Wayne Turmel Videos

Wayne Turmel talks leading change from within with Alexander Grashow, author of The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. We also look at what the Chicago Blackhawks can teach middle managers about taking care of the little things or your mulleted head will roll. Alexander Grashow, co-author of The Practice of Adaptive Leadership Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to show 201. Back to talking leadership. This show is dedicated to Dale Tallon, former GM of the Chicago Blackhawks and a sad lesson to all of us- do your paperwork. 3:33 The quote of the week is from Audre Lorde. Are you using the master s tools to dismantle his or her house? How s that working for you? By the way this is the first time in history Dale Tallon and Audre Lorde have been mentioned together. Just part of the charm of this show. 4:08 Welcome to Alexander Grashow, no stranger to grand ambition. His parents had more hope for him than mine had for me but I digress. What is Adaptive Leadership? Basically it s how do you change businesses and people conduct their business? Can you actually evolve? As Darwin said, it s evolve or die. 6:00 Here s something you don t want to hear- most systems are NOT dysfunctional, we get the processes we deserve. They get the results they are designed to get. Chew on that for a while. 9:49 I like to think of myself as the Steve Irwin of business people. Detached observation is the only way to really understand what s going on and leaders need to listen and observe. This really applies to the politics of a situation- and there are ALWAYS politics. 14:30 Loyalty sounds like a grand thing, but understanding what people are loyal to and why is critical if you re going to really assess a situation. Name your assumptions and make them plain. How do you test your assumptions without taking too much action too soon? 17:30 Finally a unique definition of leadership: disappointing your own people at a rate they can absorb. I ll let him explain. Beware the Jerry McGuire moment. 21:39 How do you make conflict useful and productive instead of having it tear the team apart.? We have to get comfortable with productive conflict. Try to keep the conflict going 5 minutes longer than we re comfortable. 24:00 Did you know YOU are a system? What is the part of you that contributes to the mess? What should you let go of? Alexander s Resources His Book His Leadership Housecall Blog Mark Bittman s cooking blog

Today Wayne Turmel celebrates 200 interviews with people way smarter than him. Today it s Rajesh Setty, author of the perpetually positive Upbeat . We also quote an operetta and ask my 16 year old about her manager. My friend and mentor, the always upbeat Rajesh Setty Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to the 200th episode of the Cranky Middle Manager Show.  I am taking this moment to let us quit being noble and helping our companies and teams and concentrate on ourselves. In Episode 198 it was all about being Hip and Sage with Lisa Haneberg. In Episode 199 it was preparing ourselves to take control of our careers with Mike Cook. Today it s all about keeping an upbeat attitude, even when that s the last thing you feel like doing. Misery is optional. 2:14 No dedication this week, because I am interviewing my 16 year old daughter, Her Serene Highness about her new job. If you read the Management Issues article, you know it didn t start well but I thought I d ask her about her manager. it also stops her nagging me about being on my show. If you re going to manage millenials, might as well talk to one. Good luck to all of us. 5:25 The quote of the week is from W S Gilbert. Staying positive is important, but lots of us kind of enjoy being miserable on occasion .. admit it. I m not alone here. Am I? 6:30 Welcome back Rajesh Setty to the show. He was one of our earlier guests, has been responsible for a number of others and has been a mentor to me and the show. (Hear his earlier interview here). He is also the author of a little book on keeping an upbeat attitude in spite of everything that s going on. In fact, his first big idea is to quit thinking of everything that s going on and worry about your own work and what you can actually control. 11:00 One of the great human instincts is to vent, but harping on how bad things are doesn t accomplish anything. Quit talking about how bad things are, it creates a cycle of depression. That doesn t mean you don t talk about what s going on in the company. I m not sure I buy all of this, but then I m  uhhhh cranky. 15:05 You have to take care of your health. Seriously. For the record, I have lost almost 35 pounds and am in great shape. In a perfect world I d be too busy to work out but I ll let that irony sit there. Don t let bad times be an excuse or you won t be in shape to handle the demands on you. 18:00 Setting goals and being accountable for yourself is a huge piece of your attitude. You are important enough to keep promises you make to yourself. 21:51 Weird times are exactly the right time to take a risk because the normal safe route isn t working. It sucks but it s true. 23:00 Raj is one of the best networkers I know. Tweetfacelinkblogging is not sufficient. Raj gives us some tips for creating a great network. A network is not there to help you .. it will but that shouldn t be your focus. Start by seeing what you can do for them first the rest will follow. Trite, but this guy lives it more than most I know .. Rajesh s Resources His own Life Beyond Code Blog Seth Godin s blog Tom Peters.com Lateral Action a very cool site I can personally recommend: Active Garage Don t let the weasels get you down!

Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel looks at how managers need to examine their attitudes in these weird times. We talk to Mike Cook about how to thrive or at least survive. We also look at management as first aid and a poet gives us trite advice that holds up. Sounds like another typical show doesn t it? Mike Cook, author of Thrive: Standing on Your Own Two Feet in a Borderless World. Don t forget to vist CrankyMiddleManager.com to register for our email newsletter, buy a book or have me speak to your company or organization! Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to the 199th episode of the show. We are in the middle of a series that asks you to examine how you re doing and where you re going. Do you feel like you ve got post-traumatic shakes? That s why we dedicate this episode to Sir Robert Peat. Oh and you learn more than you ever wanted to know about really delivering mouth-to- mouth resucitation. 3:26 The quote of the week is from Anne Bradstreet, who knew a thing or two about adversity. Yes, the advice is trite. It s also true and many of us need to hear it. 4:35 Welcome Mike Cook, author of Thrive: Stand on Your Own Two Feet in a Borderless World. It s time to reexamine our relationship to work. Becoming independent and understanding your personal value is critical to working relationships. In a century we ve gone from mostly self-employed to employed and heading back to self-employment with an education system that teaches us to shut up and do as we re told. 10:03 Being a follower is based on the faulty logic that those we re following know what they are doing.  How do you take grown people who have been well trained to look at security first and turn them into self-starters? 16:00 Are you dependent on your evil overlords? You need to understand your personal value proposition. What is it YOU bring to the job that no one else does and why should they care? How do you bring it to their attention? 21:30 One of the challenges is that entrepeneurial thinking is so foreign and scary it s hard to do. Have we been domesticated like cattle? 26:00 If Mike were to grab you by the lapels, here s the one thing he d tell you to do: Stop, look 5 years down the road and tell me if the story has a happy ending. If the answer isn t fast and positive, you d better change what you re doing. Mike s Resources Francis Fukuyama  Trust Authentic Conversations Don t forget you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin

Today Wayne Turmel talks with Management Craft s Lisa Haneberg about her new book, Hip and Sage. We also give a little love to Ning and King George the III. Let s see how many Google/Bing searches have those two words in the same sentence. Always breaking new ground here .. Lisa Haneberg retruns for yet more good conversation and laughs. Don t forget to get a copy of the Cranky Middle Manager book of quotes for your team or the manager who needs a laugh! Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to the show, gang. This is the show if you ever feel like you used to be good at the job and were once the smartest and/or youngest person in the room. Lisa Haneberg has a book for what ails you. Also, we dedicate the show to King George III of England.  Give him a little love this July 4th. 3:06 The quote of the week is from Voltaire. Are you wiser, or just too old and  tired to scandalize anyone? 4:50 You can join the Cranky Middle Manager family any number of ways. The word for this kind of contact by the way is tweetfacelinkblogging. It s a verb. Look it up.  Here s how to reach me on ,Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, by the way. 5:30 Welcome back Lisa Haneberg, author of Hip and Sage: Staying Smart, Cool and Competitive in the Workplace. Ever feel like everyone knows stuff you don t? You re not alone. Getting old isn t great, but there s only one alternative and let s assume that s not an option. The biggest thing most of us have to deal with is how we communicate. Do we need to train the kids to communicate and tolerate meetings like us or do we have to think about what and how we talk to them? 8:47 What is hip? What is sage? Hip is being open to the possibilities of the new. Sage is the wisdom as a leader and how we use all that stuff we try.  Here s the good news, not everyone needs to Twitter. You all need to know what the heck it is. That s the difference. Here s my take on Twitter: watching what was going on with Iran was cool. There are also morons who don t deserve to be part of the conversation. 12:57 Is texting and the rest dumbing down the language or evolving it? Should we complain about the bad spelling or concentrate on the content and speed? Should we teach people to endure bad meetings or quit holding useless meetings? 16:04 You can worry so much about not wasting time that we lose the human connections that make relationships work.  One of the things that helps is sites like Ning. Two Ning sites you should check out: The Employee Engagement Network Management Central Seriously, check them out and learn the potential. If the company won t pay for collaboration tools, these are free and they work. Lisa says to ignore the IT department. She said it. I don t want the lawsuits. 22:10 I wouldn t admit it to Lisa but she s my hero on this stuff. She tells us about a couple of other tools including RSS feeds and a cool site called  Wetpaint. Resources Check out Tavis Smiley for his ability to ask great questions.

Today, Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel talks to Morten Hansen about his book Collaboration- when should we collaborate, how do we collaborate and when should we not bother? Also we look at the Underground Railroad as a model to aspire to and there s still time to sign up for our webinar course. Morten Hansen looking like the happiest Norwegian ever. Don t forget our How to Create and Manage Remote Teams webinar workshops on June 26th. Learn why it s critical we create human relationships even when we re not close by, and free and low-cost tools to accomplish that lofty goal. For Europe and North America, click here to learn more and register. For India/Asia/Australia, click here to learn more and register. Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we re talking about collaboration and overcoming silos- and when we shouldn t bother. Something you haven t heard before I m sure. We dedicate this show to one of history s great collaborations, The Underground Railroad. Stop whining about slow bandwidth and just get on with it . 2:55 The quote of the week is from Oliver Wendell Holmes- ideas often work best when transplanted from brain to brain I just hope you have more luck with that tranplant than I had with The Duchess geraniums. 3:45 Welcome Dr Morten Hansen. What the heck is collaboration anyway? It s to work across boundaries to achieve goals and results. That means sometimes it s the right thing to do and sometimes you shouldn t do it.  Research shows sometimes you re worse off playing nicely. 6:11 Does collaboration always get better results? Nope. There are three rules for deciding when to collaborate: Be very picky Identify the barriers to collaboration Put in place a stated, explicit, compelling common goal 9:19 How do you quantify the opportunity to collaborate and how do you have the conversation without sounding like you re not a team player? This is an important discussion if you want to keep your life your own. 13:30 There are two barriers to collaboration- willingness and ability. Mostly we have the ability which means people are inventing reasons not to collaborate. 18:35 We don t spend nearly enough time on setting long-term goals and making them explicit. Who does what and why would they bother?  Set a goal, whether it s landing a man on the moon or just getting that %@%%ing code finished. 20:00 One of the really great concepts in the book is T-Shaped management that a manager needs to be both expert in their niche as well as able to span departments and functions well. Me, I m a butterfly.. . but if that s how you re measured, that s what s going to happen. How about asking the other teams what they re working on so you know what s working against your project? Morten s Resources

This week, Wayne Turmel indulges his rock and roll geek side with Jeff Carlisi, founding member of the band 38 Special and author of a new book on teamwork, Jam- Amp Your Team and Rock your Business. Would you rather have another MBA author from Harvard press? Didn t think so. Oh and Renaissance knowledge capture and  how ridding yourself of vermin can teach you a lesson in time management. Really. Jeff Carlisi today      Jeff Carlisi 30 years ago when I was digging the band (Southern Rock ruled, even in Canada!). There s hope for everyone to move from show biz to business . I hope . Anyway Don t forget our How to Create and Manage Remote Teams webinar workshops on June 26th. Learn why it s critical we create human relationships even when we re not close by, and free and low-cost tools to accomplish that. For Europe and North America, click here to learn more and register. For India/Asia/Australia, click here to learn more and register. Show Notes 0:00 Hello everyone and welcome to the show. Today we re talking Rock and Roll and team building. Hey, at least it s not another lecture on leadership. We dedicate the show to Johannes Tinctoris knowledge capture with a goose feather .and you can t make your people use SharePoint. Who s the real leader here, huh? 3:20 Our quote of the week is from Thomas Fuller, and if you re looking for a way to stop people in their tracks when they demand faster project updates, this one will do it. it s so good i can t believe it didn t get into the Cranky Middle Manager Book, 125 Quotes for Whacking Weasels which you can buy HERE. 4:05 Welcome Jeff Carlisi, rock guitarist and the founder of a couple of business Rock Star CEO and Camp Jam. LIke me, he made the move from show business to business-business. Unlike me, he s been hugely successful at both.  He gives us a quick recap of his career .and why working with other musicians is such a great model for team building. 10:47 How did the band, 38 Special, get together and what can we learn? It helps that everyone had known each other for years. What about when the team is put together and you don t know anyone? You have to make sure everyone know what they re doing there. Preach the plan and convince them it s going to work. 14:55 It s important that even if you are all brilliant at what you do, you have to pay attention to the business environment you re working in. You also have to constantly monitor your progress and find a way to differentiate yourself in the market. It s pretty cool when you can write a song that inspires speakers like Joe Heuer, the Rock and Roll Guru (who you can hear on the Cranky Show here) 19:00 The lead singer isn t always the leader . roles are crucial. you can t force people to like roles they don t like put the right people in the role. There s a good story about finding a songwriter outside the band, that changed things for good. Who could you be learning from? 28:52 Jeff has one of the coolest gigs in the world. He s in the house band at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Working with high powered superstar teams isn t easy but it is rewarding. 31:50 Jeff s biggest struggle in business is communication. The idea of human contact seems to have taken a beating . join the team, Jeff. He s blown away by Zappos.com and its CEO Tony Hsieh as a great company to work for. Jeff s Resources His own book , Jam Ted Turner s book, Call Me Ted Hey, don t forget My Book since you re buying.

Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel welcomes Bob Rosen back to discuss how middle managers can be catalysts for long-lasting growth in their companies.  Also, torturing your children and not torturing your remote team mates just another day here in Cranky land. Bob Rosen comes back for more. Nice to have im Don t forget our How to Create and Manage Remote Teams webinar workshops on June 26th. Learn why it s critical we create human relationships even when we re not close by, and free and low-cost tools to accomplish that. For Europe and North America, click here to learn more and register. For India/Asia/Australia, click here to learn more and register. Show Notes 0:00 Today we are talking about becoming a catalyst- a true change agent to help drive growth in your company. It s from a book Bob has co-authored called, The Catalyst-How You Can Become an Extraordinary Growth Leader . Oh, and speaking of catalysts, how about we dedicate the show to Peter the I of Russia? There was a catalyst. A badass, but a catalyst. 3:00 The quote of the week is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. You re not an insomniac, you re a catalyst. Repeat as necessary. 4:00 Welcome back Bob Rosen (sorry about the sibilance blame his phone). What is the role of middle managers in growing companies. Isn t that the CEO s job?  Catalysts have 3 things in common: They think differently They see things differently They act differently 7:00 Catalysts are risk takers, chronic learners and have a bias for action. 10:26 The monkey is not on your back it s in your head. Are you observing yourself while you act? Are you acting like an entrepeneur or an employee? 13:14 How do you develop the confidence to take something like this on? Growth leaders think of their business as a hypothesis: place small bets fast, do experiments, and kill the project if it ain t working. They also view constraints as opportunities not road blocks. Really. 17:14 How do you teach someone to see opportunities?  It won t involve traditional market research, that s for sure. Part of the confusion is that managers are usually hired for their ability to follow the rules, not break them. 21:50 Did we mention their bias for action? Just get out there and do it small experiments, act fact, kill bad ideas faster. There is no security anyway .. go for it. And you gotta be tough. Bob s Resources

Today Wayne Turmel looks at something that makes managers cranky, taking over a new team. Jason Jennings is the author of Hit the Ground Running among other books and has some words of advice. Probably don t want to follow the advice of the Ottoman Emperors though . bad succession planning there. Jason Jennings talks about hitting the ground running Don t forget our How To Create and Manage Remote Teams Webinar Workshops on June 26th. Register by June 12th and save 20%. For Europe and North America click here for more information and to register For India/Asia/Australia, click here for more information and to register Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to the show. I start by groveling for forgiveness to Mike for jumping on him for his post when we WANT YOU TO POST. I was just grumpy. Not as grumpy as Ottoman Emperor Mehmed 1, though. Most brothers just give each other noogies. 3:28 The quote of the week is from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who compares new beginnings to a chess match. I m a lousy chess player but checkers lacks a certain je ne sai quoi. 4:09 Jason Jennings was referred to us by Vince Thompson (hear his interview here) plus he s a pretty famous guy even before he talked to us.  With all the reorgs and chaos in our workplace, odds are you re about to take over a new team (you didn t get the memo yet?).What do most successful CEOS  do first? 7:20 Here s a bold statement- conventional wisdom sucks .  I love when guests trash people by name, don t you? Still, it s a great example of companies that get it and companies that don t. 12:00 How do leaders create connection and help their new team get engaged? Do you know what the strategy is and do you buy in? You d better find out early- like when you interview for the job. 15:00 How do you help fix broken trust in a team and get them to overcome cynicism? A great story about the power of asking if they believe . 18:40 All great leaders are willing to put a stake in the ground and hold people (including themselves) accountable. It doesn t matter if your e the CEO or leading an Agile scrum. 21:10 Accountability is not designed to be a punishment- although taking your punishment can be part of it. Sepuku is not condoned .but it is understood. Jason s Resources

Wayne Turmel talks to Charles Jacobs about why the way most of us manage goes against the way our brain really works. In Management Rewired we learn that feedback doesn t work and we re better off not getting raises. Oh and we look at a Roman emperor who understood empowerment even as he downsized the Senate. Is everything you think you know about brain science telling you that you re managing in the wrong way? Listen to Charlie here and make up your own mind. Don t forget our How to Create and Manage Remote Teams webinar workshops on June 26th. Learn why it s critical we create human relationships even when we re not close by, and free and low-cost tools to accomplish that. For Europe and North America, click here to learn more and register. For India/Asia/Australia, click here to learn more and register. Show notes 0:00 Welcome to the show. Maybe it s not what are they thinking? but What are they thinking with? . Do our brains resist most management techniques? Well find out with Charles Jacobs, author of Management Rewired . Oh and we salute the Roman Emperor Claudius for his great management techniques his downsizing style, not so much. 2:45 The quote of the week is from Thomas Huxley- are you learning as a child? It s probably how your brain wants to work . 3:30 Welcome Charlie Jacobs who is here to talk about some surprising brain research and why management tries to go against the natural order of things. Problem number one- none of us see the world the same way. Anyone who s ever had a bad 360 knows that .. and our idea of seeking pleasure and pain maybe isn t what we think it is. 7:00 Why isn t money more of a motivator for us?  The problem is that none of us look at it the same way. Why are you rewarding your people is actually more important than how you reward them. 10:10 Maybe the most controversial point in his book- feedback as most managers give it doesn t work, even the most constructive feedback can cause a backlash. If it conflicts with your self image, you ll reject it. 14:42 A lot of this research has been known for years, why is it so controversial? It causes cognitive dissonance. If what we do as managers isn t important, what do they need us for and we discount it. 16:32 Cool brain science Mirror Neurons are extremely cool things, but they not only apply to how we do things, but why . it s easy to ascribe motivations to behavior that might not be there. This is what allows us to have empathy or not. 20:00 The best example of team management in the animal kingdom- slime mold. That s right, slime mold. it s actually a cool analogy if you re not eating while you listen. 25:00 If you don t walk it like you talk it, people are realllllly good at noticing that. Of coure, the opposite is also true. It is possible to learn leadership, but it takes discipline. Charlie s Resources Management Rewired The First Tycoon Don t let the weasels get you down!

Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel talks to author Karl Albrecht about social and practical intelligence can make or break your career.  Also, we take a look at Demosthenes and how you can look smarter without actually getting smarter. A very relaxed Karl Albrecht Don t forget our webinar workshop: How to Create and Manage Remote Teams . Register by June 12th and save 20% For India/Asia and Australia click here for information and to register For Europe/North America click here for information and to register Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to our 191st Show. Today we re talking about being able to develop your social skills and common sense. This show is dedicated to Demosthenes, who knew a thing or two about developing yourself and having people overcome their first impression of you. 4:14 The quote of the week is from Marcel Proust, ( who is a great example of the kind of folks we re talking about) but smart as he was he had no idea why the #$@%** people did what they do. 5:00 Welcome Karl Albrecht. Yes it s another discussion of Multiple Intelligences but Karl explains it pretty well.  Anyone who refers to the brain as the bio-computer is probably going to geek out but be worth listening to. 8:54 So not only are there multiple intelligences, but then along comes Emotional Intelligence (listen to a cool Cranky interview about this here). I love when smart people disagree about stuff. How is Emotional Intelligence different from Social Intelligence or is it?  EI is what s going on with you, Social Intelligence is how you deal with the external world. 13:03 If multiple intelligences plays to strengths, can you develop your weaker intelligences? For the sake of humanity we hope so. We all have defaults but we can function in the others. What does this mean when we are managing others, especially in the tech fields? 16:47 Practically, how can you change your stripes?  Karl says we have to develop an air of humility, rather than assume our way is best. Language is a key to understanding how people work. By using the language of the other person you can activate your brain and activate the pattern. 20:29 I know we can grow our social intelligence (or I would still be  a highschool nerd). Can you develop common sense though? NOTE: he s WAY more optimistic than I am. Here s a question: are you a finished product or are you work in progress? 24:11 An example of developing common sense: defeat group think.  It s all about divergent thinking vs. convergent thinking.  Even the simple act of asking a question can break a logjam and get thinking moving in a divergent direction again. Karl s Resources Don t let the weasels get you down