A year ago this week, I began my guest author spots here on Lifehack.org at Leon’s very kind and generous invitation. Along with his invitation though, Leon challenged me: He said he loved the writing I did in Managing with Aloha (my book) and on Talking Story (my blog) and he wanted the flavor of it for Lifehack.org, but what he really wanted me to do was write original stuff for him. He was as tactfully assertive as a new editor can be when he gently and respectfully rejected my first submission... More »
Let’s say you decide to go back to college. This time, you are going to do it on your own terms. Not because you have to, but because you want to. You are older and wiser now, and you have the ability to look back, taking advantage of the fact that hindsight is 20-20. However, we’re not going back in time; you are making this decision as one for today. You have arrived at the golden state of being an adult learner and you fully understand the value of lifelong learning. You... More »
How would you like to work for a company like this? Exceptional care taken to provide tools of the trade, such as cell phones, pda’s, and laptops. Generous leeway and few questions ever asked about expense reports. Covered parking in a secure garage. Newly renovated break room, including seating on an outdoor patio. Continental breakfast catered in for casual Fridays. Partnerships with other businesses in the same locale, so that discounted tickets are available for movies, car washes, pizza deliveries, and a host of other things. Flex time options when you need... More »
As the author of Managing with Aloha, I get some great questions from managers and leaders via email. This one came a few days ago: Dear Rosa, I just got a job as an intern. I’m pretty excited about it, for this company is growing like crazy, and they are known to give their graduating interns terrific opportunities if they’ve done well within their program. I’m hoping this will segue into my first management job when the term is over. The manager I report to, clued me in to the fact that... More »
Remember “management by objective?” In the early years of my own management career, management by objective was the single-minded battle cry for business. It was a time when we took certain things for granted, like the hard work ethic of our staff; with few exceptions, dependability and reliability was pretty much a workplace-entry given. Little wonder that most of our efforts were directed toward process improvement, with the Total Quality Management movement sprouting in very fertile ground. “P” always stood for process, not people. Today it’s a whole different ballgame. Say “TQM”... More »
Form Follows Function. Or does it? This phrase appealed to the common-sensible manager in me from the very first time I heard it. It seemed so pragmatic; so logical and reasonable; matter-of-fact even. In business early on, I was taught that good managers manage good processes. While earning some of my supervisory stripes in the heyday of the Total Quality Management movement I learned how to hunt and destroy process variation like a heat-seeking missile. So the concept that form —in other words, our form called the operational process— would naturally, practically,... More »
While it is easy for me to remember scores of boring staff meetings, when it came to be my turn to run them and I learned to do them right, I loved ‘em. Mostly because it was far easier to mobilize the troops in one meeting versus 8 to 10 individually held conversations, and it was a golden opportunity to make collaborative decisions versus arbitrary or dictatorial ones. When the expectation was clear that we were going to end the meeting having achieved a collaborative result, staff meetings ended up to be... More »
Here’s a sample snippet of a coaching conversation I have often had with executives. To set the scene for you, it usually happens after we’ve discussed a project or strategic initiative and its value alignment for their organization. Exec: “This is terrific; I can see how it will make a big difference for us. I’m anxious to get started; we could probably introduce the plan at our next staff meeting.” Me: “I agree, it is a terrific plan. However let me ask you something before you move on to how you’ll communicate... More »
I remain convinced that the selection of staff remains the single, most critical process that managers of all stripes are engaged in. When you select the right person for the right job everything else is a cakewalk. Make a wrong choice, and you’re usually in for a long haul of compensating for it until you pull the trigger in correcting it. Systems abound for a myriad of different recruitment strategies so you find that “right person.” There are scores of training classes you can take to learn how to interview in the... More »
There is a new boogeyman striking fear into top executives. In the past decade managers have gotten pretty well brainwashed in their hero-worship of the caped crusader called Empowerment. They know it’s a good thing to strive for in their organizations. They even understand that their own work-life balance depends on it. They realize that only by driving decision-making authority as far down the hierarchy as possible will they themselves enjoy a good life as they finally get to work on some other cool things. Trouble is, while managers learned the what... More »
I worked in retail for a short time, and detail business that retail is, the experience created some lingering impressions for me. One was a fascination with taking inventory, and projecting the potential margins that inventory could represent. In the retail business I learned to consider assets as a means to an end; the ‘end’ was product and service. My shop inventory created a product experience for the customer which exponentially magnified my actual cost of goods sold, generating much larger revenue streams. In its raw form, my inventory was actually capacity.... More »
There is a call I’ll occasionally get from my host or hostess just prior to my presentations which goes something like this: “Hi Rosa, I’m doing a last minute check on the set-up requirements for your session, and I noticed that you only asked for flipcharts. I’ve added a screen etc so you can do your PowerPoint.” “That won’t be necessary; I won’t be using PowerPoint.” Surprised silence. Then, with some hesitation, “Oh. Um, are you sure?” “Yes, quite sure.” “Do you need someone to help you with it?” “Thank you for... More »
I have some very simple advice for you this week which can revolutionize your workweek productivity. It describes a habit I had fallen into out of sheer necessity when I was a corporate VP in operations, finding that appointments could easily and completely dominate my entire day if I allowed them to. My calendar was a parade of interviews, employee counseling, staff meetings, vendor appointments, and customer meet-and-greets, all those same scheduling challenges you probably have too, with people wanting or needing their piece of you. You can’t say no to them,... More »
As I walked down Kapahulu Avenue in a very sunny Honolulu this morning, I passed by a gas station with an attached convenience store and snack shop. Open for business, but not a single car in the lot or at the pump. You could see a clerk through the window, elbows propped on the counter in front of her, wistfully looking outside and probably wondering if anyone would ever stop by. The station had been stripped down to the basics in a recent ownership change; no posters taped to the windows for... More »
Fourteen months after the first one, I tried to put together a Reinvention Forum with the Ho‘ohana Community of my Talking Story blog (which by the way, is a virtual community you are warmly welcomed to join into). I’ll be frank: I had my doubts that I could pull it off, and as things do have a tendency to happen as your expectations have led them to, the entries for the forum overwhelmingly happened in the final hours before the submission deadline. But they DID happen, and we nearly tripled the articles... More »
