So, yes, I've read about Google's attempt to identify what makes a good manager.  You, too, can read it in The New York Times, here.  So it must be so!  Just to steer you right, the article is entitled ,"Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss."

And yet, just tonight I did a search for "evil managers" (don't ask) and I got a link to a Forbes story entitled "Google's Failed Quest To Prove Managers Are Evil - And Why You Should Care" which can be found here.

When I clicked through to the story, with what am I greeted?  Some sort of introductory page with:

Forbes Thought of the Day
"Work is love made visible."
Kahlil Gibran

Which, when I clicked through, led me to a swamp of weak thinking on management and leadership. For shame - don't sell me on how "work is love" (which should also imply that "love is work") and then push me through to the article I read.

The article's approach is asinine: so, engineers, who thrive on systems and systems building, shrink in horror from 
managers...those people in organizations who are responsible for, uh, systems and systems building?

Google's experiment with trying to identify "good" managers is valid, for two simple reasons: First, all managers need to be leaders, as all leaders need to incorporate "managing" in what they do.  And Second, All Leadership is Contextual.  Situational.  So what Google was trying to do was identify what their employees considered to be good management for what they needed to accomplish.

Accomplish - produce, create, achieve.

Listen up, everyone: Don't fall for the casually evil perspective that "leadership" is simply part of sound  "management" - management categorizes and controls for the sake of categorization and control, that's what 
it's there for.  Leadership is rising above this to at least try our damnedest to see that our colleagues can produce, create, and achieve.

For a tonic to all this, read through this conversation.

But for now...I'm pooped!  Buona notte a tutti, belli e bruti....

These are challenging times, and open to opportunity...

Individuals in both their personal lives and professional roles are increasingly called upon to communicate more effectively, to innovate, and to show leadership.

In collaboration with CEGEP VANIER COLLEGE, I am pleased to announce a series
of workshops designed to increase effectiveness in Leadership and Leadership
Communication.

We have planned three one-day workshops:

DISCOVER EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
• Research has shown that about 80-90% of the difference between average and outstanding performers in leadership positions was linked to emotional intelligence (EI); EI as a way of understanding how we function in the world is about being aware of and managing yourself, and then understanding and managing others.
• Saturday, April 27

SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION & ACTIVE LISTENING
• "Supportive communication" is essential in leading or managing other people, and includes "active listening," a skill that forms fully one half of effective communication.  This course examines how communication works as both a system (including "coding" and barriers to communication) and as a series of important considerations as to how we convey and receive meaning.
• Saturday, May 4

COMMUNICATING POWER AND INFLUENCE
• Managers find that to bring projects to fulfillment requires a range of various "soft" skills.  These skills can be learned and practiced: knowledge of power sources, use of
influence tactics, applying effective communication - all to be used to bring out the best in your team, and in yourself.
• Saturday, May 11

And one five-week course:

HOW CREATIVE ARE YOU?
• Creativity is elemental in problem-solving, team development and the discovery of innovative solutions. So often we convince ourselves that we aren’t creative - as though being creative were a natural-born trait.  But we are creative and we can choose to be more creative! Once chosen, we find so many ways in which to use and enjoy our creativity, every day, in the way we work and achieve.
Come explore just how creative you are.
• Wednesday evenings, from April 24 through May 22

For individual, personal fulfillment, or to increase workplace effectiveness, leadership "soft skills" and relationship management are vital.

This Spring, enhance and improve your ability to communicate, innovate,
influence, and lead.

For more information, and to register, you can go to http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/professional-development/business-communications-leadership/.

You can also download a promotional flyer about the workshops, below:

For those of you interested in my workshop at McGill, "DIRECT THYSELF": SELF-MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR SELF-LEADERSHIP, last fall I presented a webinar for the university entitled "Enhancing Performance through Self-Motivation and Self-Management."  They kindly recorded it, and you can hear/experience it at http://goo.gl/geSFd.

Remember, it's a webinar, so it's a little static - the actual workshops are much more dynamic!  Have fun all the same!

Leadership is a prerequisite to Management...

So, some thoughts on Leadership and Management…

Please understand that I’m using vanilla definitions for the sake of both ease of understanding and a certain impartiality:

Leadership is "the process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals."

Management is "the process of planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling the efforts of an organized group toward reaching its goals."

Where does the goal itself come from?  It’s actually the first act of Leadership itself, its essential, primal reason for existence - to determine the "what" and "why" of what we
do.

So this means self-leadership must precede self-management - and so self-leadership needs to be addressed prior to trying to develop self-management skills.

On April 25 and 26 I will be exploring self-leadership and self-management skills at McGill University, as part of their Professional Development program.  The name of the workshop is "DIRECT THYSELF": SELF-MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR SELF-LEADERSHIP and you can find more information and a link to registration at www.mcgill.ca/continuingstudies/programs-and-courses/leadership/courses-and-workshops/self-management-skills-self-leadership.

It would be great to jump into this with you! 

I'm pushing my way around online, researching.  I find this, courtesy of the Shepell.fgi LinkedIn blog (and the fine folk at the extraordinary Fast Company):

The Formula For Creating Happiness At Work

Good-day happiness...the day's-end awareness of the fortunate conditions of
one’s life.
Good-life happiness...being engaged in work - on an ongoing basis
- that you find meaningful and challenging.
Peak happiness..."the more transcendent sort...a sense of the eternal...."

Excellent reading, and a wonderful find - enjoy.