11.15.2022 230: Hack Your Brain with Dr. Jon Finn Human beings are creatures of habit. Just watch a child or animal go through their daily routines and you can see that habits are deeply ingrained in our biology. While we’re often aware of some habits, others happen regularly without ...
11.08.2022 229: Overcoming Obstacles with Joel Green Obstacles come in many forms. They can be physical (withholding us from being somewhere or doing something we want to do), mental (making us believe we're not capable of achieving), or emotional (adding undue stress, fatigue, or other burdens to ...
11.01.2022 228: Keep Calm and Address Conflicts with Hesha Abrams In my years of working with managers, one of most frequent questions I get is this: How do I deal with conflict in my team? This dilemma can be approached from two perspectives. First, there are practices a team can ...
10.25.2022 227: Discover Your FABS Leadership Style with Robert Jordan Look in any organization and you'll see a variety of leadership styles. One crucial aspect of leadership is staying true to yourself and what feels most natural to you as a leader, which means not trying to be all things ...
10.18.2022 226: Focus on the Big Things with Erik Qualman Focus: It’s an important skill for the success of any organization or individual. While it's natural for anyone to get distracted by new ideas, potential projects, overwhelming to-do lists, and ongoing problems, learning how to focus can save us time ...
10.11.2022 225: Establish a Bold Vision with Lisa McCarthy Whether you want to develop new products, update internal processes, or make sure that every client is satisfied with your service, one thing is true: you need to be clear about your goals. Without direction, you will lose your way. ...
10.04.2022 224: Proven Strategies to Unleash Your Team’s Potential with Russ Laraway Management is about helping other people achieve greatness - in the results they produce and the career path they take. However, if you've had any experience as a manager, you know how difficult it can be to help a variety ...
09.27.2022 223: Insights From Improv to Improve Communication with Brian Rolnick-Fox Anyone who's worked on a team knows that communication can be a challenge. Sometimes, common problems require creative solutions. Improv is a powerful tool that brings out the best in any group or team. It’s not just for comedians; it ...
09.20.2022 222: Design a Path to Your Future with Lance Tanaka Authentic leadership is unique to each of us. It's about understanding and being comfortable with who you are so that you can leverage your strengths. We can then use that information to guide our choices and lift up those around ...
09.13.2022 221: Reducing and Responding to Microaggressions with Martine Kalaw Microaggressions are harmful words and actions that stem from biases and stereotypes. They’re subconscious, meaning we may not even realize we’re being offensive or biased. The damage they inflict can be long-lasting and impact how individuals relate to us and ...
09.06.2022 220: Methods for Robust Brainstorm Sessions Brainstorming is a method of developing ideas in a group setting. It's used to solve problems, come up with new ideas, and generally explore possibilities. While it may seem like a simple task, there’s often much more than meets the ...
08.30.2022 219: Motivation Through Core Values with Rob Toomey Identifying the core values and potential motivators of your team members isn't always the easiest task. There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to each individual personality, which makes for a delicate interpretation process. But optimizing ...
08.23.2022 218: Facilitate Effective and Inclusive Meetings with Rae Ringel Managers all over the world facilitate meetings every day, but how many managers facilitate meetings well? The goal of facilitating a meeting is to create a space so that everyone can participate effectively. This may not come naturally to some ...
08.16.2022 217: Plan Your Day with Ashutosh Priyadarshy Ever feel like you don't have enough time because you're too busy working on tasks, attending meetings, and checking email? If so, you're not alone. Who has time for planning when there is so much to do?! In reality, a ...
08.09.2022 216: Design the Optimal Team Meeting No matter how big or small your team is, there are always things to discuss. Most managers respond by holding weekly meetings. At their best, team meetings are a forum for open and productive communication between team members. At their ...
08.02.2022 215: Embrace Your Identity with Victoria Shiroma Wilson Understanding identity is vital for managers. We all want to respect and better understand our colleagues, but in order to do that we must first understand ourselves. Identity informs how we relate to people, how we make decisions, and how ...
07.26.2022 214: Skills for Effective Communication with Richard Newman Both verbal and nonverbal communication are critical interpersonal skills. Listening to others, observing their reactions, speaking in a way that promotes understanding and connection, using body language—these are all essential to our leadership development. Effective leaders must know that communicating ...
07.19.2022 213: Planning Your Week with Demir Bently Be honest with yourself for a moment: Are you managing your time and tasks well? Do you have a weekly planning routine that helps ensure you’re focused on your most important work? Sometimes, just a few simple changes to your ...
07.12.2022 212: Prepare for Vacation Time Out of the Office Vacation time is so important. We know there are a myriad of health benefits that come from taking time away from work. I also know how anxiety producing it can be to worry about your team or projects while you're ...
07.05.2022 211: Crush Your To-Do List with Mark J. Silverman Does it ever seem like your tasks just keep piling no matter how busy you are? As managers, it’s crucial that we’re able to follow through on our tasks and responsibilities so we can take care of our businesses and ...
06.28.2022 210: Leading with Authenticity with Sabrina Horn Authenticity at work requires being true to yourself. However, this can be a difficult feat for managers. We often step into the management position believing there is a certain way we must speak and act, or certain knowledge we should ...
06.21.2022 209: Master the Hiring Process with Tatiyana Cure It's cliche, but true: Your people are your biggest asset. There's nothing more important than hiring people who are a strong fit for the job responsibilities and also align with your organization's values and mission. But recruiting the right people ...

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