By the time you become a manager, you probably have plenty of experience with bosses who don’t know how to motivate teams. But knowing what not to do is just the start. Being an effective manager means knowing how to ask for input, set boundaries, and give feedback.
If your New Year’s resolutions for 2017 included “be a better manager” and you’re feeling a little lost a month into the year, this week’s roundup has advice that can help. That, plus the job search strategy that’s holding you back, and 13 ways to cultivate better luck, in this post.
Alison Green at The Fast Track: 4 Ways to Be a Better Manager in 2017
Step one: make sure everyone is facing the right direction.
“Get on the same page as your staff members about what a successful year will look like,” Green writes. “Managers tend to assume that their teams know what success will look like, even if they haven’t taken the time to explicitly spell it out. That approach can lead to staff member prioritizing the wrong things and putting energy into projects you don’t care much about while neglecting the things you do. Sit down with your staff while it’s still early in the year and talk through this question: If it’s December 2017 and we’re looking back on the year, what will we need to have accomplished for the year to have been a success? Then build your goals and work plans around that.”
Find more tips for managerial excellence, here.
Susan P. Joyce at Work Coach Café: The Common Job Search Strategy That Kills Opportunity
“The process of searching through job postings and applying for jobs feels productive,” writes Joyce. “When you are doing it from the comfort of your home, maybe using your smart phone as you sit on your couch, it feels very comfortable, too. But, when you aren’t careful of the jobs you apply for, you may actually do your job search much harm.”
Why? Because applying to every job opportunity, regardless of fit, is a waste of time at best. At worst, it might actually cost you better opportunities. Joyce explains what to do instead, in this post.
Lolly Daskal at Inc: How to Get Lucky and Stay Lucky
“Most people will tell you luck is about being at the right place with the right people at the right time–but there’s a lot more than that to luck,” Daskal writes. “…If we believe we are in perfect control our lives, we are kidding ourselves. Even the most careful planning runs into the unexpected. That’s inevitable. How we allow that unplanned change to play out is a huge component in how lucky we are.”
In fact, we make our own luck by being prepared, agile, and resilient. Here’s how to do it.
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