Dear Madeleine, I just read your article entitled 7 Tips for Letting Go as a Manager on Blanchard LeaderChat. I have a very simple question, but it’s one I have been struggling with: How do you delegate to someone who doesn’t want to do their job—and doesn’t really care if it gets done? We have…
Delegation and control are common topics with my coaching clients. They recognize the importance of delegation and how it can serve them, but some still struggle with letting go. In order to free up space to be more strategic, have a greater impact, be more efficient, and achieve work/life balance, delegating appropriate tasks to others…
Dear Madeleine, I started a new job about six months ago. My boss warned me about one of my direct reports—he said she was argumentative and difficult. For the first few months I thought she was okay, but now I’m beginning to see what my boss meant. She is hostile in meetings. She agrees to…
Dear Madeleine, I am an experienced manager but I am in a situation that is stumping me. I have a large team, and we have a reputation for getting a lot done, very efficiently. One team member—L— has been with the team since before I took it over. She is in her early 40s, a…
Dear Madeleine, I run a small team for a large nonprofit. One long-term member of the team really knows the ins and outs of the organization and can be really helpful. The problem is, he does a couple of things that drive everybody crazy. He often decides to do things—presentations, publications, project plans—differently from the…
Research conducted by Gail Matthews, a professor of psychology at Dominican University in California can help increase your chances of goal success from 43% to 76%. In working with 149 adults from different business and networking groups, Matthews found that Those who wrote their goals accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals.…
A leader’s ability to coach effectively can really foster the development of the people they lead. But like any leadership style, using a coaching style incorrectly has its drawbacks—especially if you are new to it. Here are a few of the common mistakes. The leader does the heavy lifting. To be effective, a coaching conversation…
Hi Madeleine, I run a business where we manage large projects and serve customers all day long. I have a new hire who just isn’t working out. She is rude to customers and makes constant errors. She needs to have instructions repeated again and again and just can’t seem to retain anything. Last week I…
Think about the last time you attended a training session. If you are like me, you got excited about the content, fired up about changing things back at work based on what you learned, and ready to be a different and better leader. Then reality hits. Hundreds of emails, 22 meetings, and 17 “I just…
The Ken Blanchard Companies Ignite newsletter is a must-read for leadership, learning, and talent development professionals. Highlights from the just published September issue include Leadership as a Partnership “It’s unfair to expect a manager with multiple direct reports to figure out what each individual needs, let alone always provide it,” says leadership expert Susan Fowler. “Continue to…