Management Leverage Blog

How to Extend Your Influence…One Direct Report at a Time

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:56:40 +0000

This morning I was thinking about how a vibrant network leverages a manager’s abilities, and came across recent academic article by Galvin, Balkundi, and Waldman*. What interested me most about the article was their focus on how leaders at all levels of management can even inspire those with whom they have no direct contact. The best [...]

How To Admit A Mistake

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:40:58 +0000

In a world of passing the buck, we have so few good examples of how to admit our mistakes. So watch the video below as Tom Vilsack offers his explanation of his decision to fire Shirley Sherrod. Can you really think less of him now?

Do The Best Managers Really Work Less?

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:22:39 +0000

The concept of a 4-hour work week is certainly appealing, especially to those here in the USA who, on average, work more hours than those in any other industrialized nation. But Archimedes wasn’t working when he figured out how to calculate the volume of an irregularly shaped gold nugget. He was supposedly lounging in the [...]

Guest Post: Even Managers Need To Learn

DavidKasprzak — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:34:29 +0000

Today’s post is written by David Kasprzak. Check out his blog over at My Flexible Pencil. Over the years, I’ve encountered several managers who place a premium on training. That is, they believe that training is very expensive and serves as a distraction, so you should do it sparingly. The problem is even worse when [...]

Why Speaking From the Heart Boosts Your Career

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:52:03 +0000

If you take a few minutes to watch this YouTube clip, you will understand why I believe that the boy featured in the video is actually sincere – and that his expression of emotion is genuine. I have no real data to support my conclusion. For all I know the kid could be a charmingly [...]

Why the buck stops here

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:28:46 +0000

File this one under learning from my mistakes. A skip* of mine confided in me that she was unhappy with her job and ready to move on to greener pastures. But she was considerate enough to add that she thinks I am an amazing manager. And that the decision to leave had nothing to do [...]

Why Swimming With Sharks Drives Mediocrity

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:55:52 +0000

True to the original Jaws novel by author Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg’s screenplay included a startling scene where the giant shark feasted on the film’s main character – a grizzled diver named Hooper. Spielberg created the visual effect by hiring a scuba diving stunt midget. By filming the diminutive diver next to a 16-foot Great White, [...]

Why Donkey Herders Can No Longer Lead

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:08:54 +0000

When I ran track in middle school we practiced – as many track teams do – by running down the road. But unlike most, our overweight coach would chase us from behind in his pickup truck, which had an electric cattle prod mounted to the front bumper. Sure, we ran faster, but not to lead [...]

Using Lydia’s Rule To Leverage Your Time And Effort

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:59:37 +0000

My favorite manager of all time had a simple philosophy I now call Lydia’s Rule. As much as I would like to write a book about it, I don’t think I could find a publisher interested in a book consisting of a single sentence. Lydia’s rule is as follows: You make me look good, and [...]

What’s Wrong With The Future of Your Network?

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:24:35 +0000

The news that many of the schools in the Big XII are being courted to join other conferences is big news in these parts of Texas. What I find most surprising about all of this, is that people are actually surprised. And even if you aren’t a fan of college sports, you can learn a [...]

Apple’s Symbolic Problem with Steve Jobs

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:29:59 +0000

Memorial Day is a time for us to remember our country’s fallen soldiers. And for the last 20 years, this holiday has also symbolized a long weekend at Schlitterbahn water park with my extended family. Schlitterbahn isn’t about water rides. It’s not a destination on the map; it’s a time and place for relationships – for watching [...]

6 People You Should Never Invite to A Meeting

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:40:18 +0000

TMI Mike:Explains his work in detail in order to look important Social Sally: Treats each meeting as a social hour Nodding Nancy: Agrees with everything in order to leave sooner Nodding Nancy’s Cousin: Agrees with everything in order to avoid criticism. No one knows his name or his opinion. Harry Potter: Believes his cloak [...]

Smoking and Networking Revisited

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:42:01 +0000

Looks like the top brass at USAA saw my first video blog about how smoking can help your career. And now their poor smokers can’t even smoke outside the building. I guess they will have to network like the rest of us.

Does the Leader Have To Dance?

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:11:16 +0000

I first saw this video on Jeet Blog. I have since seen it around several other places (here is the original TED talk). The general message is that this guy is a leader, as he has “the guts” to stand alone and look stupid he wasn’t a leader until he had at least one follower And [...]

When The Magical Power of ‘Because’ Gets You What You Want

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:00:11 +0000

“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed and she’s still there!” exclaimed Baby bear. Just then, Goldilocks woke up and saw the three bears. “Sorry for the intrusion,” she said, “but I needed a little rest after eating all that porridge.” Unable to resist the power of the magic word ‘because’, the bears apologized for waking her [...]

Why Santa Should Counterbalance Your Decisions: A Visual Example Live From Beijing

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:48:27 +0000

While in Beijing with the University of Texas EMBA class of 2010, I found a great example of why Santa should sit on your personal board of directors. There is quite a bit of traffic noise in this one, so turn down your volume.

What Managers Can Learn from French Bread

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:32:05 +0000

I first experienced what I now think of as real French bread at a German Market. In Munich I lived about 6 blocks from Viktualianmarkt , where I often purchased the ingredients for one of my many dinner parties. These parties would continue until well into the night, where we would boisterously defend our ideas [...]

How To Manage Like The Greeks

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:01:02 +0000

I once spent the evening with a Greek family outside Olympus. Actually, my traveling companion and I thought we had wandered into a restaurant. But after a few sips (or was that glasses?) of some really bad wine, the whole scene slipped pretty quickly into what seemed like My Big Fat Greek Family Reunion. Like [...]

How To Use Social Media To Give Feedback

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:17:32 +0000

The advent of social media has finally provided managers tools they need to give feedback that is both timely and frequent. So how do you use all these new toys to give feedback? Don’t do it. If your intent is to make someone feel good, then a quick tweet or Facebook post might do the [...]

How Smoking Helps Your Career

John W. Burrows, Ph.D. — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:03:32 +0000