Leaders & Managers

Andy Grove, co-founder of microprocessing giant Intel, believes in the fear of failure more than the joy of success.

At 6 feet 5 inches, 46-year-old CEO Marc Benioff is a bear of a man at the helm of Salesforce.com, a $20 billion company, which is leading a market he created from scratch. Behind his chutzpa is a cadre of leaders who have inspired Benioff during pivotal mo­­ments of his life.

Concentrating on the labels of a leader­ship system isn’t as productive as focusing on the behaviors themselves. If you come upon a behavior that makes sense, try it.

Office managers are constantly pressed for time and looking for time-management answers. The sad fact is, most timesaving “secrets” are the best practices you’ve been hearing about since the advent of paper clips. The trick is, you have to try them out to discover whether they match your work style. And then you have to stick with them to gain the benefits. Here are 9 timesaving tech tips recommended by office managers:

Disciplinary and termination meetings are emotionally charged events that carry the potential for nasty words, hurt feelings and even legal troubles. You never know how employees will respond. But you need to be prepared for anything. Four do’s and don’ts to defuse rants and avoid lawsuits:

Through a stream of information and re­­wards, feedback loops—already common in executive coaching and athletics—can turn around bad habits and redirect people toward good ones.

Words are rudders; they set and maintain the direction of life. That’s why the 4-to-1 rule can take you and your staff where you want to go. The rule: Every negative comment requires four positive comments.

Most employees already know if they have a horrible boss. Many employees are predisposed to mistrust managers, often because of bad experiences with bosses at other jobs. So here are six ways managers can work to earn back the trust from their employees:

HR Law 101: Your employee handbook should include statements on these topics: a welcoming letter from the CEO, rules and procedures, your employment policies, compensation and benefits, safety and health rules, an affirmative action statement and an acknowledgment receipt form ...

With unemployment still running above 9% nationally, many people are taking jobs that are lateral—or even downward—moves in their careers. As a result, many managers are supervising employees who have far more experience than the job requires. Use the following guidelines to effec­tively manage overqualified workers and lengthen their stay: