Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 5, 2016

(Those responses are necessary in many management scenarios, but tend to ruin a coaching-rich opportunity). Without this clarity, employees may be unclear about the ultimate desired result – and managers may be unclear about key nuances of the situation. The more input an employee provides, the more he’ll own the solution.

Active Listening 120

Active Listening eBook Commitment Resistance 120

Nathan Magnuson

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Powerful Questions clarity planning priorities project management questions' I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the ones who can answer it usually seem to be on top of things a lot more than the ones who draw […].

Power 139

Power Project Planning Team 139

Nathan Magnuson

JANUARY 18, 2016

One of the biggest frustrations to senior management is middle management who won’t make the tough decisions at their level. But one week later the World Trade Center was hit and Mueller became a full-time crisis manager. He specialized in white collar crime. How Engaged Their People Are.

Education 120

Education Leadership Middle Management eBook 120

Nathan Magnuson

JUNE 20, 2016

In his thought leadership on management, William Oncken introduced several levels of initiative a person can take in a given circumstance. And don’t forget to factor in your own preference for hands-on or hands-off management. Aside from results, one of your chief duties as a manager is to develop talent.

eBook 128

eBook Report Consultative Execution 128

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 20, 2013

Today’s post was written by a former colleague of mine, Jess Titchener – an adrenalin-driven management consultant living, working and serving in London. You can follow Jess on Twitter as well as on her new faith-based blog at thistrainisboundforglory.com. To be featured on this site, click here. As I reflect on the three years that [.].

Consultative 187

Consultative Leadership Blog Management 187

Nathan Magnuson

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Today’s post was co-written with Brooke Steinke, a student in our Organizational & Management Communication class at CollegePlus. It was great to have you in our class, Brooke! If you would like to be featured on this site, click here. Three months ago, if someone had asked me what I could learn from the Communist […].

Class 183

Class Leadership Management 183

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 14, 2013

Regardless, management wants results. You’ve just been assigned to fix a problem or design a solution for an organization, department or team. Maybe you’ve been brought in as a consultant or joined a cross-functional task force. Where do you start?

Organization 183

Organization Human Resources Consultative Influence 183

Nathan Magnuson

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

If you’re in a situation with more responsibility than than you know what to do with, let me share my number one productivity tip – and a few others that will help you manage the load. #1 Leading means breaking out of “managing the queue” mode – even when the queue becomes quite large.

Productivity 120

Productivity Products Tips Delegation 120

Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 3, 2017

I recently conducted a needs assessment for a senior executive group and was surprised when one of the highest rated development needs was stress management. The topic came up again in training discussion when another executive group expressed a high desire to include stress management on the list.

Stress 122

Stress Leadership eBook Long-term 122

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Whenever I ask a group of managers, inevitably they respond with notions such as: someone who sets vision, communicates well, behaves ethically, executes, and a wide variety of other responses. This doesn’t mean managing others, but simply playing a role in using their influence to create positive changes for others.

eBook 199

eBook Influence Ethics Follow-up 199

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 30, 2013

Isn’t there a way to manage a project without micro managing each person? Take these 3 suggestions instead. But What If I Can’t Delegate? Just when we think we have delegation down, things fall apart. 3 Simple Ways to Determine Hiring Fit. When was the last time you hired a new person to join your team?

Strategic Planning 168

Strategic Planning Delegation Mentor Learning-by-Doing 168

Nathan Magnuson

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

It’s good to be aware of the risk; and like any other risk, you need to manage it. One of the ways we can manage the pace, energy and engagement of our team is to ensure frequent, appropriate celebrations. Here are a few ideas to help your team cope with success and use it as the springboard for greater things to come.

Succession 183

Succession After Action Review Energy Goal 183

Nathan Magnuson

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

But in this context, they usually associate leadership with a management-type position. You’ll have more decisions to make, more uncertainty to negotiate and more change to manage. The higher you go in an organization, the more you become responsible for. That means there is more to stress over, it’s true.

Leadership 173

Leadership Welch Bureaucracy Influence 173

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 7, 2015

New managers want to pick up the slack. Whether you’re an executive coach or a frontline manager (or have an hour to invest or five minutes), it will allow you to develop the problem-solving skills of the people you lead rather than addressing each issue yourself. Here’s how works.

eBook 120

eBook Active Listening Follow-up Executive Coaching 120

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 7, 2015

New managers want to pick up the slack. Whether you’re an executive coach or a frontline manager (or have an hour to invest or five minutes), it will allow you to develop the problem-solving skills of the people you lead rather than addressing each issue yourself. Here’s how works.

eBook 120

eBook Active Listening Follow-up Executive Coaching 120

Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 4, 2016

Not only are employers finding it tricky to find qualified help, management & executive roles have become increasingly difficult to fill. You’ve probably worked with a leader who excelled at project management but lacked empathy – or maybe the other way around. ” You’re not alone. Anticipate imperfection.

Blanchard 120

Blanchard eBook Quality Learning-by-Doing 120

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I recently shared my thoughts on Eric Jacobson’s leadership website about how managers can engage their Millenial employees. Managers lament being informed of problems. According to Pew Research Center , Millenials became the largest generation in the U.S. workforce in 2015. Here’s a start. Seek First to Understand.

Proposal 120

Proposal Constraint eBook Agility 120

Nathan Magnuson

SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

It is much easier for “management” to review your analysis and recommendations than to do all the work from scratch. When management says, “make it happen” – be ready to go, both for your ideas and others. Then take the opportunity to recommend the option you think is best and provide your reasoning.

Influence 120

Influence How To eBook Consultative 120

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 1, 2018

Implementation is a complicated mix of communication, coordination and change management as well. Consider this scenario: Your team comes up with an innovative solution to solve a complex problem in a new way. Because it’s new, it requires significant time to analyze and design. When you fail fast, you can redirect fast.

Productivity 174

Productivity Products eBook Project 174

Nathan Magnuson

MAY 1, 2017

I’ve managed folks who were older than me in the past and recently finished an assignment with my first younger boss – a great experience for me. And when I think about what makes a true expert, in my mind it’s always an older person; someone with sage-like wisdom who has been were I am… but a long time ago.

eBook 120

eBook Team Follow-up Consultative 120

Nathan Magnuson

JUNE 6, 2016

I’ve been thinking about career selection and management a lot recently. So what does career management have to do with leadership? When I’m asked how I landed where I am, I’m quick to reply that I wouldn’t wish my career path on anyone but I sure do love where I am now.

Career 120

Career Covey Follow-up eBook 120

Nathan Magnuson

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Someone’s feelings got hurt, another manager is difficult to work with, company politics create unseen landmines, some colleagues disagrees with you and a couple may be out to get you. At a recent training event, we decided to let new managers work together to come up with solutions to problems they were facing.

Advertising 120

Advertising Brand Bottom-up Long-term 120

Nathan Magnuson

JANUARY 9, 2017

It takes discipline to think big – especially when many leaders are overloaded with putting out fires and managing the daily grind. Zoom out: how could you make your goal 10% bigger. 100% bigger? Not every goal should be expanded, and none of them should be arbitrarily.

eBook 120

eBook Follow-up Goal Resistance 120

Nathan Magnuson

AUGUST 15, 2016

Dictatorship is alive and well in the world of global politics, but it’s a not-so-subtle organizational management style as well. Essentially, it’s a dictator’s best practices manual. So if you want to lead like a dictator, here are some unfortunate suggestions for you, including some from Machiavelli.

Servant Leader 120

Servant Leader How To Politics Loyalty 120

Nathan Magnuson

JULY 2, 2018

Does careful project management sometimes stifle your creativity? Are you an idea person? Do you find yourself coming up with new business ideas, branding concepts or process improvements? Do people ever give you that look that implies you ought to focus on the task at hand instead of daydreaming? If so, you’re not alone.

How To 189

How To Creativity Quality Outsourcing 189

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 5, 2018

Peter Drucker is frequently credited with the quote, “What gets measured gets managed.” For your servant leadership strategy to truly work, you will need to differentiate the core needs within your group and conduct a thoughtful needs analysis. How Will We Measure the Outcomes? Core needs need measurable metrics.

Strategy 120

Strategy Development Leadership Covey 120

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 2, 2017

The other became a second job to actively manage. But the differences didn’t end there. Right from the get-go, one required some initial planning and then essentially ran itself. One required a few decisions that could be made quickly. The other required many complicated and lengthy decision points.

Sample 120

Sample Simon Audience Bottom-up 120

Nathan Magnuson

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

Teammates communicate with each other differently than they do with “management.” It’s one thing to make a declaration, but in reality, that is only one-way communication. ” Go the extra mile to encourage two-way communication with your team. The moment they stop communicating with you, you’ve lost them.

How To 136

How To eBook Commitment Team 136

Nathan Magnuson

MAY 2, 2016

Regardless, if you are going to invest in a leadership event, it’s an opportunity for excellence – whether you are an executive, manager or training expert. It’s almost as if the simple fact that the organization is investing in them speaks more than any of the concepts or structure. Don’t settle for mediocrity.

Leadership 120

Leadership Covey How To eBook 120

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 21, 2016

One of the major themes shared by the workforce was disillusionment over all the promises senior management had given but never followed through on. Think twice before you make even well-intentioned ones. I worked on an employee engagement project several years ago. ” Treat trust like football: protect it with both hands.

Consensus 120

Consensus Covey eBook Project 120

Nathan Magnuson

JULY 6, 2015

I used this problem-solving checklist with a cross-functional group of managers recently. In many cases, these folks have the best solutions and our job as leaders is to find ways to systematize them for the rest of the organization. Utilize a progressive method. They self-selected the topics that most affected their part of the organization.

Benchmarking 120

Benchmarking Definition eBook Workshop 120

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 17, 2014

” If you’ve ever worked for a boss who managed to find fault in every little job you’ve done, you know how demoralizing it can be. Here’s why it’s so important. It Changes Our Perspective. There’s an old adage that states, “we usually find what we’re looking for.”

Blanchard 241

Blanchard Banking Influence Positioning 241

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 6, 2017

It’s important to risk manage for success, not just failure. Remember, the responsibility for performance oversight is yours. If the solution produces results beyond your expectations, how will you scale it for additional capacity?

Price 125

Price eBook Discount Project 125

Nathan Magnuson

JULY 17, 2016

Any time “management” enacts a change, culture “tweaks.” Some elements of culture should be preserved, but even positive aspects will need to change over time. Leaders need to be willing to proactively make adjustments. Anticipate Future Impacts. ” That’s the nature of cause and effect.

eBook 120

eBook Conference Team Consultative 120

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 20, 2014

It’s always easier to push risk up the organizational chart, but organizations tend to reward those who are willing to manage risk themselves. At some point, someone has to make a decision. Collaborate. In today’s information age, collaboration isn’t just a nice sentiment or corporate buzzword that goes in and our of vogue.

How To 178

How To Influence Follow-up Examples 178

Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 20, 2015

You may be someone’s car guy (car dealer or mechanic), teeth gal (dentist), organization guy (office manager) or even leadership guy (consultant). It may be an outside customer, another department, a territory, an interest group – you name it. The first step is to think in those terms.

eBook 120

eBook Consultative Finance Quality 120

Nathan Magnuson

JANUARY 4, 2016

He felt he deserved a promotion while management felt he needed more time to prove himself in his current role. Don’t be the person who builds a lousy image and then expects others to partner with you. No Entitlement. I participated in a talent review once where the consensus on one leader was that he had an entitlement complex.

Leadership 120

Leadership Consensus eBook Sample 120