People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast
By Andy Kaufman, PMP
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Podcast Description
Succeeding in business often comes down to your ability to lead people and deliver results. Anyone can talk a good game. But at the end of the day project management is about delivering. Rarely can you do that on your own, which is why we must excel at leading people. Welcome to the People and Projects Podcast where we provide interviews and insights to help you lead people and deliver projects. This podcast is brought to you by speaker, author, and executive coach Andy Kaufman, PMP. Andy is the President of the Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc. based in Chicago. Andy helps organizations around the world who want to improve their ability to deliver projects and lead teams. He has worked with tens of thousands of people from hundreds of companies, helping them deliver their projects, become more confident leaders, take focused action, and to achieve the results they desire. If you're looking for insights on project management and leadership, you've come to the right place! You can even earn free PDU's for listening! Thank you for subscribing to this project management podcast!
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How Agile Are You? An interview with author Andy Crowe, PMP, PgMP, PMI-ACP | What Comes to Mind When You Think of Agile Project Management? Many people associate agile project management with software development projects, and certainly that domain has led the way in adoption in recent years. For other people, they associate agile with lack of process, as in "we don't need to follow a process because we're agile!" For still others, agile is the biggest no-brainer for how to do projects since the invention of the Gantt chart! And there are still plenty of people who look at agile with a skeptical eye, thinking it's for small projects with co-located teams but can't scale to large projects with distributed teams. Agile is getting plenty of attention these days and for good reasons. When done well on aligned projects, great customer value can be delivered. Many people who listen to this podcast are certified PMP’s or are at least considering certification in the future. You may be aware that Project Management Institute has a relatively new agile certification: the PMI-ACP℠. One of the best new books available to help people pass the ACP exam is from Andy Crowe. You likely know Andy as the author of the popular book entitled The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try. Andy recently released The PMI-ACP Exam: How To Pass On Your First Try. In this episode, I talk with Andy about agile, about the certification, and about project management overall. Links to Resources To learn more from Andy, check out his blog at http://www.velociteach.com/blog/. I invite you to check out his books on Amazon, including The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try The PMI-ACP Exam: How To Pass On Your First Try Alpha Project Managers: What the Top 2% Know That Everyone Else Does Not Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Leave a comment on the Facebook page requesting a free copy of Andy's Alpha Project Manager book.. The first person who responds wins! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 23:54 Download episode 74 "PMI", "PMBOK, "PMP®" and "PMI-ACP" are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. | 5/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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What Does Your Facebook Profile Say About You? An interview with Don Kluemper | What Does Your Online Presence Say? So let me ask you.... What does your Facebook profile really say about you? Or maybe you're not a Facebook person. How about LinkedIn? If a prospective employer was to scan your online presence, what conclusions would they draw? Earlier this year a study was published that indicates your life online could be saying more than you realize about your personality, your likelihood of getting hired, and even your future job performance. Since using social media sites can be part of our strategy as leaders to build and maintain relationships, it's critical that we understand whether or not our online presence is helping or hurting us. To help us better understand the study, I got a hold of Don Kluemper, the lead researcher on the study. In this interview, you'll hear from Don about what he found and his advice to help us avoid the landmines in social media. Links to Resources Here are some links to learn more about the study we talk about in this interview: Journal of Applied Social Psychology study (if you're into the details) Wall Streeet Journal article about the study Mashable article about the study Join Me for our Popular LinkedIn Essentials Webinar I have an invitation for you. I'll be facilitating our popular LinkedIn Essentials workshop online on May 1, 2012. It will be from 11:00am to Noon Central (in the US) and I would love to have you join us! The cost of the session is $49 USD, but if you use the coupon code LINK0512, listeners to this podcast can participate for free! Just go to http://www.nanacast.com/linkedin-essentials to register. You'll learn how to use LinkedIn much more strategically, including how to make sure it refinforces the key messages you want to make sure are communicated. It's a very practical session and you can learn it all for free. Register here and join us on May 1, 2012. Freebie for Premium Subscribers Here's the freebie if you are a Premium Subscriber! Send me a link to up to 3 of your social media profiles (e.g. facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter). I would be glad to review them and give you a free analysis from an executive coaching perspective. Just send an e-mail with the links and I'll get back to you with feedback. If you're not a Premium Subscriber, I invite you to give it a try! Go to http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe to learn more and get access to this episode's offer. Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 19:36 Download episode 73 | 4/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 3 | VideoHow to Lead Better Project Meetings | Free Premium Episode Thank you for joining me for this premium episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Did you know that many of your colleagues invest their development by becoming a premium subscriber to this podcast? To give you a sense of the extra coaching they get each month, I'm including this premium episode into our standard free podcast feed. You can learn more about Premium Subscrptions at bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe. Use a Coupon Code by of APRIL-2012-PREM to save $30 off an annual subscription. That code is good until April 30, 2012 so don't delay! Meetings! Oh, how we love to hate meetings! In this premium video episode I share 10 keys to lead more effective project meetings. At the end you're invited to join the conversation! What are the most important lessons you've learned? Leave your response in a comment here or on our Facebook page. Thank you for subscribing to The People and Projects Podcast! Total Duration: 23:45 {youtube}MFNVKemW48E{/youtube} Download the video episode | 3/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Lead Better Meetings, with Steven G. Rogelberg | Newsflash! So, are you sitting down? Or if you're listening to this while you're driving, you might want to pull over. I have some startling news to share with you in this episode. There's some newly published, compelling research that has now found that--are you ready--many meetings are a waste of time! Oh, I know you might find that shocking! More likely, you might be shocked that research time had to be invested to figure that out. But in today's episode, you're going to hear from Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg who not only researches things like meetings, he's a great voice to help us make them better. Links to Resources For Steven's contact information, check out his website at http://belkcollege.uncc.edu/directory/steven-g-rogelberg. Here are some links to additional resources mentioned in the interview: Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business The Science and Fiction of Meetings (MIT Sloan Management Review) The Meeting (NOTE: watch out for the price!) Join Me for a Free Leadership Webinar If you've been listening to us for a while, you've heard me talk about our Leadership Fast Track Program. You are cordially invited to join me for a one-hour web-based leadership discussion on Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 2:00pm Eastern. You'll get some leadership insights as well as hear about how the Leadership Fast Track Program can help accelerate your ability to lead and deliver. I'd love to have you in that discussion on April 12! Register for free at http://bit.ly/LFT2012 Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 29:31 Download episode 72 | 3/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential | Another Day in the Salt Mine! One of the many things I love about my job is that I get to intersect with hundreds of organizations. As I walked into the office of one my large financial services customers recently, I took a moment to watch the body language of the people as they walked through the doors to start their day. I've learned you can tell a lot about a company by watching the employees. Do you want to know what I saw? In words it might sound like this: "Well, it's another day. I'm going to be working on another project. Hopefully it will be successful so I can get another promotion (which sounds a lot better than looking for another job!)." Engaging Our Teams For those who lead teams or departments or even companies, you know there are people who walk into your organization each day that just aren't as engaged as they could be. What can we do as leaders of people and projects to more effectively engage our teams? In this episode I interview author and Harvard Business professor Robert Steven Kaplan. Rob is the author of What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential. I've learned that getting better results doesn't always come down to knowing answers. Rather, it can come from asking better questions. In this interview you'll hear from Rob what questions can help us be more effective leaders. Special Offer for Podcast Listeners Would you like to accelerate your ability to lead and deliver? If so, I'd love to have you in this year's Leadership Fast Track Program. Rob asked in the interview: "Do you have a coach?" I would love to be your coach this year! I will be working directly with a group of leaders through the program, which includes workshops, assessments, and one-on-one coaching. For listeners to the People and Projects Podcast I'm offering a $500 discount if you sign up before April 15, 2012. Visit http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrackProgram.asp to download a brochure and learn more. Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 27:33 Download episode 71 | 2/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 6 | Leadership Fast Track Program 2012 | You've heard me talking about the Leadership Fast Track Program in recent episodes, right? Well, here's an easy way to learn more about it! Attached to this episode you'll find a brochure for this year's program. Check it out and let me know what questions you have! I'd love to have you in this year's program! BTW, sign up by April 15, 2012 and you save $500! Go to http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrackProgram.asp to learn more! | 2/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The Introvert's Guide to Success in Business and Leadership | People Don't Listen To Me Some years back I was sitting across the table from a coaching client. We were talking about what she thought was her inability to influence as effectively as she wished. In her soft-spoken manner she said, "I just feel like people don't listen to me." I have to admit that the mischievous side of me wanted to say, "Um, what was that you said?" Now, of course, I didn't say that, but let me ask you this.... Since she is quiet it's rather obvious she's an introvert, right? And it's probably fair to say that introversion is likely to hold her back from climbing the ladder, wouldn't you say? Well how about this? The coaching client was a C-level executive in a highly successful organization. Though she very well may be an introvert, making that assessment so quickly without learning more is any easy mistake to make. Can Introverts Be Effective Project Managers? Can introverts be effective project managers and leaders? In this episode we talk about that with Lisa Petrilli, author of The Introvert's Guide to Success in Business and Leadership. To learn more about Lisa, please visit her website at LisaPetrilli.com. Special Offer for Podcast Listeners Whether you're an introvert or extrovert, we have a program firing up in a couple months that is designed to help you be more successful in business and leadership. It's called the Leadership Fast Track Program and I would love to have you be part of this year's program! You would join a group of other leaders who are interested in improving their ability to lead and deliver. The program includes learning sessions, assessments, and one-on-one coaching sessions with me. We have participants from multiple companies and industries, and even countries! I facilitate the learning sessions live over the web, which minimizes your time away from the office. For listeners to the People and Projects Podcast I'm offering a $500 discount if you sign up before April 15. Visit http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrackProgram.asp to learn more. I would love to have you in the program this year! P.S. BTW, if you haven't listened to my interview with Devora Zack, author of Networking for People Who Hate Networking, make sure to check it out! Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 27:48 Download episode 70 | 2/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Reaching Your Goals with Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson (Part 2) | In this episode I continue my interview with Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson, author of Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals and Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. If you happened to miss the first part of the interview, I definitely invite you to check that out as well. In this episode Heidi shares insights on the difference between Be Good and Get Better Goals. Also, she addresses some myths regarding willpower, visualization, and positive thinking: topics that are often miserably mishandled in popular self-help books. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the evidence-based insights that Heidi brings to these topics. I highly recommend your next steps include getting a copy of her Harvard Business Review e-book single entitled Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. It's a very quick read and enormously practical. It's under $4 on Amazon in a Kindle format (and if you don't have a Kindle, you can download one on your computer or other device to read it). For my premium subscribers, make sure to listen to your premium episode which includes free access to a planning worksheet to help you reach your goals this year. If you're not currently a Premium Subscriber, visit http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe to learn how to become one. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 24:39 Download episode 69 | 1/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Reaching Your Goals with Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson (Part 1) | Starting a New Year I admit it: I love the start of a new year. It's a time of new beginnings when we can take a fresh look at what we want to do differently this year. For some, it's setting New Year's resolutions. For others, it's just deciding that this will be the year that you'll do some things differently. Budgets, projects, performance review cycles and many other things in life tend to reset again with a new year. Of course, the truth is that we don't have to wait until January each year for setting new goals. Each week, even day, provides that opportunity. But the problem usually isn't having the opportunity to set goals. In fact, as you'll learn in this episode, the problem usually isn't having the information we need. New Year's resolutions are famously forgotten by the time you listen to this podcast episode. In a similar fashion, goal setting is one thing but reaching our goals has a notoriously bad track record. Yet so much has been learned about what it takes to achieve our goals. There are proven, evidence-based insights that can help you reach your personal and professional goals this year. And they can also be applied to help you deliver your projects. To help us do just that, I'm excited to share my interview with Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson. Heidi is the author of Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals and Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. Additional Episode My interview with Heidi is split between two episodes. Make sure to listen to the second portion where we cover additional practical insights to help us reach our goals this year. For my premium subscribers, you're extra coaching episode will be published along with the second half of the interview. Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 25:04 Download episode 68 | 1/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The Single Biggest Factor for Increasing Productivity, Creativity, and Commitment: The Progress Principle | The Gift That Keeps on Giving This is a season when giving gifts takes center stage for most of us. Many of us have the gift of some time off before a new year begins. And when that new year gets into full swing, what is one of the biggest gifts you can give those you lead? I'll give you a hint: it doesn't require shiny wrapping or a pretty bow. One of the best gifts to those we lead is the gift of Respect. Encouragement. Clear goals. Autonomy. The resources they need. Creating environments where people love to work is a gift that keeps on giving. And my gift to you this Christmas is an interview with the co-author of one of the most respected business books of 2011. The book is entitled The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, and the author is Steven Kramer. I actually gave a copy of The Progress Principle as a Christmas gift to a close friend, and I recommend you get yourself a copy as well. Learn more about the book at their website http://www.progressprinciple.com. You may also enjoy reading the article that Steve mentions in the interview regarding managers as heroes. You can find that on HBR's website at http://blogs.hbr.org/hbsfaculty/2011/07/in-a-comment-on-our.html. Special Gift for You Here's the special gift I mention in this episode. Between now and January 15, 2012, you can get a 50% discount on an Annual Premium Subscription to The People and Projects Podcast. Instead of the normal $97, you can get all the extra episodes with personalized coaching for only $48.50. If you're already a Premium Subscriber, you can buy one for a colleague or let them know about this offer as well! Learn more about Premium Subscriptions at http://www.peopleandprojectspodcast.com/index.php/premium-content.html. Use a coupon code of NEW-YEAR-2012 to get a full Annual Premium Subscription for half-off. Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Well, thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Make sure to check out our upcoming New Year's episode with author and goal expert Heidi Grant Halvorson. For all my listeners who are celebrating Christmas and Hannakuh, have a very relaxing and joy-filled holiday! Total Duration 37:45 Download episode 67 P.S. Here's a video of co-author Teresa Amabile talking about The Progress Principle at TEDx. {youtube}XD6N8bsjOEE{/youtube} | 12/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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What You Need to Know About LinkedIn, with author Wayne Breitbarth | OK, I'm starting with a Pop Quiz today so are you ready? Here we go.... LinkedIn is: A. For people trying to find a job. B. For people trying to fill a job opening. C. For accepting invitations from people who are connecting with you because they're trying to find a job! D. Probably for people like me but I just don't have the time. Which option would you pick? The nice thing about this quiz is there's no single correct answer. LinkedIn and other social networking tools can be used in seemingly countless ways. But more often than not, I hear coaching clients and participants in workshops and keynotes tell me they know they should likely be investing more time learning and using LinkedIn. The problem is they just don't seem to have the time. In this episode I'm going to share a conversation I had recently with Wayne Breitbarth, author of The Power Formula for Linkedin Success: Kick-start Your Business, Brand, and Job Search. Wayne is my favorite expert on LinkedIn and I know you'll enjoy his insights. You can learn more about Wayne and his book at http://www.powerformula.net/. I strongly recommend you sign-up for Wayne's free newsletter with tips and tricks. Free LinkedIn Webinar For Podcast Listeners Here's a special offer for podcast listeners. You are cordially invited to a free webinar about LinkedIn that I'll be facilitating on Tuesday, December 20, 2011. The one-hour session is entitled LinkedIn Essentials. If you want to start the next year with a more strategic approach to using LinkedIn, join me for this free webinar. Here's a link to register: https://i-lead.pgimeet.com/attendee/RegisterLogin.aspx?hubconfID=1192095&qtID=1&act=reg Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 27:26 Download episode 66 | 11/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Leading Under Pressure, with Justin Menkes author of Better Under Pressure | I'm recording this on the road in Austin, Texas this week. It's been an interesting time in the Kaufman household. Last week we received a 6 month old foster child in the family, who is an amazingly cute little guy. But I have to say that now that our children are 17, 14, and 11, it's been interesting to adjust to having an infant in the home again. This little guy showed up with a case of croup so we've had some quality time together in the wee hours of the night! I've been reminded how reduced sleep takes a toll on performance during the day. Why do I bring this all up? Most everyone I run into these days is feeling pressure. Between the economy and a plate full of commitments, there's an endless number of things we can worry about if we're so inclined. A consistent refrain I hear from coaching clients and customers who are tasked with delivering projects and leading teams is that they need tools to help them juggle all the demands they have at work and at home. If you have more to do than hands or time to do it, this episode is for you! Most business leaders can take only so much pressure before their performance slides. Yet others deliver great successes when times get toughest. How do they do it? In this episode I talk with Justin Menkes, author of Better Under Pressure: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Themselves and Others. Let's learn together from Justin as we talk about leading under pressure. You can learn more about Justin and his book at http://www.BetterUnderPressure.com. One way to develop your ability to lead under pressure is to join me in next year's Leadership Fast Track Program. This year's program is wrapping up this month and I've greatly enjoyed the process of helping a group of leaders from multiple continents grow in their ability to lead and deliver. By joining the Leadership Fast Track Program, you'll join me in a series of learning sessions, assessments, and one-on-one coaching. Though it doesn't start up until next year, now's a great time to start looking into the program and getting it on your development plan for next year. Learn more at http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrackProgram.asp. Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 33:08 Download episode 65 P.S. Here's an entertaining and informative video on how stress impacts how the brain works, from Dr. John Medina. Enjoy! {youtube}S6Xq7CMOH1k{/youtube} | 11/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Find Your Focus and Master Distraction with Peter Bregman, author of 18 Minutes | Let me take a guess.... You don't have time to listen to this podcast, do you? In fact, I'm guessing you're multitasking right now, perhaps doing e-mail or driving or waiting for a flight or something like that. Or maybe you're not multitasking right now. But statistically before this cast is done you'll be interrupted multiple times. Welcome to the world we live in! A consistent refrain I hear from coaching clients and customers who are tasked with delivering projects and leading teams is that they need tools to help them juggle all the demands they have at work and at home. If you have more to do than hands or time to do it, this episode is for you! One of my favorite writers and voices on the topic is Peter Bregman. Peter recently released his newest book entitled 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done. I had the opportunity to spend some time with Peter recently and look forward to sharing that discussion with you in this episode. You can learn more about Peter at his website http://www.PeterBregman.com. Quick note: I'm always encouraged to hear from listeners and received this recently from Cheryl, who said, "I've been listening to your informative and inspiring podcasts and have found value in each one. I like your passion and sincerity. I benefit from the coaching delivered through your discussions with your engaging guests regarding leadership attitudes, skills and practices. I love that you call it the People and Projects podcast. My personal #1 rule is to take care of the people, and your podcasts cover the many dimensions of pursuing that objective. Thank you again for your great podcasts. I look forward to hearing more of them!" I certainly appreciate Cheryl's kind words. Her personal #1 rule is a good one, and is the heart of this podcast. If you get find these discussions valuable I invite you to take a moment and let some friends and colleagues know about The People and Projects Podcast. You can find us on the web, iTunes, and on Facebook. Speaking of Facebook, please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 27:37 Download episode 64 P.S. Here's that willpower marshmallow test I mention in the cast. It's worth watching! {youtube}6EjJsPylEOY{/youtube} | 11/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How to Gain Credibility, Part 2 of an interview with leadership author and expert Jim Kouzes | In our last episode I started a conversation with Jim Kouzes about their newly revised book Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It. We continue that conversation in this episode, where I ask Jim for insights such as "How do you keep your credibility when being asked to support a decision you don't agree with?" You can learn more about Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner online at http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/. What's an example of how you've seen a leader gain or lose credibility? What's your takeaway from this discussion with Jim? Take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 20:58 Download episode 63 | 10/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How to Gain Credibility, Part 1 of an interview with leadership author and expert Jim Kouzes | I'm recording this episode on the road this week, delivering a keynote on leadership at a Project Management Institute Professional Development Day. Since I have leadership on the brain today, let me ask you: Think of one of the best leaders you've ever had the privilege of working with.... What was it about that person that made them such an effective leader? Though the details of your answer could be different from what others might say, chances are we would all agree that the best leader that came to mind for us shared one thing in common: credibility. Credibility is fundamental to being a leader, and in this cast I'm excited to share the first of two episodes from a conversation with Jim Kouzes. Jim, along with his co-author Barry Posner, are some of the foremost researchers and voices on leadership, including works such as their best-selling book The Leadership Challenge. In these next two episodes, I talk with Jim about their newly updated book Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It. Don't miss the next cast where Jim and I talk about what to do when you're given an assignment that's over your head. How does that impact credibility? And what about when you have to execute against a decision you don't agree with? Does that mean your credibility is on the line? Jim shares his expert coaching with those questions and more so don't miss it! Quick note to our premium subscribers: your additional premium episode will be available with the second of these two episodes. You can learn more about Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner online at http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/. Hey, are you on Facebook? Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 21:06 Download episode 62 | 9/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Premium: Follow-up on the Michael Roberto interview on Filters | (NOTE: This Premium Episode is being included in our free podcast stream this week. It gives you a sense of the extra coaching that is available each episode for our premium subscribers. Learn more about becoming a Premium Subscriber at http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe). There are many things I love about hosting this podcast. One of them is the opportunity to interact with the experts we interview. You probably notice that I normally include some behind the scenes cuts at the end of interviews to try and give a sense of who these people are. Most are very gracious. There's something about Michael Roberto that truly stands out though. He has great energy, a quick wit, and is everything I would have wanted in a college business professor. In this premium episode I want to highlight some points from the interview with Michael to help you put the learning into action. First, filtering isn't bad, right? We need it for efficiency. People say we need to over-communicate but, to an extreme, that can be a bad idea! If you listened to my interview with Cathy Davidson or read her book Now You See It, it's clear that we are wired up to put our attention on that which requires it. We would literally go nuts if we tried to take it all in. So filtering of information can be the equivalent of a corporate attention window: what is it that is most important. Let's focus on that. So let me ask you: how do you filter for efficiency? What do you do to make sure the most important information gets to you? From a learning perspective, I focus on a relatively small number of blogs and podcasts. I find those give me regular doses of learning without trying to read everything or attend every learning opportunity. For example, I get great value out of HBR's blog. I use CIO Magazine's “What Are You Reading” section as a starting place for new and interesting books and authors to consider as guests. I use a number of Google's filtering capabilities to give me just the news I'm most interested in. I try to surround myself with diversely interesting people who help keep me informed of their viewpoint. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you might want to think about your filtering systems today. But secondly, of course, filtering isn't always done for efficiency. And it isn't always done intentionally or for our good. As Michael says, we might by our actions and words unwittingly put pressure on those on our teams to conform to our way of thinking. We have to be careful for how we advocate for certain decisions or positions because our advocacy could cause some who know better to keep their mouths shut--to not speak up because they'll think you are not open to a contrary point of view. A key characteristic of your team must be that every member knows that if they have information or insights that can help you, they can bring it to you without fear of rejection or judgment. That doesn't mean that you will always agree with them or follow their advice. I read a case study from Michael years ago that, in effect, said that people can usually put up with decisions that you make as long as they had a fair say in the process. As long as they're heard, they can better accept what you decide. But if you explicitly or subtly make it clear that you're not open to their point of view, not to mention even giving them the opportunity, you risk making a poorly informed decision that can often surface compliance at best instead of commitment from your teams. Be careful how you may be pressuring people to conform. Third, make sure you're aware of the power and dangers of advocacy. This filter says that the information is presented in such a way as to advocate for a certain position. Information that might not reinforce the position is held back. Whether from politicians, your senior management, advertisers, a supplier, or someone on your team, keep your eyes wide open for not just what is presented but also for what is not being presented. I've learned to deal with this by | 9/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Be a Better Problem Finder, with author Michael Roberto | Have you ever heard this quote?"There's an inverse relationship between your level in a company and your ability to see reality." We joke about that at times when it seems like the people above us are out of touch. But why is it more difficult to see reality, the higher you get in an organization? Sometimes it's just because the people higher up are focusing on longer term issues. By virtue of their scope of responsibility, they're not in the day-to-day. But that's not always it. I was facilitating a project management workshop at a company a couple years ago discussing this very topic. A participant said it this way: "Around here, it's crap down at our level but it's fertilizer up there! It's not a problem, it's an opportunity!" Information gets filtered as it travels up and down and around an organization. What gets through and why can make all the difference between making good, informed decisions or barreling over a cliff with what we thought was an accurate map. Those of us who have the privilege of leading people and delivering projects need to understand filtering and my favorite expert for how this works is Dr. Michael Roberto. Michael's book Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen continues to be one of my highly recommended books for project managers and leaders. In this episode I talk with Michael about Chapter 2 of his book: Circumvent the Gatekeepers. You can learn more about Michael and read his blog by visiting http://michael-roberto.blogspot.com/. I also invite you to check out The People and Projects Podcast on Facebook! Leave a comment on what you thought of our discussion with Michael. By the way, don't miss the free Premium Episode that I'm including with this feed. Normally these extra episodes are only available for Premium Subscribers but I wanted to give you a flavor for the additional coaching you can receive with each episode when you become a Premium Subscriber. Visit http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe to learn more about premium subscriptions. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 22:23 Download episode 61 | 9/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How the Brain Science of Attention Changes Everything, with Cathy Davidson (Part 2) | In our last episode you heard the first portion of my discussion with Cathy N. Davidson, author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn Cathy's book is just coming out this week and has already been named one of the top 10 science books of this fall season. Is technology making it more difficult to focus? Cathy and I talk about that in this second portion of the interview. You can learn more about Cathy and read her blog by visiting http://www.cathydavidson.com/. By the way, if you need some calculated distraction, make sure to go check out The People and Projects Podcast on Facebook! Leave a comment on what you thought of our discussion with Cathy. Premium Subscribers, make sure to check out your customized feed for additional coaching on how to apply lessons from Cathy's book. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 25:21 Download episode 60 | 8/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How the Brain Science of Attention Changes Everything, with Cathy Davidson (Part 1) | So let me guess.... While you're listening to this cast right now, I'm guessing you're also doing something else as well, right? Maybe driving a car or checking e-mail or working out. Or perhaps you're checking out what's going on with your Facebook friends. Hey, if you're doing that, look up The People and Projects Podcast on Facebook and Like us! Oops. Sorry. I got a bit distracted there for a moment! Anyway, there are seemingly an endless number of stimuli that are vying for your attention right now. Which do you focus on? Why? There are many great minds that are putting a lot of effort into these questions for it could reasonably be argued that time is not the scarcest resource any more: it's attention. As we strive to focus in a world clamoring for our attention, I wanted to share one of my favorite books that is just coming out this week. It's entitled Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn, by Cathy N. Davidson. I had the opportunity to talk with Cathy earlier this month and look forward to sharing that discussion over the course of two episodes. You can learn more about Cathy and read her blog by visiting http://www.cathydavidson.com/. Quick note for Premium Subscribers: your additional premium episode with additional insights from this topic will be published along with the second portion of my interview with Cathy. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 16:52 Download episode 59 | 8/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How to Lead Your Boss, with author John Baldoni | This episode is sponsored by The Leadership Fast Track Program. Each year we take a group of aspiring leaders from around the world and combine assessments, executive coaching, and learning sessions to help you accelerate your ability to lead and deliver. Visit http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrackProgram.asp to learn more. So let me ask you... How well did your schooling prepare you for the real world when it comes to work? I can certainly find plenty of examples where mine did, and yet there are so many lessons that I didn't really start to learn until I spent extended time in the real world. One of the lessons that eventually becomes clear is that managing is not just managing down: leading those people who report to us. In fact, the higher I got in organizations, the more I found I needed to manage up: in many ways, to lead my boss. That's a lesson I don't remember being taught in a textbook. Whether you're a project manager, team member, or senior leader, we all have a boss and learning to lead that boss is a key skill that must be developed. Earlier this year I had a conversation with leadership expert John Baldoni. John is the author of many books, including Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win. In this episode you'll see what John has to say about how you can more effectively lead your boss. You can learn more about John by visiting http://www.johnbaldoni.com/. John recommended you check out his previous book Lead by Example: 50 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Results. Also, I recommend you check out the other book John mentioned in the interview: Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up. Quick note: The People and Projects Podcast is now on Facebook! I invite you to Like us at http://www.facebook.com/pages/People-and-Projects-Podcast/224005747630357. If you are a Facebook user I invite you to join the discussion! I'll see you there! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 24:21 Download episode 58 | 8/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Rescuing the Problem Project, with author Todd C. Williams, PMP | This episode is sponsored by The Essentials of Project Management e-learning program. Do you know how there's often not a common understanding of terms and processes around your organization when it comes to managing projects? This e-learning program gives everyone practical insights on how to plan and deliver projects. Go to http://www.nanacast.com/essentials-of-project-management-single and use a coupon code AUG-2011-PM99 to save $99 through the month of August 2011. Lead projects long enough and eventually you'll have to deal with the problem project. Whether you were involved with the project from the beginning or inheriting problems from someone else, the reality is we need to be able to rescue the problem project. That's not only true--it's also the name of a new book from Todd C. Williams, PMP. In this episode I talk with Todd about ideas and recommendations from his book Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure. You can learn more about Todd by visiting http://ecaminc.com/. His blog Back From Red can be found at http://ecaminc.com/index.php/blog. Hey, the People and Projects Podcast is now on Facebook! I invite you to Like us at http://www.facebook.com/pages/People-and-Projects-Podcast/224005747630357. If you are a Facebook user I invite you to join the discussion! I'll see you there! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 33:53 Download episode 57 | 7/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Improving Your Success through Little Bets, with author Peter Sims | This episode is sponsored by The Essentials of Project Management e-learning program. Do you know how there's often not a common understanding of terms and processes around your organization when it comes to managing projects? This e-learning program gives everyone practical insights on how to plan and deliver projects. Go to http://www.nanacast.com/essentials-of-project-management-single and use a coupon code AUG-2011-PM99 to save $99 through the month of August 2011. One of the great challenges of business is how to go from idea to delivery. It's easy to talk about ideas but turning those into a finished product requires much more than talk. It can be daunting to deliver. There's the risk of failure. There's the fear of unknowns--of surprises that can create obstacles to success. Going from idea to delivery is truly challenging! Ultimately project management is about how to deliver results but leaders of projects and teams need more than just work breakdown structures and Gantt charts. One of my favorite books of this year provides great insights for all of us who seek to lead and deliver. I recently had the real privilege of spending some time with Peter Sims, author of a great new book entitled Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, and look forward to sharing that discussion with you in this episode. You can learn more about Peter by visiting http://petersims.com. Hey, the People and Projects Podcast is now on Facebook! I invite you to Like us at http://www.facebook.com/pages/People-and-Projects-Podcast/224005747630357. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 25:33 Download episode 56 | 7/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 23 | VideoTaking Action on Your Crazy Ideas | Ever get a crazy idea and decide to act on it? Too often I just sit on the idea instead of taking action. In late May I had a crazy idea: to produce a Father's Day Rap with some friends. Though Father's Day is in the rear view mirror, I thought I'd share yours truly making a fool of myself trying to lay down some rap tunes. After all, it's good to be humbled, isn't it? {youtube}IOwWlw5zPcc{/youtube} Regardless of your aspirations to rap or not, here's my question for you.... What's a crazy idea you've had lately but not acted on? Why not make it happen? Too often we're held back because we're afraid we will fail. I appreciated Peter Bregman's recent HBR post that recommends we don't ask, "Will I succeed?" Rather, a better question is "Is it worth the risk?" I'm not worried about succeeding as a rap artist or cinematographer. And I certainly realize there's a risk of acting so silly, publishing it on YouTube, and letting you know about it! But was it worth the risk? It was a great memory, not the least of which for my friend Bob--the oldest guy in the video--who is now in his late 80's. And we all had an enormous amount of fun. What's your crazy idea? Is it worth the risk? Treat it like a project and start working on delivering it. Whether at work or home, you might be surprised by what happens when we take action on ideas instead of just thinking about them.... Here's to a great second half of the year! Download the video episode | 7/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Change Anything, with best-selling author Kerry Patterson | This episode is sponsored by The Dirty Little Secret of Business e-learning program. What is the dirty little secret of business? It all comes down to relationships. This e-learning program gives you practical insights on how to improve your ability to lead and deliver by developing relationships. Go to http://www.nanacast.com/dirty-little-secret and use the coupon code JULY-11-SECRET to save 50% during the month of July. So let me ask you a question: How strong is your willpower? When you want to make a change, how successful are you at not only making it but also sustaining it? Whether at work or outside, whether personally or with a group of people, learning how to effectively change is critical. And it needs to start with us individually. One of my favorite books of the year just came out. It's entitled Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success and it is from the authors of Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. I had the real pleasure of talking with author Kerry Patterson earlier this month and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. You can learn more about Kerry's organization by visiting http://www.vitalsmarts.com. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 27:07 Download episode 55 | 6/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Become a Better Problem Solver, an interview with author and management thinker Roger L. Martin | I recorded this episode on the road this week, while in Las Vegas speaking at the Agile Development Practices and Better Software Conference. I greatly enjoy talking with the people from many different companies about the challenges they face on their projects and teams. Here's a recurring them I hear from leaders who are responsible for delivering projects.... "Should we ship or delay?" "Keep trying or ask for help?" "Invest in a new product or milk the existing cash cow another year?" Whether you're leading teams or projects, we're often faced with what seems like unpleasant trade-offs. It's not a matter of which option is the best. Sometimes it feels like we need to figure out which option is the least evil! Success with a project, team, or even organization can come down to how effectively we lead when we're seemingly stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. To help us navigate these situations I turned to Dr. Roger L. Martin. Roger has been named one of the top 50 management thinkers in the world and is the author of two thought-provoking books, entitled The Opposable Mind and The Design of Business. Want to be a better problem solver or improve your ability to innovate? This episode is for you! To learn more about Roger L. Martin and to get links to his articles, books, and blog, visit http://rogerlmartin.com. Hey, last call for you to join our Leadership Fast Track Program. If you’ve been thinking about it but just haven’t contacted me, now's the time or you'll have to wait until next year. I'd love to have you join our learning sessions, and it would be a pleasure to coach you one-on-one. Visit http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrack-2011.asp for details. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 54 | 6/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Saving Your Good Ideas From Getting Shot Down, with John Kotter | In this episode I continue my conversation with Professor John Kotter. If you haven't listened to the first part of this interview, make sure to check that episode out! Our focus in this cast is on John's most recent book entitled Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down. To learn more about John's organization, check out http://www.kotterinternational.com/. You can follow John's Harvard Business Review blog at http://blogs.hbr.org/kotter/. You know, if you were a premium subscriber to the People and Projects Podcast, you could now listen to some special coaching advice that I share after each interview with my guests. Each premium episode is designed to help you improve your ability to lead and deliver by taking the next step in applying the learning from our standard podcast episodes. For the month of June, we're offering premium subscriptions at half price. Go to http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe and scroll down to the bottom. Click on the Annual Subscription button and use a coupon code of JUNE50. Let me know what questions you have! Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 53 | 5/31/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Leading Change, an interview with John Kotter | When was the last time you wanted to make a change at work? Maybe it was an approach on a project or something bigger, like wanting to introduce a new way of doing projects, such as using principles from agile project management. Chances are you faced some resistance to your proposed changes. Yet one of our key responsibilities is to lead change, even when our ideas are getting shot down. Well, to give us insight on this topic, you could argue one of the best people in the world to talk to is Professor John Kotter. John's most recent book is entitled Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down and is a great follow-on to his classic books on change. I had the opportunity to spend some extended time talking with John earlier this year and look forward to sharing that discussion with you over the course of two episodes. For our premium subscribers, your extra coaching podcast episode will come out with the second cast. In this first cast, John and I focus on the topic of change. Enjoy the interview! To learn more about John's organization, check out http://www.kotterinternational.com/. You can follow John's Harvard Business Review blog at http://blogs.hbr.org/kotter/. By the way, my two favorite (and highly recommended) John Kotter books on change include: Leading Change The Heart of Change Hey, there's still time for a few more of you to join our Leadership Fast Track Program. I'd love to have you join our learning sessions, and it would be a pleasure to coach you one-on-one. Learn more at http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrack-2011.asp. Join me in our next cast when John tells us more about how to avoid letting our ideas get shot down. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 52 | 5/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Great on the Job, with author and Harvard blogger Jodi Glickman | Last week I facilitated a tutorial and delivered a new keynote to over 800 people at the STAREAST conference in Orlando. It had been a while since our family had visited Florida so I had the opportunity to bring my wife and three children along, which was great! Between speaking engagements we had the opportunity to spend time at Disney and if you've spent any time at a Disney park, chances are customer service and quality come to mind. People at Disney know how to be great on the job. They are patient with demanding customers and seemingly cool under the heat of the Florida sun. What does it take to be great on the job? As it turns out, there's a book by that name out this week by Jodi Glickman. I had the opportunity to catch up with Jodi recently and look forward to sharing that interview about her book with you this week. Learn more about Jodi's organization at http://greatonthejob.com. You can also find her HBR posts at http://blogs.hbr.org/glickman. Quick note: Our Leadership Fast Track Program is filling up! I would love to have a few more podcast listeners join me! This program includes learning sessions that I facilitate live over the web as well as one-on-one coaching with me. It would be such a privilege for me to have you part of this program. Learn more at http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrack-2011.asp Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 51 | 5/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Managing Project Risks (Part 2) with Dr. David Hillson | In our last episode I began a discussion with Dr. David Hillson from the U.K. regarding risks and risk attitudes. In this episode, David and I continue that conversation with a focus on how we can help our organizations take the next step in implementing risk management practices. David recommended a couple specific books in this discussion, including Exploiting Future Uncertainty and Managing Risk in Projects. Also, you may want to check out Dr. Hillson's newest book The Failure Files: Perspectives on Failure. There's still time to get the free premium podcast subscription and e-learning by signing up for the Leadership Fast Track Program by May 1, 2011. Contact me with any questions--I would love to have you in the program. Go to http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrack-2011.asp to download a program brochure and access a narrated overview of the program. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration: 16:30 Download episode 50 | 4/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Managing Project Risks (Part 1) with Dr. David Hillson | What comes to mind when you think of the term "risk"? In our workshops and keynotes regarding project management, the topic of risk inevitably is talked about, and in those discussions it's clear that one's views and attitudes about risk significantly impact how a project is managed. A problem with risk is when we lose perspective on it. For example, "I won't get out of bed today because something bad could happen." But then there's flip side as well, where we leap from the platform exclaiming, "I hope the bungee cord is attached!" Whether at work or in life, there are an endless number of things we could worry about, and I know plenty of leaders that admit they are good worriers! It's been said that one of the best antidotes for anxiety is action, and a way to move your team and project from worrying to action is risk management. To talk about this issue I went to one of the clearest and most prolific voices on the topic, Dr. David Hillson. I've split my discussion with David into two episodes and look forward to sharing this first portion with you in this episode. You can learn more about David Hillson at his website http://www.risk-doctor.com. You'll find helpful articles and links related to risk management. In the second portion of this interview, David recommends a couple specific books, including Exploiting Future Uncertainty and Managing Risk in Projects. Also, you may want to check out Dr. Hillson's newest book The Failure Files: Perspectives on Failure. Quick note: enrollment for our Leadership Fast Track Program is officially open! The program is designed for high performers and high potentials in your organization. There are significant discounts and extras (such as free e-learning and a free premium podcast subscription) for those who join during the early bird registration timeframe. Go to http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrack-2011.asp to download a program brochure and access a narrated overview of the program. Join me in the next episode where Dr. David Hillson and I talk about how to take the next step with risk management in your organization. Note: for my premium subscribers, your additional coaching episode will be published with the second portion of the interview. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration: 22:09 Download episode 49 | 4/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Get 30 Free PDUs | If you're a PMP, you know that getting your 60 PDU's every three years is a requirement. Now it's actually not that difficult to get your 60, especially if you don't wait until the last month to get them! Did you know that you can rack up free PDU's just listening to The People and Projects Podcast? And the great news is that PMI has recently increased the number of Self-Directed Learning PDU's you can claim in each cycle, from 15 to 30. Make your life easier and save some money. Earn free PDU's while you listen to each episode of The People and Projects Podcast. Follow this link to find out exactly how to claim your PDUs for this podcast: http://www.peopleandprojectspodcast.com/index.php/resources-for-project-managers/earn-30-free-pdus.html By the way, here are a couple additional ideas for getting free or low cost PDU's: If you work as a project manager at least 6 months out of the year, you can claim 5 Category F PDU's each calendar year. If you volunteer with your PMI chapter or donate project management services for a community or charitable group, you can claim up Category E PDU's. You can get Category D PDU's for presenting at a conference or meeting on the topic of project management. You certainly can take classroom or e-learning courses as well. Our new Essentials of Project Management e-learning workshop is rated at 14 PDU's. Finally, you may recall an interview I had with Cornelius Fichtner regarding his PDU Podcast. Though these last two options aren't free, they are still a great value for the investment. There are countless ways to get your required PDU's. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 48 | 4/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Management: It's Not What You Think! An interview with Henry Mintzberg | If you've ever sat through one of my workshops or keynotes on leadership or project management, you've likely clued into the fact that I have a rather low tolerance for the purely academic. By that I mean ideas, models, and theories that sound great on a white board but are seemingly impossible to be practically applied in the real world. When it comes to management, it's easy to find books that pontificate theory. But every once in a while you come across one that is a breath of fresh air, where the author says it how it is instead of how it should be. An example of one of those books is the latest from Professor Henry Mintzberg, entitled Management? It's Not What You Think! It's a thought-provoking, at times irreverent look at this craft we call management. To give you a taste of what you'll find in this new book, I'm excited to share a recent discussion I had with Henry in this episode. Learn more about Henry at http://www.mintzberg.com and http://www.coachingourselves.com. I am so excited to be rolling out our new Leadership Fast Track Program! Can you think of someone in your area who is a high-performing manager that the organization wants to continue to pour into? Or someone who knows the business or technical aspects of their job but could use some help developing their people skills? Or maybe it's someone who is not currently in a management role but is seen as a future leader? If that applies to you or someone you know, you have to check out the Leadership Fast Track Program! This innovative program provides workshops, leadership assessments, and one-on-one executive coaching with me. And it's all designed to minimize your time away from your work. There's an early bird discount for those who sign up before May 1, 2011. Go to http://www.i-leadonline.com/LeadershipFastTrack-2011.asp to download a free brochure. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 4/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Get Your PMP®, an interview with Cornelius Fichtner, PMP | Quick note: This episode is sponsored by the STAREAST 2011 Conference. STAREAST is the premier gathering place for software testers, developers, and managers to interact and learn how to improve software-testing practices. This year's line-up features over 100 learning and networking opportunities. Come join me for a new keynote at STAREAST this year. It's entitled "How to Win Friends and Influence People--and Deliver Quality Software". Go to http://www.sqe.com/go?SE11Kaufman to register! Come join me at STAREAST! I look forward to seeing you there! One of the real pleasures of my job is to help project managers get their Project Management Professional certification. For years I procrastinated in getting my PMP® certification--perhaps that is your story as well. Or maybe you're wondering if it would make sense for you to get a certification. In this episode I talk with Cornelius Fichtner, the venerable host of The Project Management Podcast, about issues related to PMP® certification. If you’re considering getting certified or in the process of preparing right now, this interview is especially for you. Here are links to learn more about the PMP® Prep offerings from Cornelius: PM PrepCast: http://bit.ly/PM-PrepCast PMP® Exam Simulator (Free 3-day Access): http://nanacast.com/vp/104847/81275/ PMP® Exam eFlashcards™: http://nanacast.com/vp/104731/81275/ Project Management Podcast: http://www.project-management-podcast.com/ I am so excited to get such positive feedback on our new Essentials of Project Management e-learning workshop. This engaging new offering simplifies your ability to get expert insights in a stress-free, convenient format. Go to http://bit.ly/EssentialsOfPM and use the coupon code ESSENTIALS-50 to get 50% through the end of March 2011. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 3/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Being a Student of PM, with Josh Nankivel | Hey, quick note: This episode is sponsored by the STAREAST 2011 Conference. STAREAST is the premier gathering place for software testers, developers, and managers to interact and learn how to improve software-testing practices. This year's line-up features over 100 learning and networking opportunities. Come join me for a new keynote at STAREAST this year. It's entitled "How to Win Friends and Influence People--and Deliver Quality Software". Go to http://www.sqe.com/go?SE11Kaufman and use the code AKSE and save up to $400 on registrations prior to March 4, 2011. Come join me at STAREAST! I look forward to seeing you there! So, let me ask you.... Are you a student of your profession? Conferences are a great way to invest in your learning--it's one way to remain a student. But how else do you make sure you continue to learn? Listening to this podcast is a clear way to keep growing, and each month we have more premium subscribers who get additional content that supplements these episodes with more personalized coaching. For this episode I wanted to focus on those who are in project management roles or who aspire to be there someday. There are many great resources for being a student of project management. And one of my favorite resources is pmStudent (http://learn.pmstudent.com/dap/a/?a=113). I recently had the opportunity to connect with Josh Nankivel from pmStudent and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. Make sure to check out pmStudent at http://learn.pmstudent.com/dap/a/?a=113. Josh also mentioned the following sites: http://www.cottagepm.com/blog/ http://www.steppingintopm.com/ http://www.project-management-podcast.com/ http://quantmleap.com/blog/ Quick note: This month we're rolling out a new product to help those who are or aspire to be project managers. Our "Essentials of Project Management" workshop is now available in an e-learning format. This engaging new offering simplifies your ability to get expert insights in a stress-free, convenient format. And this month we're offering a special coupon code to get 50% of the normal price for the learning. Just go to http://bit.ly/EssentialsOfPM and use the coupon code ESSENTIALS-50. This offer is good until the end of March 2011. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 2/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Think Small! An interview with Phil Simon, author of The New Small | I have to tell you: I love running a small company. Two years ago I was interviewed by Coach Ian Scott, my friend and colleague from the UK, for his very popular podcast on iTunes. After the interview I decided, "Hey, I could do that!" And within days, the People and Projects Podcast was birthed, with this being our 44th episode. Being the owner of a small company, it was easy to make that decision. For our upcoming Leadership Fast Track program, we're going to do one-on-coaching and workshops using collaborative technologies, allowing you to participate regardless of where you call home. My small company allows me to make fast decisions to offer solutions like that, to turn on a dime, so to speak, if desired. Yet being small--as in a small number of employees--doesn't always work that way. In today's interview I'll tell the story of a small company that doesn't act small. You may work for yourself, for a small company, or for a huge multinational organization. I'm convinced that your ability to act like a small company is more about how you look at things than it is the number of employees. And that's just one of the themes of my friend and colleague Phil Simon, who recently released his latest book entitled The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies. You may recall Phil from my interview with him in August of 2009 regarding his book Why New Systems Fail: An Insider's Guide to Successful IT Projects. For years I've found Phil's insights to be fresh, on target, and actionable. I had the opportunity to catch up with Phil recently about his new book and look forward to sharing that interview in this episode. For my premium subscribers, make sure to check out your premium feed for some additional coaching related my discussion with Phil. You can learn more about Phil at http://www.TheNewSmall.com and http://www.PhilSimonSystems.com. Tweet about this interview and @philsimon might just pick you for a free copy of his book! As a listener to The People and Projects Podcast, you are already comfortable with using technologies like this for your personal development. If you are in a leadership role--or desire to grow into one--I want to give you a heads-up about our Leadership Fast Track program, which will be kicking off in the 2nd quarter of this year. The Leadership Fast Track program is designed to help accelerate your ability to lead and deliver. You'll participate in a series of practical workshops that I will personally facilitate. The program also includes leadership assessments and personal coaching from me. The program is all designed for maximum impact, and by using collaborative technologies, allows you to access the learning with minimal impact on your schedule. Want to learn more? Go to http://www.i-leadonline.com/leadershipfasttrack-2011.asp to join our early-bird notification list and you'll be among the first to get updates about the program. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 1/31/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The Way We're Working Isn't Working, Part 2 | Hopefully you've already had a chance to listen to the first part of my interview with Tony Schwartz. In this second part, Tony talks about the concept of pulsing, and gets very transparent about his struggle to implement these ideas. Enjoy Part 2 of my discussion with Tony Schwartz, author of Be Excellent at Anything (NOTE: This book used to be entitled The Way We're Working Isn't Working). I wholeheartedly recommend you get a copy of Tony's book. It's a great way to take the next step in making a radical difference in your own performance as well as that of your team. Also, make sure to check out his websites (http://www.TheEnergyProject.com and http://www.TakeBackYourLunch.com). Hey, there's another way to take the next step in your performance! In the coming months you'll be hearing about our Leadership Fast Track program, which will be launching in Q2 of this year. The Leadership Fast Track program is designed to help accelerate your ability to lead and deliver. You'll participate in a series of practical workshops that I will personally facilitate. The program also includes leadership assessments and personal coaching, allowing me to do all I can to help you accelerate your ability to lead and deliver. Want to learn more? Go to http://www.i-leadonline.com/leadershipfasttrack-2011.asp to join our early-bird notification list and you'll be among the first to get updates about the program. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 1/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The Way We're Working Isn't Working, Part 1 | Let me take a guess... You don't have time to listen to this podcast episode. Oh, you're listening to it, but perhaps you're driving or trying to do e-mail--hopefully not both--while you do it! We're so busy, and the overall toll on us and our productivity can be overwhelming, which made me think of Tony Schwartz's book Be Excellent at Anything (NOTE: This book used by entitled The Way We're Working Isn't Working). Tony is a gifted writer and speaker and an expert on helping us perform at our best. I had the opportunity to spend some time talking with Tony and have divided the interview into two podcast episodes. For my premium subscribers, make sure to check out your premium feed for some additional coaching related my discussion with Tony. So, I invite you to turn off your handheld, shut down any distractions, and enjoy learning from one of the freshest voices out there on performance and productivity, Tony Schwartz. You can learn more about Tony at The Energy Project (http://www.theenergyproject.com). Also, learn more about Take Back Your Lunch at http://www.TakeBackYourLunch.com. Make sure to check out the second part of my interview with Tony for additional insights on improving your performance. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Download the episode | 1/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 38 | VideoNew Year's Resolutions for Project Managers | Happy New Year! I don't know about you, but I love when a new year comes around! I love the opportunity to look and consider the previous year: accomplishments, challenges, blessings, mistakes, and lessons. It's an opportunity to take a renewed look at the year ahead and set goals. Yet there's the problem with New Year's resolutions. Ask the average person--and I do in this video podcast with some "man on the streets" interviews--and they'll tell you resolutions don't work. Or at least they don't last. In this brief video podcast I share some key lessons to help project managers and leaders set better goals, just in time for the new year! NOTE: In this episode I mentioned Stickk.com. Make sure to check them out! Also, you can listen to my interview with the CEO of Stickk.com in this previous episode of The People and Projects Podcast. Here's to a very prosperous and successful year ahead for you! Thank you for subscribing to The People and Projects Podcast! {youtube}pOeKJa8EQb8{/youtube} Download the video episode | 1/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Special Offer: Free e-learning for Premium Subscribers | In case you missed it in our last episode, I have a special Christmas gift for all my podcast listeners. You've heard me talk about Premium Subscriptions in recent months, and many have joined. But perhaps you've been holding out. Well here's my Christmas gift to you. Become an annual premium subscriber before January 1, 2011 and my gift to you is a free license of our new e-learning offering entitled "The Dirty Little Secret of Business". This program, which normally sells for $97, is yours for free when you become a premium subscriber by the end of this year. Throughout the year premium subscribers get: * discounts on products * automatic entry into drawings * free participation in webinars * additional materials with episodes, and * the opportunity to participate live on my interviews with experts. I’d love to have you join the growing number of premium subscribers to The People and Projects Podcast! Here's where you can learn more: http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe. Thanks! From all of us who help produce each podcast episode, we wish you and those you love a very Merry Christmas! Download the episode | 12/13/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Networking for People Who Hate Networking: An interview with author Devora Zack | We're now at that time of year when there are often many social gatherings, whether with family, friends, or work associates. Do you look forward to these times of family gatherings and holiday parties? Or do you dread them? Or how about this: What do you think of when I say the term "networking"? If your first response was TCP/IP or Ethernet, you have even more work than I expected! But kidding aside, when you think of networking in terms of developing relationships, what comes to mind? Frankly, for many years I knew I should be networking more but I tended to see it as a rather sleazy endeavor--an activity that people did just to get stuff from other people. Yet in a struggling and unpredictable economy, there are more reasons than ever to actively develop relationships. The problem is that most relationship-building books seem to be written for extroverts. But what about the rest of us? Well, to arm you for the holiday season and to help you come up with a relationship building strategy for the year ahead I'm excited to introduce you to Devora Zack, author of a recently published book entitled Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed and the Underconnected. Learn more about Devora and Only Connect Consulting at http://www.onlyconnectconsulting.com. Devora has graciously made two copies of her book available for listeners to The People and Projects Podcast. If you are one of our growing number of Premium Subscribers, you are automatically entered into the drawing. If you're not a Premium Subscriber yet, please send me an e-mail at show@peopleandprojectspodcast.com to enter the drawing. I'll pick two winners on December 31, 2010. And here's a special offer. As I mentioned in the interview I have a keynote entitled The Dirty Little Secret of Business. Despite the provocative title, the dirty little secret of business is that it's all done on relationships. This session gets top ratings when delivered at conferences and company meetings, and it's now available in an e-learning format. Though normally sold for $97 USD, listeners to The People and Projects Podcast can access it for only $49 USD. Go to http://bit.ly/eDirtyLittleSecret before January 15, 2011 and use a coupon code of DIRTY-SECRET. Whether for yourself or as a gift to a friend or co-worker, The Dirty Little Secret of Business can be a powerful way to develop a practical strategy to building relationships. And here's one last idea for you! I'm going to give this e-learning offering to all my Premium Subscribers for free! If you join my growing number of premium subscribers before the end of December 2010, you'll also get The Dirty Little Secret of Business e-learning for free. Go to http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe to join. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 12/11/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How to Manage Your Boss, an interview with author and speaker Bruce Tulgan | I have the true privilege of helping professionals from hundreds of companies develop their ability to lead people and deliver projects. A common question I hear from leaders as they progress higher in their organizations has to do with their boss. In effect, they're asking, "How do I manage the person who is supposed to be managing me?" A clear lesson as you grow in responsibility is that managing is not just something you do with your subordinates--what a terrible word that is! Rather, to be effective you also have to lead and serve peers, stakeholders, and yes, bosses. Managing up is an important part of your ability to successfully deliver. But how do you go about doing that? For this episode I'm bringing back Bruce Tulgan who was a guest on our show last year (click here to listen to that episode). Bruce recently published Its Okay to Manage Your Boss: The Step-by-Step Program for Making the Best of Your Most Important Relationship at Work. I had the opportunity to speak with Bruce recently and look forward to sharing that interview in this episode. Learn more about Bruce and his organization at http://www.rainmakerthinking.com. I also recommend you get a copy of his book Its Okay to Manage Your Boss: The Step-by-Step Program for Making the Best of Your Most Important Relationship at Work. While you're at it, check out another one of Bruce's books It's Okay to Be the Boss: The Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming the Manager Your Employees Need. You'll find both helpful in the development of your management skills. In recent episodes I've been telling you about our growing list of Premium Subscribers. I want to invite you to join! You'll get additional materials with each episode to help you and those around you get even more value out of the topic we talk about. You'll not only be automatically enrolled in freebies, you'll also have the opportunity to actually participate in upcoming interviews with experts. Sometimes as a year ends there's a little extra training budget that needs to be spent. Whether that's true or not, how about investing in your learning for the year ahead? Click here for details and join as a Premium Subscriber. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 10/26/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Premium: Making Better Decisions through 10-10-10 | Hello Premium Subscribers! Welcome to the 10th month of this 10th year in this century! In this premium episode I'm sharing insights from a book I've recently read: 10-10-10: A Fast and Powerful Way to Get Unstuck in Love, at Work, and with Your Family, by Suzy Welch. The title sounds more like a subject for an Oprah audience than project managers and leaders! However, I think you'll find the ideas in the book helpful with your projects, with your team, and in your personal life. Let me know what questions you have after listening to the cast. And be sure to share the ideas from 10-10-10 with your team. Thank you for being a Premium Subscriber to The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 10/11/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Engaging Your Employees, with author Brad Federman | I had the privilege of delivering a keynote presentation earlier this month for a company in Brazil who brought 600 of their employees together for an offsite meeting. It was my first time in Brazil so I was very interested in learning not only the culture of the country but also that of the organization. As I informally talked with employees from various teams before my keynote I was struck by how bought in their staff is to their company's mission. These people were engaged. Even with my language barrier it was clear to me that this organization was doing things well to engage their workforce. How about your workplace? When you think about the members of the teams you interact with most, how engaged would you say they are? Research would indicate that they may be less engaged than you think, which is why we're spending time in this episode with Brad Federman. Brad is the President of Performancepoint, a leading performance improvement company. Brad recently authored Employee Engagement: A Roadmap for Creating Profits, Optimizing Performance, and Increasing Loyalty. I had the opportunity to talk with Brad recently and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. Hey, I want to let you know that Brad has graciously made two copies of his book Employee Engagement available to our listeners. If you are a Premium Subscriber you are automatically entered into the drawing. If you're not a Premium Subscriber, send me an e-mail with “Book Drawing” as the subject. Two of our listeners will get Brad's book sent to them for free. Speaking of Premium Subscriptions, if you haven't yet joined our growing list of Premium Subscribers, I invite you to do so! You'll get additional materials with each episode to help you and those around you get even more value out of the topic we talk about. Beyond being automatically enrolled in freebies, you'll also have the opportunity to actually participate in upcoming interviews with experts. And beyond that, the small price you pay goes to help feed hungry children. I have three of them! :) Check out our podcast website for details. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 9/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Delivering Projects Through People, with author Dave Po-Chedley, PMP | If you've followed this podcast or attended one of my keynotes on project management or leadership, you've likely caught onto my bias that the biggest successes, the biggest joys, the biggest failures, and the biggest stresses often come down to the same thing: people. Project management is ultimately people management. Success with people management--and thus project management--can significantly depend on our effectiveness in areas such as communication, influence, and building relationships. One of the freshest voices on the people side of project management is consultant Dave Po-Chedley, PMP, author of Client Relationship Management: How to Turn Client Relationships into a Competitive Advantage. I had the opportunity to catch up with Dave recently and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. I invite you to learn more about Dave and the work of Cambridge Consulting (http://www.cambridgeconsult.com and http://www.pminsight.us). I want to let you know that Dave has graciously made two copies of his book Client Relationship Management available to our listeners. If you are a Premium Subscriber you are automatically entered into the drawing. If you're not a Premium Subscriber, send me an e-mail with “Book Drawing” as the subject. Two of our listeners will get Dave's book sent to them for free. One last thing: I received a message from a listener that I wanted to share with you: Hi Andy, I attended your 1-day tutorial at Better Software in June. That session was worth the price of the whole trip. Great, transformative stuff! I have since changed my listening habits in the car: I listen to management podcasts now. I decided to propose the Outlaw Team idea to my boss who leads an entire division in my company. He liked the idea and had me present it to his weekly leadership meeting. All the VPs liked the idea, with some suggestions. I then suggested action items to move it forward. My boss volunteered me to carry the ball. Yikes! Now I have to try and be the Andy Kaufman of our company. Nah. I'll just be me and see where we get. Never thought I'd go from eager student to mentoring others in leadership skills. Thanks for your great work! Charlie Well, congratulations to Charlie for taking action on the learning! Charlie also became a Premium Subscriber to this podcast. Are you a Charlie-kind-of-person, one who has a passion for developing themselves and those around them? If so, I recommend you join Charlie as a Premium Subscriber to The People and Projects Podcast! It's a great deal and provides you with additional tools for self and team development. Visit our website for details, including a discount available on the Annual Subscription. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download the episode | 8/27/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Taking Your Learning to the Next Level: Announcing Premium Subscriptions | In recent episodes I’ve mentioned that we will be launching Premium Subscriptions of The People and Projects Podcast. Well, we have lift-off! In this cast I want to give you a brief overview of our vision for the Premium Subscription as well as tell you about a special offer that is available for a limited time. So let’s talk vision.... The best leaders I've had the opportunity to work with had at least this in common: They actively invest in their own personal development And they intentionally develop the people around them. Yet there is this little problem of time and money.... Developing yourself and those around you takes time, and time is one of the few things even more scarce than money in many organizations today. Taking people out of their day-to-day for a 5-day workshop just isn't an option for many organizations. And training isn't cheap. Yet not investing in yourself and your team isn't a sustainable option. What if you didn't have to send your people to training. Rather, the training came to you? It doesn't cost you anything to recommend our podcast to those you work with. By listening to each episode during their commute time, while exercising, or any other time when they have an MP3 player available, you and your teams can be learning from some of the best minds in leadership and project management. So, how does the Premium Subscription fit in? It takes the learning to the next level. Premium subscribers get access to the same audio that our free subscribers get each episode. But there's more. First, it provides you with the materials to help you be the trainer. I've had the opportunity to work with tens of thousands of people from hundreds of companies. I love to pour into people, whether it's a keynote, workshop, or one-on-one coaching. Yet here's what I've found: there's enormous value in YOU training your people instead of me. Now that might sound crazy coming from a guy who makes his living speaking, training, and coaching. But it's true. When you walk your team through principles and ideas to help them lead and deliver, there's something special that happens. Certainly there's the benefit of just putting on the teacher hat. You never know a topic like when you have to teach it to others. From a personal development perspective, you can great benefits from just preparing to facilitate a learning discussion with your team. But there's more to it than that. When you lead a discussion on a topic with your teams, they get to see that you're working to develop them, which is a major employee satisfaction driver. They also get the benefit of seeing you investing in yourself--that you're not just living off of what you learned years ago. Finally--and this is big--there's the implied accountability that comes from you leading the discussion. If you publicly discuss the topic with them, you're also saying "I'm going to work to put this into action as well." And as they see you put the learning into action, they're more likely to do so as well. Along with the free audio, as a Premium Subscriber you will get access to materials to help you facilitate a discussion with your teams with minimal preparation. We provide you with background information, questions, links to related articles, and other materials to help you apply the learning yourself, and to make it easy for you to facilitate the learning with your team. Beyond that, Premium Subscribers will occasionally get exclusive content that is not available for free subscribers. These episodes will include audio and sometimes video, all focused on helping you more succesfully lead your teams and deliver your projects. Throughout the year we often have drawings for free books and other resources, courtesy of the experts I interview. As a Premium Subscriber, you are automatically entered into the drawings, saving you time and effort. And periodically I hold web discussions with Premium Subscribers on a topic that is related to leading teams and delivering projects | 7/30/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Leading Teams, with Harvard Professor Dr. J. Richard Hackman | I can easily recall the days before I became a manager. I started my career as a software developer, which by nature of how software gets created, usually meant work being done in teams. When my team leader or manager would mess up in some way, I would occasionally think, when I finally get to lead a team, I'm going to do things differently! How hard can this be? Then I became a manager! It was then that I truly realized that it's one thing to talk about leading teams--it's a whole different deal when you have to be the leader and your team members aren't necessarily as motivated as you want them to be, or priorities change, or your senior management seems dim-witted, and you feel overwhelmed. The truth is that leading teams well is difficult work, often under-estimated by those who haven't had to hold the reins. One of my favorite experts on this topic is Harvard professor J. Richard Hackman. In this cast I look forward to sharing a recent discussion I had with Dr. Hackman based on his book Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. In addition, check out Dr. Hackman's book Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great. A proven way to help engage your team members is to invest in their development. Budgets don't always allow for you to send them away for training but that doesn't mean training has to be put off for a year. Clearly you already know the benefits of podcasts. Some of the best free learning available these days comes from what you're doing right now--listening to casts such as The People and Projects Podcast. Well, in just a few weeks we are launching Premium Subscriptions for our podcast. You and your teams will still have access to our free episodes. But we are going even further with the Premium Subscriptions to help you develop and engage your teams. Premium subscribers get access to additional content, including materials to help you facilitate a discussion with your team based on the topic of each cast. You'll also get recommendations for additional material to help you go deeper on the subject. Beyond that, Premium Subscribers are automatically entered into drawings for books and other resources. And, as a special bonus, you get free admission to webinars that I lead throughout the year. I'll tell you more in our next podcast episode. In the meantime, thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration: 34:39 Download episode 33 | 7/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Become a More Effective Leader Using the Latest Brain Science | It's so easy to get into a rut. Whether it's on a personal basis, a project team, or even an organization, it's easy to keep doing things the way we've always done them. Actually, the brain kind of likes it when we go on auto-pilot. This allows the brain to focus on the more important matters before us, like the stare your boss is giving you when you're trying to reply to a message on your Blackberry during her staff meeting! Each year we learn more about how the brain works and how we can use that knowledge to better meet the challenges we face. In this episode I interview Madeleine Van Hecke and Brad Kolar, co-authors of the book The Brain Advantage: Become a More Effective Business Leader Using the Latest Brain Research. Make sure to check out the website for their book at www.TheBrainAdvantage.com. You can get your copy of Madeleine's book Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things on Amazon. It's a great read! One way to snap out of the old way of doing things is to bring new thinking into your organization. Do you have an upcoming company meeting or retreat? We have keynote presentations that can inspire and motivate your teams to successfully deliver the projects and lead their teams. Give us a call at (866) 884-5323 to learn more. I invite you to join me next time when I talk with Harvard Professor Dr. Richard Hackman. Richard is world renowned expert on how teams work, and we'll discuss his excellent book entitled Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 32 | 6/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Leading Teams with Meaning, with Dr. Adam Grant | I'm in Las Vegas this week, speaking to leaders from hundreds of companies from around the world. Las Vegas is certainly an intriguing place on many levels. It's an economy that thrives on tourism and in order to keep those tourists happy and coming back, organizations out here need reliable, skilled, engaged workers. The truth is, the need for engaged, motivated employees isn't just a Las Vegas issue. I've long felt that the most dangerous employee was not the one who has left the company. It's the one who has left the company but they haven't left the company! It's the people who are just checking in and checking out, day after day, taking up space and leaving a huge amount of productivity on the table. Whether you lead a team of software developers, salespeople, accountants, or doctors, much of our organizational success comes down to how engaged and motivated our front line employees truly are. I'm staying at a very nice, well-known hotel in Vegas. To be honest, I'm not impressed with the front line service. And you know what? I intersect with enough companies to recognize this isn't just an issue at Caesar's Palace. Chances are your organization could use some insights on how to further engage your employees as well. In recent years I've enjoyed following the employee engagement research and writings of Dr. Adam Grant from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. I had the opportunity to catch up with Adam recently and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. In the interview, Adam recommends the following books for follow-up: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Dan Pink Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances, by J. Richard Hackman I strongly recommend each of them as well. A proven way to help engage your team members is to invest in their development. Budgets don't always allow for you to send them away for training but that doesn't mean training has to be put off for a year. Clearly you already know the benefits of podcasts. Some of the best free learning available these days comes from what you're doing right now—listening to casts such as The People and Projects Podcast. Well, starting in July of this year we are launching Premium Subscriptions for our podcast. You and your teams will still have access to our free episodes. But we are going even further with the Premium Subscriptions to help you develop and engage your teams. Here's an example of how you can use our Premium Subscription: Have members of your team listen to an episode of The People and Projects Podcast before a team meeting. Prior to that meeting, you download the premium content for the episode. This will typically be questions you can use to facilitate a discussion on the topic. In addition, there are usually links to additional resources such as recommended books or articles for follow-up learning. All this makes it easy for you to develop practical project management and leadership skills on your team without breaking your budget. Beyond that, Premium Subscribers are automatically entered into drawings for books and other resources throughout the year. And, as a special bonus, you get free admission to webinars that I lead throughout the year. Visit here to learn more about how to develop your team with a Premium Subscription. One last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or colleague know about The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to pour into them as well, to help them lead people and deliver projects. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration: 29:30 Download episode 31 | 6/7/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Wired to Care, with author Dev Patnaik | What comes to mind when you think of empathy? Do you think of someone who is highly sensitive and compassionate--maybe even too much? Or does that description sound more like sympathy, where empathy isn't quite as emotional? Empathy remains a hot topic in leadership. It's difficult to lead people without some measure of empathy in your approach. Yet I've observed from plenty of executive coaching clients that there's some opportunity to better understand what empathy is--and isn't as we seek to deliver projects and lead teams. One of the freshest voices on empathy today is Dev Patnaik, CEO of Jump Associates. Dev recently authored the book Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy. I had the opportunity to talk with Dev and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this cast. Make sure to get a copy of Dev's book Wired to Care. And check out the book's website (wiredtocare.com) and Dev's organization Jump Associates. Before we wrap this up, I want to give you a heads-up about our new Premium Podcast subscriptions. The best leaders I've had the opportunity to work with had at least two things in common: they actively invested in their own personal development, and they intentionally developed the people around them. We get thousands of downloads of our podcast each month, often from people who share that passion to develop themselves and the people around them. As a Premium Subscriber, you'll be able to take that development to the next level. Our regular free episodes will continue. Premium subscribers will get exclusive access to additional resources to apply the learning from each podcast episode. You can personally benefit and, if leading a team, you can use the resources to develop those around you. In addition, Premium subscribers will get exclusive access to additional episodes, automatic entry into freebies (such as books from authors I interview), and free admission to web meetings I periodically conduct. Premium subscriptions will begin in July. To learn more, I invite you to visit our podcast website at http://www.peopleandprojectspodcast.com. Look under the About menu to learn more about Premium Subscriptions. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 30 | 5/16/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The Project Success Method, with author Clint Padgett | So when it comes right down to it... what can you do to better ensure that you successfully deliver the projects you're managing? It's a question I love working with our clients on, and it's a question that is directly addressed in Clint Padgett's book The Project Success Method: A Proven Approach for Achieving Superior Project Performance in as Little as 5 Days. I had the opportunity to talk with Clint recently and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. To learn more about Clint and his organization, I invite you to check them out at projectsuccess.com. Do you have an upcoming company meeting or retreat? We have keynote presentations that can inspire and motivate your teams to successfully deliver the projects and lead their teams. Contact us at 866-884-5323 to learn more. I invite you to join me next time when I talk with Dev Patnaik, author of an intriguing book on innovation and leadership entitled Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Download episode 29 | 4/26/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Influence Without Authority Scenarios, Part 2 | It's one thing to know there's a model for influencing without authority. But how do we implement that model, as leaders and project managers? That's what we tackle in this second part of my interview with Dr. Allan Cohen, author of Influence Without Authority. {loadposition content_amazonInfluenceWithoutAuthority}I recommend you check out the accompanying website for Dr. Cohen's book, which you can find at www.influencewithoutauthority.com. Are you interested in learning how to develop your influence skills? How about your team's ability to influence? Give us a call to learn how we can help you become more influential, even in situations you don't have authority. Please join me in the next episode when I’m joined by Clint Padgett, President and CEO of Project Success Inc, and author of The Project Success Method: A Proven Approach for Achieving Superior Project Performance in as Little as 5 Days. Thanks for joining us for this episode! Have a great week! Duration 19:37 Download episode 28 | 4/20/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How to Influence Without Authority, an interview with author Dr. Allan Cohen | One of my leadership heroes is Ken Blanchard, who is on record of saying, "The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” I wholeheartedly agree with Ken, that developing your influence skills is critical to success in today’s business environment, especially when a growing number of project managers and other leaders have an increasing amount of responsibility but not necessarily a corresponding amount of authority to go with it. {loadposition content_amazonInfluenceWithoutAuthority}Many listening to this cast are in positions where they have to influence without authority and to help us improve our skills in that area I got in touch with the author of one my favorite books on the topic, Dr Allan Cohen, who wrote Influence Without Authority. In this cast we walk through the influence model that Allan developed with Stanford professor Dr. David Bradford. In the follow-up cast I have Allan walk through a couple specific scenarios relevant to our audience, to apply the model in practical ways. You'll notice part way through the cast that our recording system introduced some background interference due to a technical issue that occurred during my discussion with Dr. Cohen. I apologize for the annoyance, trusting you'll glean many lessons from the interview despite the distraction. I recommend you check out the accompanying website for Dr. Cohen's book, which you can find at www.influencewithoutauthority.com. Please join me in the next episode when Dr. Cohen applies his influence model to two specific scenarios that I’m confident you’ll find relevant to your role. And, one last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or colleague know about The People and Projects Podcast? I’d love to pour into them as well, to help them lead people and deliver projects. Thanks for joining us for this episode! Have a great week! Duration 29:53 Download episode 27 | 4/20/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Part 2 of an Interview with Dr. Ed Schein | In our last episode I started an interview with Dr. Ed Schein, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT and author of fourteen business books, including The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. Make sure to listen to that episode if you happened to miss it. {loadposition content_amazonHelping}In this second part of the interview, we turn our attention to Ed's seminal yet highly practical book entitled Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Ever wonder why some people find it difficult to ask for help, even when they are "spinning their wheels" with the project tasks? Or why some people just won't take you up on offers to help, even when it's desperately needed? In this interview Ed helps us understand the surprisingly complex dynamics around giving and receiving help. I strongly recommend you get a copy of Ed's books we discuss in these two episodes. I invite you to join me next time when I interview Dr. Allen Cohen, author of the acclaimed book Influence Without Authority. Part of the complexity of projects today relates to the fact that many of us have the responsibility to deliver the projects yet don't have authority over all the people we must depend on. Increasingly project success depends on relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders, and our ability to influence those people—even when we don't have authority over them—is critical. I look forward to sharing that interview with you. Thanks for checking out our new podcast website at www.peopleandprojectspodcast.com. I invite you to let me know what you think about it! Thanks for joining us for this episode! Have a great week! Total Duration: 21:17 Download episode 26 | 4/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Corporate Culture Survival, with Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus, Dr. Ed Schein | It happens regularly... my phone rings, I pick it up, and on the other end I'm talking with someone who's inquiring about bringing us in to deliver a keynote for a company event or training for their organization.{loadposition content_amazonCorpCulture} My first response is not whether I'm available on the dates they're looking for. My first questions are designed to help me understand the problems they're trying to solve. Once I have a good sense of the issues they want to address, I inevitably ask a critical, open-ended question: "Tell me about the culture of your organization?" How would you respond to that question? How would you describe your company's culture? Or the culture of your team? How about the project culture at your company--how things get done? This is what I've found: understanding organizational culture is critical to being able to deliver projects and lead teams. If I don't have a decent idea of the culture I'm walking into for a keynote, workshop, or coaching session, I flat out won't be effective. It would be like walking in and finding that everyone speaks a foreign language. Dr. Ed Schein is a world renowned MIT professor and expert on organizational culture, and has authored fourteen business books, including The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. When it comes to knowing how to get things done in a company, Ed is one of my heroes, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to speak with him recently.{loadposition content_amazonHelping} This episode contains the first part of my discussion with Dr. Schein, with the remaining to be included in the next cast. [readon url="http://bit.ly//EdScheinP2"]Click here[/readon] for Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Schein will focus on his book Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Would you take a moment to tell a friend about this podcast? I would love to have the opportunity to help develop your friends and colleagues who have a desire to successfully deliver projects and lead teams. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration: 24:19 Download episode 25 | 3/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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PDUs for PMPs, with guest Cornelius Fichtner, PMP | I love helping project managers get their PMP certification. For those of you who have completed that journey, you know it's a lot of work! There are plenty of you listening who have been putting it off and would benefit from taking action on that this year. But what about once you get the certification? You enthusiastically cross the finish line and are awarded with... the need to get PDU's to retain your certification! If you have a plan, getting your required continuing education credits is not that big of a challenge. But waiting until the end of your three year term is not a good plan. This cast is to help you put together a plan to get those PDU's, and you'll hear from the one and only Cornelius Fichtner, host of The Project Management Podcast. Cornelius will tell you about his favorite ways to get PDU's, including a new offering he's rolling out soon called The PDU Podcast. Click here to learn more about The PDU Podcast (or go to http://bit.ly/PDU-Cast). And, hey, for those of you who have been putting off getting your certification, give me a call! If you're in the Chicago area I have a PMP Prep workshop on some selected Saturdays over the next two months. As of the recording date, there are still 3 slots open. You can reach me toll-free at 866-884-5323. If you can't attend the class, here's another idea! One of my favorite recommendations for helping aspiring project managers to get their certification is The PMP PrepCast, also from our friend Cornelius. It's one of the best values for the dollar to help you pass the exam. You can find the PMP PrepCast at http://bit.ly/PM-PrepCast. I invite you to join me in our next episode when I talk with Dr. Ed Schein, the world renowned MIT professor and author of The Corporate Culture Survival Guide and Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. It's been said that "Culture eats strategy for lunch every time." Don't miss this episode for expert insights on how to thrive in the culture of your company and industry. You can receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail, allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely manner. Sign up here! And, one last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or colleague know about The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to pour into them as well, to help them lead people and deliver projects. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration: 23:57 Download episode 24 | 3/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman on Influence | Here's the situation... you're responsible for delivering a project. Your boss comes in today and announces that senior management has decided that you must deliver your project 4 weeks earlier than originally planned. You know that the project is already carrying a lot of risk, and cutting 4 more weeks seems completely unrealistic, at least from your perspective. Yet it also appears, from your perspective, that speaking up or pushing back could be job risking. They aren't looking for your input--they're looking for you to deliver on the demand. Sound familiar? Whether you are a project manager or responsible for leading a team, we are regularly faced with situations that require us to influence others. Yet here's my observation: influence skills are one of the most under-trained areas for many people today. It's almost as if we think influence training is for salespeople or lawyers or "those people over in procurement." {loadposition content_amazonYes}We all can benefit from developing our influence skills. One of my favorite influence books in the last couple years is entitled Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. I had the opportunity recently to speak with the co-author of Yes!, Steve Martin, and look forward to your feedback on the interview in this cast. By the way, you'll hear Steve share his thoughts on how to deal with that boss with unrealistic timeframes! A practical next step to develop your influence skills is to get a copy of the book that Steve authored with Robert Cialdini and Noah Goldstein: Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. Also, check out Dr. Cialdini's classic: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Steve puts out a very helpful newsletter entitled the Inside Influence Report. I encourage you to sign-up for it. If you are interested in developing the influence skills of your project managers, team leads, or other organizational leaders, give us a call! Between keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching, we have a number of ways that we can help your leaders improve their influence skills. You can contact us toll-free at (866) 884-5323 or via e-mail at show@i-leadonline.com. {loadposition content_amazonInfluence}I invite you to join me in our next episode when I talk with Cornelius Fichtner, the host of The Project Management Podcast. For those of you who are certified PMP's and are interested in some helpful ways to get the required PDU's to maintain your certification, you particularly don't want to miss this episode! You can receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail, allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely manner. Sign up here! And, one last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or colleague know about The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to pour into them as well, to help them lead people and deliver projects. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration: 44:34 Download episode 23 | 2/16/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Who's Got Your Back? An interview with bestselling author Keith Ferrazzi | Download the episode I got a call this morning from a former coaching client. Two years ago when I was working with Jerry he expressed interest in writing a book, which I enthusiastically encouraged he pursue. Two years later hes made significant progress and now had questions about the publishing process. In roughly 20 minutes I happily downloaded lessons that were learned since I published my first book 8 years ago. {loadposition content_amazonGotYourBack}Why do I share this story? What if Jerry hadn't surrounded himself with someone who cared enough to help him out? I don't want to over-state the value of my advice for certainly there are plenty of websites and services that have information that could help him achieve his goal. Yet there's something even more powerful about having close access to a circle of people you trust, who you know care about your success, and are eager to help you achieve it. Jerry has that in me. Who do you have in your inner circle or your "Go To Group" (a term I introduce in my keynote on relationships called The Dirty Little Secret of Business)? Who we surround ourselves with is critical, and it's an important lesson in Keith Ferrazzi's new book Who's Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success--and Won't Let You Fail. I first heard of Keith when he wrote the best seller Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time back in 2005. I have to say this upfront: If you lead projects and teams, chances are your success depends far more than you realize on the relationships you build. If you haven't read Keith's books, get them today. {loadposition content_amazonNeverEat}I look forward to sharing a recent discussion I had with Keith in this cast. In addition to picking up a copy of Keith's books, I invite you to follow Keith's blog. You can find that, along with many additional resources, at KeithFerrazzi.com. Hey, here's another idea. Our keynote entitled The Dirty Little Secret of Business takes this topic of relationships head-on. If you have an upcoming company or association meeting and would like to help the participants better leverage the power of relationships, give us a call! It would be a real pleasure to help your event be a success! I invite you to join me in our next episode when I talk with Steve Martin about the topic of influence! Imagine that--Andy Kaufman talking with Steve Martin! If you're expecting two comedians, you'll be disappointed. However, Steve is an accomplished U.K.-based author, speaker, and consultant on influence. I can assure you that his insights will definitely be helpful for those who responsible for leading people and delivering projects. Quick note: You can now receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail, allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely manner. Sign up here! And, one last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or colleague know about The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to pour into them as well, to help them lead people and deliver projects. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! | 2/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The New Year Money Episode, with author and speaker Matt Bell | Download the episode As you start this new year, let me ask you a personal question: How satisfied are you with your financial situation? Though it doesn't seem like a question for a podcast on leadership and project management, here's what I've found: there are seemingly endless resources available on the internet to learn more about managing your finances. Yet I find that many of my coaching clients--once I get to know them well enough--confess that financial stress is something they deal with, particularly in this economy. Since work/life balance is an important objective for all who desire to lead people and projects, I wanted to invest a cast on the topic of our personal finances. The start of a year is often a great time to reboot old habits to start fresh with new ones. When it comes to financial advice I turn to my friend, author, and personal finance expert Matt Bell. I had the opportunity to talk with Matt recently and look forward to sharing the interview with you in this cast. To learn more about Matt, check out his website at http://www.mattaboutmoney.com/. Also, don't miss the sites Matt mentions in this cast, including Mint.com, Fidelity's MyPlan Snapshot , Ask.com/deals, and ebates.com. Hey, quick question: How are YOU doing on your new year's resolutions? We're far enough into the new year that, at least statistically, many of them will have fallen off the radar screen. But they don't have to. If you haven't yet heard my interview with Jordan Goldberg, CEO of StickK.com, make sure to check it out. Jordan's site has helped me reach my new year's weight loss goal in far less time than I planned. You might just find a way to use their site to achieve some financial related goals this year as well! Please join me in our next podcast when I interview Keith Ferrazzi, author of the bestseller Never Eat Alone and his new book Who's Got Your Back. Relationships are a key ingredient to your success at work, with projects, and in life, and Keith is the foremost authority on the topic. Quick note: You can now receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail, allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely manner. Sign up here! And, one last thing! Would you take a moment to let a friend or colleague know about The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to pour into them as well, to help them lead people and deliver projects. Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! | 1/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Accountability That Works! An interview with author and speaker John G. Miller | Download the episode Accountability. It's an easy word to say, but when it comes to practicing it, whether on a personal level or across an organization, it's often not practiced (or practiced well). A recurring theme I hear from project managers and leaders is that their organization struggles with accountability. John G. Miller is my "go to" person when it comes to the topic of personal accountability. John's book QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life has sold nearly a million copies since it hit the streets some years back. This week John is releasing a new book about how to make your organization exceptional. As you start this new year looking to raise the bar with your teams, I share in this episode a recent discussion I had with John about QBQ! and his new book entitled, Outstanding!: 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional. , especially if you like books where each chapter is 5 pages or less! Check out John's websites at www.qbq.com/, www.outstandingorganization.com/, and www.qbq.com/specks-and-planks.php. What is your biggest frustration about accountability on your project team? Take a moment to send me an e-mail at podcast@i-leadonline.com. I'd be glad to share any insights I can to help your situation. If you would like to raise the bar in your organization's ability to lead and deliver, give me a call! Contact me toll-free at 866-884-5323 and we can talk about our workshops and e-learning that help you and your organization deliver projects and lead teams. Quick note: You can now receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail, allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely manner. Sign up here! I invite you to join me on the week of January 18 when we'll be joined by my friend, author and money expert Matt Bell. In the meantime, thank you for joining us for this edition of The People and Projects podcast. Have a great week! Enjoy the cast! | 1/6/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Making New Year's Resolutions StickK! An interview with Jordan Goldberg, CEO of stickK.com | Download the episode Happy New Year! Thank you for joining us for this special New Year's episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Quick note: You can now receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail, allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely manner. Sign up here! How many times have you set a new years resolution only to have it hit head-on into the wall of reality of daily living? My experience? New Year's resolutions often don't last the day, much less the end of January! There are all kinds of resolutions you might consider, personally and professionally. On a professional level, for project managers that have not yet gotten certified, why not make this the year that you get that done? It's so easy to put it off. For others, there might be some habits you want to improve such as getting more sleep or going out on a date with a loved one more often. If you are a project manager and haven't yet pursued certification, click here to learn more about PMP certification. There are countless ideas for resolutions but how do you make them stick? Well, on this special New Year's episode of The People and Projects Podcast, you'll hear from Jordan Goldberg, CEO of Stickk.com. Make sure to check their service out! In 2010 I resolve to continue publishing episodes every other week, and there's already a great line-up recorded. I resolve to work to keep the podcasts at 30 minutes or less where possible and I'm going to look to keep bringing a project management angle to the interviews even when the topic is leadership focused. Most people listen via iTunes but I resolve to finding a better Flash audio player in 2010 as well! In 2010 you'll be introduced to a premium version of the podcast that will help you not only learn yourself but help you develop those on your teams. More on that in the coming weeks. Hey, one last thing! I love to hear from listeners! Take a moment to send me an e-mail at podcast@i-leadonline.com. Did you have a favorite cast this year? What do you like about our shows and what suggestions do you have to make them better? I look forward to hearing from you. Here's to this being your best year ever! Happy New Year! | 12/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Project Management Beyond PMI, an interview with Bill Duncan, primary author of the original PMBOK(R) Guide | I have the real privilege of helping organizations around the world improve their ability to deliver projects and lead teams. In 2008 we added a PMP Exam Prep offering to our mix to help project managers who want to get their Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute. I have to say this while I can because it's only a matter of time before I won't be able to! So far, every one of our students who have attended our workshops and taken the PMP certification exam have passed! Now obviously I can't take too much credit for this track record because anyone who wants to pass the PMP exam must have a fair amount of experience to even apply. In addition, there's plenty of study required. That said, it's totally passable and we can help you. If you are a project manager and haven't yet pursued certification, I strongly recommend you consider making it a goal for the coming year. Click here to learn more about PMP certification. Now of course PMP certification is an obvious option, but did you know there are other well respected, if not as well known, project management certifications? In this cast you'll hear from Bill Duncan. If Bill's name isn't familiar, his work will be to many of you. Bill was the primary author of the original PMBOK® Guide and shares some helpful insights on certification and delivering successful projects. To learn more about the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management and the certification Bill talks about in this cast, check out http://www.asapm.org/blog. Would you like to help your organization improve its ability to deliver projects more reliably? Our project management series of workshops take well established project management practices and use proven adult learning methods to help you put them into action. Whether you're looking for certification for a selected group of PM's or helping your entire organization improve their project management competencies, our workshops and coaching can help you make a real improvement in the coming year. And here's a New Year's gift for you! Book one or more workshops before the end of January 2010 and we'll reduce the cost by 20%. Contact me toll-free at (866) 88 I-LEAD (866-884-5323) to learn more. I invite you to join us in 2 weeks when you'll hear my interview with best selling author John G. Miller. John is the author of QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life. John and I will talk about his soon-to-be-released book entitled Outstanding!: 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! For my Jewish friends I trust you had a very Happy Hanukkah! And for my listeners celebrating Christmas this week, I wish you and those you love a very Merry Christmas! Have a great start to your New Year! Total Duration: 30:26 Download episode 18 "PMI and PMP" are trademarks, service marks or certification marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc., which is registered in the United States and other nations. Silent Night (Jazz Trio Version) Less Bass by John Stebbe. Used under Creative Commons License Attribution-No Derivative Works 1.0 Generic NOTE: This interview was revised on 4/30/2012 at the request of Mr. Duncan. | 12/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Take Back Your Life! An interview with author John Wittry | Download the episode My middle son Zachary celebrates his 13th birthday later this month. Just this last week I was talking to a friend of his about the upcoming milestone. This friend, who is a couple years younger than Z, remarked, "Man, it seems like we just celebrated his birthday! Has another year gone by so quickly?" Ever get that feeling, especially as we get close to the end of another year? How did this year go by so fast? I had the opportunity to catch up with a close friend over a cup of coffee recently. He remarked that when he looked at the vice president level above him at his company, all he saw was more work, more stress, and less time with his family. Interestingly, he related "Most people at our company look up one level and say, 'You couldn't pay me enough to take that job! Life is too short!'" Maybe you can relate. Either you're already experiencing that frantic pace or you look at the next level and agree that the price on your life isn't worth pursuing a promotion. Certainly this reality hurts companies. They are losing leadership potential because they are losing perspective on what it means to allow people to live more balanced lives. But my concern with this episode isn't your company. It's you. It's my friend, and it's me. How can we take back our life when it seems that the pace of life is taking it from us? I was discussing this with my friend and colleague Kymme Lightfoot who is a consultant with McGhee Productivity Solutions. McGhee specializes in helping organizations with these very challenges and she hooked me up with partner John Witty. John is the author of Take Back Your Life! (Microsoft Press) and if you are looking for perspective to get a better handle on the demands of work and life, this episode's interview is especially designed for you. You can learn more about McGhee Productivity Solutions at http://www.mcgheeproductivity.com/. If you are interested in more information on this topic, here are some potential next steps: First, make sure to get a copy of John's book Take Back Your Life!. Here's a link to buy it on Amazon.com. Second, we have an audio CD entitled Beyond Time Management. The program is filled with practical lessons to help you get rid of piles at work and home, how to remember important things about people, how to stop forgetting things that need to be done, and much more. Listeners of this podcast can get 20% off by using a coupon code of "TAKETIME20" when ordering by 12/31/2009. Learn more at http://www.i-leadonline.com/BeyondTimeProduct.asp. I invite you to join us in 2 weeks when you'll hear my interview with Bill Duncan. If his name isn't familiar, chances are his work is if you are a project manager. Bill was the primary author of the original PMBOK(R) Guide, and we'll talk about certification beyond just what the Project Management Institute offers. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Enjoy the discussion with John! | 12/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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World of Thanks, a special Thanksgiving podcast episode | Download the episode Thanksgiving is, indeed, one of my favorite holidays. Though celebrated this week in the States, many other countries have a similar holiday with essentially the same purpose: give us a chance to reflect on what we're thankful for. The People and Projects Podcast is all about helping you to deliver projects and lead teams. So, it's worth asking: how important is being thankful to helping you lead and deliver? It's critical. In fact, let's test that out for a second.... Think back through bosses you've worked for in the past. Or consider teachers you've had over the years, and perhaps even your parents. Out of that list, who jumps out as someone who was stingy, so to speak, with their gratitude towards you? Whether in word or action, they just didn't dish out appreciation very often. Can you think of someone? Many people can. What consequences come to mind that resulted from that lack of gratitude? Some two years ago I was talking with a CEO about how I like to send Thank You cards to people. He actively tried to convince me that such expressions of gratitude--especially in writing--were a waste of time, much like "holding hands and singing." He said, "People don't need a boss telling them 'Thank You'. Rather, results speak for themselves." Wow. I can only imagine what he's like to work for! Go back to your list. Get that ogre out of your mind and replace them with someone who did a great job of making you feel appreciated. Once again, whether in word or deed or both, they oozed with gratitude. What difference did they make? In my experience, those leaders are able to accomplish so much more. Their teams are more engaged. They can be more innovative because they are working less out of fear and more out of self-motivation. Expressing gratitude and recognizing others for the work they do is a clear mandate for anyone who desires to deliver projects and lead teams. Maybe it's the economy... Maybe it's the growing discontent among many that our political leaders are out of touch. There's no shortage of things to be upset about. So here's what I've found. Being thankful is a choice. It's something we need to proactively pursue to avoid being sucked into the whirlpool of negativity and entitlement that surrounds us. In recent years my company has sponsored a gratitude project called the World of Thanks initiative. Each year people from around the world write in to answer a very simple question: "What are you thankful for?" Though the answers vary widely, I always get great feedback from people about how they find it refreshing to take a moment to participate in the project as well as read the results from young and old alike. As many of you know, this year we opened it up for people to call in with their message so we could include their thoughts in this podcast. For all that called in or just replied to the invitations with messages on LinkedIn, Facebook, or e-mail, thank you for participating. And now, it is my pleasure to share with you the voices of your fellow podcast listeners as they answer the question, "What are you thankful for?" Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! | 11/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Is Failure an Option? An interview with Ralph Heath, author of Celebrating Failure | Download the episode OK, here's the situation.... You're the security guard at a data center, giving a new security guard a tour of the facility. Near the end of the tour you point to a button on the wall. The button is labeled "Do Not Push". While looking back at the new guard you remark, "See this button? Make sure you never pu...." Oops. You accidentally push the button. What happens? I'll tell you what happens. Lights out. Systems go dead—immediately. No nice shutdown. You turn pale—you know this isn't good. There's more to the story. The systems people can't get the servers restarted right away. When they do, there are problems with the network. Your company is unable to process transactions.... not for 1 hour. Not for 2 hours. It's not until 15 hours later that transactions are flowing through the system. Sound scary? This isn't a made up story. It actually happened. Thankfully, you're not in it. But let's say you were... When you get called into the bosses' office, what do you expect them to say? What are the odds you'd hear them say, "Kelly, get in here. I want to thank you for helping us see how incomplete our disaster recovery plans were. If it wasn't for you, we would have gone on, maybe for years, falsely thinking we had everything buttoned up. You also helped us learn that our shutdown button is too accessible. We'll put together plans to fix that. Kelly, from all of us in senior management, thank you very much!" Not likely? You're right. In fact, in the real world version of this story, the accidental button-pushing security guard got fired. Enough money was lost that management decided "Someone must die! We need flesh!" Was this the best way to respond? Though normal, does it fix the problem by firing the guard? My guess is the new guy never pressed the button! But did it really fix things? Or did it just assign blame. Ralph Heath is the author of Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes and Thinking Big. Just the name of the book made me want to interview Ralph! How often do you hear Celebrate and Failure in the same sentence? When things go wrong--even in a big way--what's a leader to do? Can we really celebrate failure without creating a culture of complacence? Could the way we react--such as firing someone in the name of accountability--actually create additional dysfunction? These are issues that Ralph wrestles with in his book. I look forward to your feedback on the interview with Ralph in this episode. So, what are you thankful for? Many countries celebrate a holiday similar to Thanksgiving, which is observed this month in the United States. Each year there is research that reinforces that being thankful--having a spirit of gratitude--has enormous benefits, from helping you be happier to even living longer. How about going on record with what you're thankful for this year? This year we're opening up the phone lines for you! Regardless of where you live, whether in the U.S. or abroad, just call us at (847) 579-9174. Leave your name (first name only is fine) and where you live, then tell us what you're thankful for this year. We'll include your contribution in our People and Projects Podcast episode that will come out the week of Thanksgiving. It's not too difficult to find things to be upset or worried about these days. So let's hear from you what you're thankful for! Call us toll-free at (866) 884-5323 and tell the world what you're thankful for! Everyone who participates by Friday, November 20, gets a free 30-day license to my e-learning module on risk management. It's my way of saying.... Thanks! IMPORTANT: If you want the e-learning license, make sure to leave your e-mail address in the message as well. We will edit out the e-mail address so it doesn't show up in the podcast but will use it to give you the free access to the e-learning. It only takes a minute! Give me a call toll-free at (866) 884-5323 to participate! Enjoy the podcast! | 11/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How to Know What You Don't Know, an interview with author Michael Roberto | Download the episode I hear it all the time when people describe themselves in a work setting: "I'm a good problem-solver!" Are you a good problem-solver? I'm guessing you would say "Yes!" Well, guess what? According to Michael Roberto, author of Know What You Don't Know, maybe we're all focusing on the wrong thing. According to Michael, it's not about becoming better problem-solvers. We need to be better problem finders! I had the opportunity to catch up with Michael by phone recently and look forward to sharing that discussion with you in this cast. To learn more about Michael, I invite you to check out his blog at http://michael-roberto.blogspot.com/. Also, don't miss Michael's other highly recommended book, Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer: Managing for Conflict and Consensus. One way that project managers become better problem finders is through risk management. Have you ever been trained on how to more effectively manage risks? I have an e-learning module entitled What You Need to Know About Risk Management. You can learn how to use risk management to become a better problem finder and earn two PDUs while you're at it. And as a thanks for listening to The People and Projects Podcast, you can save $20 off the $49.95 list price. Just use a coupon code of PODCAST1009 when you order. Go to http://www.i-leadonline.com/eRiskMgtWorkshop.asp to learn more. Before we wrap-up, may I ask you a favor? I invite you to tell a friend or colleague about The People and Projects Podcast. I continue to be amazed at how many people still haven't started using podcasts as part of the professional development strategy. Send them a link or tell them how to find us on iTunes. Thank you very much! Thanks for joining us for this episode. Enjoy the cast! | 10/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Managing Politics and Conflict in Projects, with author Brian Irwin, PMP | Download the episode Hello! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast. I'm over in Europe this week facilitating a project management workshop for a great international company. Though I'm thousands of miles from home in a culture and language that is notably different from my own, I find a couple things remain the same: if you want to deliver projects and lead teams anywhere in this world, you're going to have to deal with conflict and organizational politics. It's just a reality of working with people. When I think of politics with projects, I think of my colleague Brian Irwin, PMP. Brian is the author of Managing Politics and Conflict in Projects, published by Management Concepts and is a contributing author to the book The 77 Deadly Sins of Project Management (Management Concepts, 2009). I had the opportunity to talk with Brian recently and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. How well prepared are you to handle the conflicts that are facing you today? I find that too few leaders have sufficiently developed their ability to navigate the inevitable conflict that comes with their role. Because of the popularity of our current promotion, I'm extending the discount on our conflict e-learning program. Just use a coupon code of OCT-ROCK-50OFF and you will get $50 off a license. Instead of $149, you can get your hands on this practical learning to help you manage conflict more effectively for only $99. This offer is valid through November 15, 2009. Have some left over training budget yet this year? Invest in your ability to navigate conflict. Contact me at podcast@i-leadonline.com to learn more. Make sure to pick up a copy of Brian Irwin's book, and don't miss Brian's articles on ProjectConnections.com. How about letting your friends and colleagues know about The People and Projects Podcast! Send them a link to our web page at www.i-leadonline.com/podcast, or have them look us up on iTunes! It would be a privilege for me to help develop their ability to lead and deliver as well. Thank you for joining me today! Have a great week! We'll see you next time on The People and Projects Podcast! | 10/13/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Why Feedback Doesn't Work, with Charles Jacobs, author of Management Rewired | Download the episode Chances are as a leader you'll be faced with having to give someone constructive feedback this week. Yet have you noticed how people often aren't quite as open to the feedback as you'd like them to be? Chris Hogan, who talks about a process called Courageous Conversations, says the key when you're receiving feedback is to avoid blaming, complaining, and explaining. That's courageous advice, for sure, and easier said than done. Charles Jacobs recently released a book entitled Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn't Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science. Whether it's giving feedback, leading change, or other challenges that face leaders, Charles has some helpful insights based on the most recent brain science. I was able to catch up with Charles recently while he was relaxing in the Caribbean! Enjoy the interview! To learn more about Charles, I invite you to check out his website at http://www.managementrewired.com/. I consistently hear from my executive coaching clients that navigating conflict is a real challenge. Because of that I created an engaging e-learning offering entitled Beyond the Rock and the Hard Place: How to Deal With Conflict More Effectively. As a thank you for listening to this podcast, you can get $50 off the cost of a license. Instead of $149, you can get your hands on this practical learning to help you manage conflict more effectively for only $99. Just use the coupon code of OCT-ROCK-50OFF. Hey, if you're enjoying our podcast episodes I invite you to tell your friends and colleagues! They can listen on the web at http://www.i-leadonline.com/podcast or on iTunes at http://bit.ly/ppcast. If you have a follow-up question, or if you'd like to get a free copy of Charles' book, send an e-mail to podcast@i-leadonline.com. A copy of Management Rewired will go out to the first person who requests it! Thanks for joining us for this edition of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! | 9/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Fierce Leadership, an interview with author Susan Scott | Download the episode Being an effective leader of people and projects can often come down to having a good nose... Being able to sense that something just doesn't smell quite right! Learning to develop your ability to "sniff out problems" or "spot the tells"--those indications there are issues needing attention--is a key leadership skill developed through years of experience. It's also a theme of Susan Scott's new book released just this week entitled Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today. I'm an enthusiastic admirer of Susan's book Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time and had the opportunity to catch up with Susan during this busy week of launching her new best seller. Would you like a free copy of Fierce Leadership? Just be the first person to contact me at podcast@i-leadonline.com. Also, if you haven't read Susan's book Fierce Conversations, here's a link to pick up a copy on Amazon.com. Do you have a friend or colleague who would benefit from interviews such as this one with Susan Scott? I invite you to send them a link to our podcast home page or to subscribe on iTunes. Special thanks to Susan Scott for joining us today! You can learn more about Susan and her company at http://www.fierceinc.com/. And thank you for joining us for this edition of The People and Projects Podcast! Enjoy the cast! | 9/17/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Managing Generation Y, an interview with author and speaker Bruce Tulgan | Download the episode You've heard the terms Generation X and Generation Y. There are plenty of stereotypes associated with each term. Yet when you're responsible for leading a team that spans generations, it's easy to struggle with challenges that vary from attention spans to how to best motivate and recognize accomplishment. Or maybe you are working for a younger boss. He or she is the age of one of your adult kids! What are some ideas to keep in mind to help you manage your younger boss? When I'm looking for insights into leading across generations, I turn to one of the foremost experts on young people in the workplace: Bruce Tulgan. Bruce is the author of Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y. You'll find my interview with Bruce in this cast helpful as you seek to lead today's workforce. Click here to order Not Everyone Gets a Trophy on Amazon.com. Also, I invite you to check out Bruce's organization: Rainmaker Thinking. I enjoy getting Bruce's video newsletter each week and recommend it to you and your team. In our last cast I announced a drawing for two copies of Phil Simon's book Why New Systems Fail. The two winners are Renee Klivickis and Bob Sims! Congratulations to you both! Would you like a chance to get a copy of Bruce Tulgan's book Not Everyone Gets a Trophy? Just send an e-mail to podcast@i-leadonline.com. Please include your name and where you live. Put "Book drawing" in the subject line. I'll draw two winners from those who respond by September 10. Make sure you listen to the end of this cast to learn about the special discount I'm offering for my e-learning on managing conflict. You can save $50 off the price of one license and $130 off a 3-pack. Just use a coupon code of PODCAST0909 when you order. Visit http://bit.ly/ConflictElearning to learn more about the training. Enjoy the cast! | 8/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Why New Systems Fail, an interview with author Phil Simon | Download the episode Think about the last really big project you were involved with.... How would you describe how it went? Smooth? Flawless? Exactly as planned? That's not what I usually hear from customers and colleagues! Rather, I'm more apt to hear responses such as "Challenged", "Stressed", or "Lots of changes!" We continue to learn so much about how to run projects and yet new projects--often those really large ones--continue to struggle. In our project management workshops we spend extended time on those factors that most contribute to project success and failure to help arm project managers, sponsors, and team members. In this episode of the People and Projects Podcast, you'll hear from one my go-to people when it comes to understanding project success and failure: Phil Simon. Phil is the author of the acclaimed book Why New Systems Fail: Theory and Practice Collide. If you have a large scale project kicking off soon, I strongly recommend you contact Phil to see how his organization can help you avoid the many landmines he lays out in his book. You can learn more about Phil at his website: http://www.philsimonsystems.com/. Phil has generously made 2 autographed copies of his book available for a drawing! Just send me an e-mail with your name and where you live. Put "Book drawing" in the subject of your e-mail and you'll automatically be entered into the drawing. On August 31 I'll select two names from those who respond. Thank you for listening to the People and Projects Podcast! I invite you to tell your friends and colleagues about us. Some of the best free learning available these days is on podcasts, and it would be a real pleasure for me to share these interviews with those you know. You can subscribe to the People and Projects Podcast on iTunes by going to http://bit.ly/ppcast. Here's to your project success! | 8/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Managing Extreme Projects, with author and consultant Doug DeCarlo | Download the episode Over the years I've not only worked on a lot of projects. I've also sat through a lot of project management training and read plenty of books. Have you ever noticed that projects are a lot easier to manage in a class than in the real world? Unfortunately a lot of training and books are filled with theory that can be difficult to apply when you leave the material and run head-on into the wall of reality. That's why my organization works diligently in our keynotes and workshops to keep them as practical as possible so participants leave with skills that can be applied, not just knowledge that works on a white board! There's also the problem of scale. It's one thing to manage a single project or a couple small projects. But what about the big ones--the extreme projects where uncertainty runs high and so do the stakes. That's the realm where many of us live so this episode is all about managing extreme projects. My favorite extreme project management guru is Doug DeCarlo, author of the book eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility. I had the opportunity to catch up with Doug recently and look forward to your feedback after you listen to my interview with him in this episode. A major part of project success comes down to relationships: with stakeholders, team members, and sponsors. In fact, just about everything in business and life comes down to relationships. That is the main point of our keynote entitled The Dirty Little Secret of Business. What is the dirty little secret of business? It's all done on relationships. Whether we're talking about your individual success or that of your company, chances are it is heavily dependent on the strength of relationships. I'd love to share this keynote at your organization. If you have an upcoming company or department gathering, offsite retreat, or association meeting, give me call to explore how The Dirty Little Secret of Business keynote can put an exclamation point on your event! Thank you for listening to The People and Projects Podcast! If you enjoy this free resource I invite you to get the word out to friends and colleagues that would benefit. Also, please send me a note to let me know what you're learning from each episode. You can reach me by e-mail at podcast@i-leadonline.com. Enjoy the interview! | 7/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Leading and Delivering with Virtual Teams, with guest Dr. Karen Sobel Lojeski | Download the episode Let's face it: it's challenging enough to lead and deliver when your team is all together in one location! The problems compound when team members are distributed across multiple locations and perhaps even time zones. When is the best time to meet? How often? How can we help this team truly work together and feel like a team? It's a real challenge for those who desire to excel at delivering projects and leading teams in today's virtual workplace. I've had to learn many lessons the hard way while managing distributed teams that include offshore development. What I've learned over the years is this: great teams, whether located together or spread out across the globe, don't just happen. We have to absolutely be intentional about forming, developing, and maintaining them. If we don't we always leave much needed productivity on the table. These days when I'm looking for fresh insights on virtual teams and leadership I turn to my colleague Dr. Karen Sobel Lojeski, author of Uniting the Virtual Workforce: Transforming Leadership and Innovation in the Globally Integrated Enterprise. Her views on leadership and team development in a virtual world are always timely and insightful. I look forward to your feedback on my interview with her in this episode. You can learn more about Karen and her company at http://www.virtualdistance.com/. A major part of team effectiveness comes down to relationships. In fact, just about everything in business and life comes down to relationships, which is the main point of our keynote presentation entitled The Dirty Little Secret of Business. Though the title sounds provocative, the message is clear: whether we're talking about your individual success or that of your company, chances are it is heavily dependent on the strength of relationships. Contact me at andy@i-leadonline.com or toll-free at 866-884-5323 to learn more about how this keynote can put an exclamation point on your upcoming company or department gathering, offsite retreat, or association meeting. And here's a big thank you to you! Baseline magazine rated the People and Projects Podcast one of the Ten Must-Listen To podcasts regarding project management. If you're getting value from these episodes, take a moment to tell your friends and colleagues! Thank you for listening to the People and Projects Podcast! | 6/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Getting More Done with Less Stress, with guest Jason Womack | Download the episode "I don't have enough time!" It's a common refrain. Whether from participants in a workshop or over a cup of coffee with a coaching client, I'm constantly working with people who are struggling to stay on top of their commitments. Though I help others on the topic all the time, managing my own time is a continual challenge. The interview you'll hear in this episode was recorded a month ago. It's taken until now for me to carve out enough time to bring it to you. It's a universal challenge for most professionals today: How can we get everything done when there's just not enough time to do it? When I'm looking for insights on managing my time, I head to my friend and colleague Jason Womack. Jason is a great source of inspiration and fresh ideas for me when it comes to personal productivity. To learn more about Jason, I invite you to visit his website at http://www.jasonwomack.com/. Or just Google Jason's name and you'll find helpful articles and videos online. At the end of this cast you'll learn how to save 50% on our e-learning offering entitled "5 Keys to Getting More Done with Less Stress". Just use the coupon code "E-TIME-50" when you checkout. Thanks for listening to the People and Projects podcast! Contact me at andy@i-leadonline.com or toll-free at 866-884-5323 for ideas on how to help you and your team get more done with less stress. | 5/8/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Engaged Are Your Teams? Got Conflict? A conversation with Kenneth W. Thomas, author of "Intrinsic Motivation at Work" | Download the episode So take a look around you. How engaged would you say the people are in your organization? Each workplace is unique but here's a dose of reality: Some research shows only 29% of North American employees are fully engaged. That's a lot of productivity being left on the table. Particularly during challenging economic times, it's essential for our teams to be fully engaged and committed to project and organizational success. But how are they going to go the extra mile if they aren't engaged? One of my heroes in business over the years is Kenneth W. Thomas. If you've sat through any of my leadership or conflict management sessions, you've likely heard me refer to Ken. His research and writing on managing conflict has significantly impacted me. Ken is a co-author of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI). Ken is also the author of the new book Intrinsic Motivation at Work: What Really Drives Employee Engagement, published by Berrett-Koehler and ASTD. This book is an easy read: informal yet packed with great insights to help you engage your teams. Whether it's Ken's work on conflict or engaging the workforce, Ken is a clear and strong voice that offers not only words of wisdom but also practical tools to help us lead through conflict with engaged teams. I had the opportunity to catch up with Ken recently to get his insights on all this, including the new Work Engagement Profile. This easy-to-use profile provides excellent insights to understand how engaged you and your team are to help put together a plan to re-engage. Most organizations could benefit from practical learning about how to manage conflict. Contact me today to learn about the TKI assessment. We can help you and your organization better understand how to productively navigate conflict. Learn more at http://www.i-leadonline.com/tki.asp. For hospitals who need to comply with the Joint Commission standard LD.2.40, I invite you to visit http://www.healthcare-conflict-management.com/tki-assessments.html to learn more how we can help you. Another way to take a next step from this podcast: contact me about Ken's new Work Engagement Profile. I can walk you and your team through the profile, and facilitate a plan to re-engage your workforce during these challenging times. Finally, don't forget the special offer in the podcast. It can be tempting to think "Andy's other listeners have already picked up those free books or assessments. I won't get in touch with him." Send me an e-mail at andy@i-leadonline.com or call toll-free at 866-88 I-LEAD. You just might pick up a freebie! Thanks for listening to The People and Projects Podcast! Enjoy the interview! How Engaged Are Your Teams? Got Conflict? A conversation with Kenneth W. Thomas, author of "Intrinsic Motivation at Work" | 4/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Increasing Your Charisma, with guest Dr. Nick Morgan, author of "Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma" | Download the episode You're presenting in a meeting or perhaps in front of a group. What is it that makes you more believable? More engaging? More trustworthy? The topic for today's cast is the key to charisma. Many people think you either have the charisma gene or you don't. Tony Robbins? He got it. Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Not so much! But is it purely a matter of genetics? Is there hope for those of us whose family tree didn't bless them with the charisma gene? After coaching hundreds of executives I'm here to tell you there's hope for us all! Charisma is not two-state: you either have it or not. There are practical skills that you can develop to improve your ability to develop rapport and trust with people. And let's face it. This is a critical skill to develop. As I often say, the "dirty little secret of business is that it's all done on relationships." To succeed we need to be able to convince our boss, key stakeholders, or customers to support our ideas. Being authentic, engaging, and trustworthy is foundational to our ability to influence. Similarly, to be successful we need to be able to detect when someone is not being straight with us. I've often said that sometimes being an effective project manager (or leader) is having a good nose.... By that I mean: "Hmmm... something doesn't smell right!" Developing our instincts to know when we're being told the truth or not can be an important part of our development as an effective leader. So, how can we be more authentic and engaging when we are communicating? That's the subject of the book Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma, written by communication guru Dr. Nick Morgan. A major focus of Dr. Morgan's work is aligning our verbals with our non-verbals--a subject that many of you will have heard me discuss if you've participated in one of my project management or leadership workshops. It's a vital component of effective communication--so simple in concept--yet too often not practiced. In the interview with Dr. Nick Morgan you will hear about the offer for a free DVD of a recent presentation he made on this topic at Harvard. I highly recommend you snag a copy for yourself--something for you and perhaps even to show to your team. These will go fast so send me an e-mail today at andy@i-leadonline.com to get your copy. Hey, quick question: how satisfied are you with how your organization delivers projects? We have a series of three workshops that might be exactly what your organization needs. Our Essentials of Project Management workshop helps you, your teams, and even stakeholders get on the same page when it comes to delivering projects. We're regularly told people learn more in two days than they have in any previous workshop on the topic of project management. Our Advanced Project Management and PMP Prep workshops take the next step in helping you and your organization deliver results. Give us a call toll-free at 866-88 I-LEAD (866-884-5323) or check out our website at http://www.i-leadonline.com/ for more information. Thanks for listening to The People and Projects Podcast! | 3/17/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The Myth of Multitasking, with guest author Dave Crenshaw | Download the episode Clearly we are a culture of jugglers. Whether working with my executive coaching clients or talking with participants in our keynotes and workshops, without a doubt most people are feeling overwhelmed with too much to do and not enough time to do it. So we multitask. Or so we think. One of my favorite books from last year is Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School, by John Medina. I'm a card carrying geek in a number of categories, one of which is learning about how the brain works. Just think how much better we could learn, communicate, influence, and more if we really understood how the brain operated. That's what Brain Rules is all about. One of my favorite lines from the book says, "If you wanted to create a business environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a cubicle!" Though you can find plenty of pundits that will pontificate about the collaborative benefits of cubes, I've yet to find a brain expert that backs that up! As the subtitle of the book states, Brain Rules has 12 principles to help people better understand how the brain works. The 4th rule is Attention: We don't pay attention to boring things. Dr. Medina discusses how we are better at seeing patterns and abstracting the meaning of an event than we are at recording details. He also illustrates how emotional arousal helps the brain learn--emotions help keep our attention and burn the memory in. But Dr. Medina's discussion on multitasking is what really caught my attention. Bottom line: the brain's attentional spotlight can focus on only on thing at a time. There is no such thing as multitasking. You and I might argue, "How can this be? I'm multitasking all the time!" Dr. Medina goes into all the brain scientist geek material to back up his assertion. And here's why it all matters. Studies show that a person who is interrupted takes 50 percent longer to accomplish a task. Not only that, he or she makes up to 50 percent more errors. I say this fully aware that you might be listening to this cast while you're driving. Be careful as it's not just cell phone calls that distract you while driving! Whether in the car or in the workplace, distractions are taking their toll. As someone who is passionately interested in helping people get more done with less stress, this whole topic strikes a nerve with me. Which leads me to another recommended brain book entitled The Myth of Multitasking, written by Dave Crenshaw. Dave is our guest on this cast and shares insights on why multitasking actually hurts our productivity. During the interview Dave encourages you to take a free multitasking test on his website at: http://www.davecrenshaw.com/andykaufman Don't miss the free offer at the end of the cast! Here's to a very focused day for you! Thank you for subscribing to the People and Projects Podcast! | 2/24/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Project Sponsorship, with guest Alfonso Bucero, PMP | Download the episode How important is executive support to your ability to deliver? The answer is: probably even more important than you realize! Nearly every list of contributing factors to project success or failure has some mention of the importance of executive support or project sponsorship as a key factor. The idea is that if you have the support of your sponsor (or management chain), you're much more likely to deliver successfully. Of course that is often easier said than done. Effective project sponsorship is often rare in most organizations, which is why I'm looking forward to you learning from this episode's guest: Alfonso Bucero. Alfonso is the founder and Managing Director of BUCERO PM Consulting (www.abucero.com), based in Madrid, Spain. Alfonso is a frequent speaker at International PM Congresses and Symposiums and has authored multiple books. In this episode we talk about insights shared in his recent book (co-authored with Randall L. Englund) entitled Project Sponsorship: Achieving Management Commitment for Project Success (Jossey-Bass Business & Management). You'll get insights into what a sponsor is, why the role is critical to project success, and why sponsors often aren't doing what we need them to do on our projects. In addition, Alfonso will share ideas for engaging your sponsor and, if you are a sponsor, how you can engage with your project managers. Also, this podcast refers to a special discount for our Horizon Time newsletter and podcast subscribers. You can get $50 USD off our e-learning on managing conflict by using a Coupon Code of ROCK-50OFF. Click here to learn more about our e-learning on managing conflict named Beyond the Rock and the Hard Place: How to Manage Conflict More Effectively. | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Why Social Networking Matters | Download the episode A common theme across my executive coaching clients is related to networking. Often it comes down to the sense there's not enough time to network. "Nice idea but I'm too busy!" But when I, as a coach, push back on this bias, here's what I find: It's not a time issue. Rather, it's a perception issue. We prioritize those things that we perceive will provide the best return for our attention. Bottom-line: networking is often not perceived as sufficiently valuable to justify the investment of time. Social networking tools provide a technology to facilitate networking. But what are some ways to use these most effectively? How can I make sure I don't waste my time with them? This podcast discusses strategies to help you more actively leverage the power of social networking to enhance your career and improve your ability to lead and deliver. If you're listening to this prior to January 29, 2009, please join us for the free webcast entitled It's All About Relationships: Strategies for Leveraging Social Networking. Also, this podcast refers to a special discount for our Horizon Time newsletter and podcast subscribers. You can get $50 USD off our e-learning on managing conflict by using a Coupon Code of ROCK-50OFF. Click here to learn more about our e-learning on managing conflict named Beyond the Rock and the Hard Place: How to Manage Conflict More Effectively. | 1/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 78 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
IT Manager
I first met Andy when he presented a Project Management workshop at my company. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the material as well as with his approach. His mix of course material, real life examples, and exercises provided a great learning experience. I was happy to hear that he now has a podcast. So far, I am impressed with the quality of the talks, the material, and the guests he has had in his first few podcasts. I highly recommend it.
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Interviews are top-rate and well worth the time to listen. No matter your affiliation or industry, these podcast interviews will leave you with some great take-aways and action steps for all areas of your life. Very GTD-friendly. Keep up the great work!
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I really enjoyed these free podcasts and I listen to them during my commute to and form work! I found Andy's questions be to very good questions and the interviewees answers to be useful. The podcasts on time savers was helpful - for example I have started to use reqall.com already!
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