With his previous book, “The No Asshole Rule,” Stanford University Management Professor Bob Sutton struck a powerful chord, resonating strongly with many of us – most of us – struggling mightily to do good, decent work in organizations of all sorts all around the land. In this one, he has picked out an important theme to carry his message effectively and meaningfully forward. It is: bosses matter. Discussed in the same context of the previous book, “Good Boss, Bad Boss” establishes the case for why bosses are so vital to the establishment of a healthy, personally satisfying, organizationally productive workplace – and why those who are dismissive of this fact for that very reason so often wind up actually being so toxic. In a very strong stage-setting chapter Sutton makes it clear why bosses matter. Quoting a researcher, he points out that “people do not quit organizations, they quit bad bosses.”
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Advice for effective management has been showing up in some of the most unlikely places over the past several weeks, or in unexpected guises. Let’s take a look at some of these, leavened with some real advice from some of the best management trainers around. . .
Friday, September 18, 2009
Excellent stories have been stacking up, with no logical place or time to link to them. So, we’re going to do a roundup today as a venue for offering these truly worthwhile resources. . .
One of the books I read recently made much of what is, after all, a widely understood and tiresome point about statistics – and misidentified the significance of that observation, to boot – but also retold one of the more entertainingly illuminating stories around. Here it is . . .
We’ve looked a bit, in the past few days, at some approaches for making your case in a public speaking engagement: 1) stating your premise, your starting point, up front; 2) presenting your argument rather than merely restating, illustrating, or providing evidence of support for your case; and 2) honestly posing and frankly addressing the major critiques of your position, then using them to provide contrast to understand, and additional platforms from which to reach, your conclusion. The point remains to be made, though . . .
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When you are performing a speaking engagement of any sort, before any size audience, you tend to be conscious of the limited time you may have to make what to you – and, potentially, to your listeners – is a large and important point. As a result, your instinct may be to emphasize your own argument, and to find as many effective ways as possible to illustrate it for your audience. This effort should surely form the core of your presentation. However . . .
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An effective way to begin a public address of any size is to state your position at the outset. You can even do this before you lay out your premise. Then, as you move on to present your case your audience will know both where you’re coming from and where you’re going. This can often help them better follow your argument as it unfolds, and evaluate it at both the rational and empathetic levels, based on a personal acquaintance with its meaning and a professional appreciation of its purpose. As it happens, though . . .
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