Sort by:

How to manage people so they don’t need you to be there, and how to add value when you are
Many managers feel that they have to be present and available to staff at all times. If they aren’t, they fear, problems will go unchecked, and staff won’t feel supported. The downside of this view is the waste of time that results from staff going to the manager to...

My new boss is stepping on my toes – how do I get him to stop?
A manager writes: I am a senior director with just a few years to go to retirement at a large organization. The organization recently merged with another smaller organization offering the same services. The director of that organization initially reported to me....

4 key practices your leadership team should follow to make the best decisions in the face of uncertainty
We sometimes take for granted that when we include all the ‘right’ people, our leadership team will naturally arrive at the ‘best’ decisions. By ‘right’ people, I mean those with knowledge and experience around strategy, project development and organization...

I fear managing someone who has more expertise than me
A manager writes: I lead a section of my organization that has very successfully met its goals over the past three years. I have now been asked to take on additional responsibilities in a new area of function in which I don’t have expertise. I need to hire someone...

How do I get my staff to stop telling the old stories and look to the future?
A manager writes: I have been working for 6 months as a manager in an organization that had undergone significant change in organization structure in the previous year. I hear staff gossiping about how unfairly office and program areas were assigned, why some programs...