This post is part of Setting the Tone in the Your Plan of Action series for those new to the executing team (also called management by some. But not by the enlightened readers of this site.).
Last time I talked about taking corrective action when people—intentionally or unintentionally—act in ways destructive to what you are trying […]

This post is part of Setting the Tone in the Your Plan of Action series for those new to the executing team (also called management by some. But not by the enlightened readers of this site.).
So far we’ve focused on how to positively shape the tone of your organization for success. Leaders put their stamp […]

This post is part of Setting the Tone in the Your Plan of Action series for those new to the executing team.
So far we’re talking about setting the tone, the general atmosphere that you create in your workplace or for your team.
As we talked about last time I think there are two approaches to getting […]

This post is part of Setting the Tone in the Your Plan of Action series for those new to the executing team.
As we said before one of the things that is your job, and that you must never shirk, delegate, or otherwise avoid, is to set the tone. “Tone” is the general atmosphere that you […]

So, you’re new to leading people and you’ve got your first team ready to go. Where do you start?
Your plan of action for leading—rather than managing—your team is short. There are three disciplines to focus on:

Setting the tone

Getting your head around the concept
The hard way: giving a formal presentation on your values and […]

OK, so you want to be a part of the executing team, but not just as a manager. How will you know if you’re doing it right? Or wrong?
You will know that you have been successful in your drive to lead rather than manage when you become the least important person in your organization.
Decisions—the right […]

Leading a team is hard, mostly because managing seems to be part of our nature. To know and control everything that goes on around you always seems to be the best way to minimize your risk of failure or of being seen to make a public mistake.
You will find yourself fighting the manager within you […]

So last time we were talking about technology as a creative activity and the need to motivate creative people with leadership rather than trying to herd them through management.
Despite the fact that the leadership approach works (and I think it works best), by many standard organizational measures the management approach can appear successful, especially from […]

In most technology companies, services like facilities or physical-plant management are provided to support the creative force behind the company.
Creative? Yup!
Despite all the press from the art community that would indicate they have the lock on the world’s creative output, technology professionals are creative people. We create the products, services, and technologies that will shape […]

So, you’re a “manager”.
First of all, don’t be. A manger, that is.
As we’ve discussed already, leaders and managers differ in their approach to motivating people. Management is often about directing and prodding people (the way the shepherd and his sheep dogs prod the sheep); its about keeping a group of people within a predefined set […]