People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast

Laugh While Learning I love to laugh. Whether it's a podcast episode, a keynote presentation, or an e-learning workshop, I like to keep it light-hearted. I've just found that it's easier to learn when we're enjoying the experience. Yet though I share the name of the famous, albeit dead, comedian Andy Kaufman, I'm not really that funny! I have to work at it. And because of that, there are times when a joke not only isn't particularly funny--it's counter-productive. Perhaps someone is the butt of the joke, so to speak, and they don't like it. Or it was making light at a time or subject that wasn't appropriate. The Humor Code Our guests in this episode are Pete McGraw and Joel Warner. They are the authors of a clever new book entitled The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny. Why is it that some things are funnier than others? When can humor help us and when can it get in the way? Pete and Joel traveled the world to dissect humor across cultures to learn what makes us laugh. Learning about humor is not just for stand-up comics and class clowns. Since we are in the business of delivering projects and leading teams, we would all benefit from learning how to use this important tool for mutual benefit, while avoiding the landmines of inappropriate use. Learn more about their book by visiting http://humorcode.com/. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! I LOVE TO LAUGH from Mary Poppins: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack (1964 Film). BOOP by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. LAUGHTER by Kirk Pearson and Julia Egan is licensed under creative Commons by Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

"Feedback is a Gift?" Our guest for this episode is Doug Stone. Doug and his co-author Sheila Heen teach negotiation and conflict negotiation at Harvard Law School and they've written a terrific new book entitled Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well. They were also co-authors of a previous best-seller entitled Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most Learn more about Doug and Sheila and their company by visiting http://triadconsultinggroup.com. I Want to Hear From You! Speaking of feedback, I'd love to hear from you! I'm inviting you to call our podcast listener feedback line and leave a message! Why do you listen to this podcast? What have you found helpful? And how about this question, straight from the Thanks for the Feedback book: "What do you hear me doing, or failing to do, that is getting in my own way of producing a podcast that best helps you?" There are two ways to leave me a message: First, you can call our Podcast Listener Feedback Line at (847) 550-3747. Or you can call me on Skype and leave a message. My Skype ID is andy.kaufman.i-lead. Make sure to leave your name and where you're calling from. So give me a call and leave your feedback! I can't wait to hear it! Thanks! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! NETHERLAND by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. OPERATIVES by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. WALLPAPER by Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com) is licensed under creative Commons by Attribution 3.0.

Introducing Steven P. Cohen In this episode, you'll hear from Steven P. Cohen. Steve's latest book is entitled The Practical Negotiator: How to Argue Your Point, Plead Your Case, and Prevail in Any Situation. It's not your typical business book, actually. It's more of a Q&A format, covering a wide range of topics, related to work and to home, from a guy who knows his stuff about negotiation. You'll hear Steve talk about some important negotiation principles and then get his coaching on some situations that are quite close to home for many project managers. Learn more about Steve and The Practical Negotiator: How to Argue Your Point, Plead Your Case, and Prevail in Any Situation by visiting the book's website at http://www.practicalnegotiator.com/. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! NERVES by Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com) is licensed under creative Commons by Attribution 3.0. A THOUGHT by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. COVERT AFFAIR by Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com) is licensed under creative Commons by Attribution 3.0.

Total Duration 37:35 Download episode 106 Happy New Year! I love new things! I love the start of a new project. Working with a new team or new client. Trying out a new tool or a new gadget. I love new.... It's a chance to start over, to learn from the past and apply it to the future. As we fire up another year, it's a great time to look for a fresh start. To consider what we'll do differently. And my advice for you this year? Well, you'll have to listen to the episode to get the answer! Our New Year's Guest: Tom Rath You've likely heard of Tom and his books. He's a senior scientist and advisor to Gallup, where he led their research and consulting on employee engagement, strengths, and well being. If you read How Full Is Your Bucket?, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements, StrengthsFinder 2.0 or took the StrengthFinders assessment, you're among the millions of people who have been impacted by his work. Tom's most recent book is Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes. As we head into a new year, your ability to lead and deliver starts with you! How can you sustain the energy needed for all the stress and demands you'll face this year? How can you not only survive the year but set yourself up for perhaps even decades of better health? How about this? What if we forgot about coming up with big, hairy, audacious New Year's resolutions this year? What if your New Year's resolutions were actually attainable this time around--you know, still relevant two months from now.... Or two days from now! What if we did that by identifying small changes to make? Small changes about how you Eat. Move. And Sleep. In this episode, Tom Rath will tell you how to do that. Resources from Tom Learn more about Tom and Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes by visiting the book's website at http://www.eatmovesleep.org. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! {youtube}YKqrMkDNba8{/youtube} IN A DREAM WHERE I'M SLEEPING by Shatterfreak is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. HOW TO GO TO SLEEP by Mr. and Mrs. Smith is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. GOOD VIBES OVERFLOW by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

I Hear You! In this cast I talk with Donny Ebenstein, who just published I Hear You: Repair Communication Breakdowns, Negotiate Successfully, and Build Consensus . . . in Three Simple Steps. This is a must-read book for anyone leading projects and teams. We inevitably get stuck with the impossible team member, boss, or stakeholder. Progress on the project requires us to get past stuck. Learn more about Donny at http://www.ebensteinconsulting.com. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! LA by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. HEARTS AFLUTTER by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Total Duration 20:25 Download episode 104 A Disposition of Gratitude One of my favorite holidays in the United States is Thanksgiving. Many other countries have a similar sort of day, but whether or not your country celebrates the holiday is not the main point here today. The bigger deal is the idea. Being thankful. Having a disposition of gratitude. That's what we're talking about in today's cast. Are You a Thankful Project Manager? In some of our leadership workshops we'll ask a team to answer this question: "Who is the best among the team at giving out honest and sincere appreciation?" Team members usually find it rather easy to answer this question. Would your name be the one that gets the most hits? In this episode we talk about some research behind expressing appreciation. You'll find it's not just your team that benefits. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and the join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great Thanksgiving Day (whether you're in the US or not)! GATHERING TIME by Digital Juice StackTraxx. is licensed under a royalty-free license. FLUTTERBEE by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. BUMBLE BEE BOSSA by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. CATERPILLAR TUNNEL by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. FILAMENTS by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. GOOD VIBES OVERFLOW by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. HAPPYTIME by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. I HEART THANKSGIVING by The FuMP is licensed from Mevio's Music Alley.

The Year Without Pants Scott Berkun has written one of my favorite books in recent months. Despite the provocative title, The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and The Future of Work offers some refreshing insights into the world of work that all of us can benefit from. In this episode, you'll hear Scott's insights about the workplace of today and the future of work. Learn more about Scott at http://www.scottberkun.com/blog. You can find all his books and his blog there. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and then join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! EUPHORIC by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. NO PANTS FRIDAY by Lee Rosevere is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.

How to Succeed In Business Without Even Trying That makes for the name of a funny movie but success in business is not quite that simple. If you're familiar with the play or movie, the main character reads a book and jets from the window washer to the top of his organization through manipulative techniques that make for fun business satire. But success in business is not a matter of tricks. In this episode, I talk with Dan Schawbel who recently released his newest book Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success. Especially if you are relatively new in your career or manage a team with millennials, you'll find Dan's insights helpful. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and then join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Introducing Mike Durbin, PMP We continue our In the Trenches series with this discussion with Mike Durbin, PMP. Mike shares insights and lessons he's learned in his years of leading teams and delivering projects. Get PDUs or Contact Hours For Less! Want to get 35 PDUs or contact hours for a great price? Check out our PMP®Exam Prep e-learning at http://courses.i-leadonline.com/bundles/pm-certification-exam-prep. This is a great option, whether you're preparing for the exam or want to refresh your knowledge for PDU's. Add Your Voice to Our Podcast! Are you a regular listener to The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to have your voice added to the beginning or end of the cast. Just send me an e-mail saying "I'd love to help!" I would love to have the opportunity to talk with you directly so contact me today and we'll set up a time to record your piece. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Drive by Management {youtube}08QDUPnT4eU{/youtube} Some Zig Quotes Mike mentions a Zig Ziglar quote during the interview. Here's a sampling of the wisdom of the late Zig Ziglar. {youtube}kB7sDw5pMlI{/youtube} GOODWILL COWBOYS RIDE AGAIN by Michael Chapman & The Woodpiles is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. MARATHON MAN by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License. ACOUSTIC BLUES by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License. CHIADO by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License. LEARNED MY LESSONS by Jenny O is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

The Project Named You A key project management lesson is that we need to define success. What does success look like for a project? That's a question we need to ask far more often than we do. Getting clarity on objectives can make an enormous difference when it comes to delivering our projects successfully. Well, how about applying that lesson to our lives? Our guest for this episode is G. Richard Shell, who recently published Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success. Do you think success for you is about being happy? In this episode, you'll be challenged to think again, or at least differently about what happy even means. We'll talk about meaningful work and why having a detailed career plan may just not be what you need right now. Our 100th Episode! As it turns out, this is our 100th episode! Thank you for being a part of this learning journey with me. Feedback from listeners over the years has always been very encouraging to me. So here's a request: would you take a couple minutes and send me a note about what you've found helpful with The People and Projects Podcast? You can contact me at show [AT] peopleandprojectspodcast [DOT] com. Also, I'd love to have you leave a review on iTunes about this podcast. It's a helpful way to get the word out to others. Thanks! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! OUR HAPPY LIFE by Maps & Transit is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License. HAPPY by Obilivian Substanshall is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Don't Take Yes for an Answer! Yes men. Yes women. People who say Yes. Leaders who only want people to say Yes. There are countless decisions required to deliver projects and lead teams. We make the job significantly more difficult if we fall into the trap of surrounding ourselves with Yes people. Or shooting the messenger who brings bad news. Or any of the dozens of cognitive biases that can cloud our decision-making judgment. My guest today is author and professor Michael Roberto. Mike just released a second edition of his book on decision-making entitled Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer: Managing for Conflict and Consensus. When someone doesn't agree with you, is it just a disagreement that leads to a vigorous and healthy debate? Or, as far as you're concerned, they're just wrong? In this episode, you'll hear how we can make better decisions through conflict and consensus. Follow Michael on his blog. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! IT'S NOT SO MUCH THAT I DISAGREE WITH YOU IT'S THAT YOU'RE WRONG by The Gentlemen is licensed under a Public Domain Mark 1.0 License. YES by Hecuba is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Insights from Nancy Duarte If you don't particularly enjoy giving presentations, I understand. Though 1994 was a near-death experience for me, 19 years later I make a living doing it. There's hope for us all and Nancy Duarte is a great leader for us all to learn from. In this episode, Nancy shares ideas from her recent book HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Nancy on Presentations {youtube}1nYFpuc2Umk{/youtube} BLAH BLAH BLAH NEXT SUBJECT by Seven5Seven is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Does Your Work Suck? So how would you describe your excitement level about your job? Would you say, "It's awesome Andy! I love my job!" Or would you be more on the side of... "Work Sucks." Insights from Jody Thompson In this episode you'll hear from Jody Thompson, co-author of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: The Results-Only Revolution and Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It: A Results-Only Guide to Taking Control of Work, Not People. Looking for fresh insights on how to look and work and leading teams? You'll get it in this episode! Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! PIECE FOR DISAFFECTED PIANO TWO by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. BATTY MCFADDIN by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Finger Tapping and Cookie Crumbs In this premium episode, I follow-up on some points from my interview with Paul Weber. You'll learn about: Elizabeth Newton's finger tapping experiment How cookies flushed out some bossy characteristics Click here to watch an interview with Bob Sutton that goes into the bossy issue more. Also, here's the HBR article with Bob. Thank you for joining me for this premium episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! NO GOOD LAYABOUT by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Introducing Paul Weber, PMP We continue our In the Trenches series with this discussion with Paul Weber, PMP. Paul shares insights and lessons he's learned in his years of leading teams and delivering projects. To learn more about Paul and to contact him about the free EVM and PERT calculators mentioned in this episode, go to http://www.pmpguy44.com. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Bob Sutton on Power Poisoning Paul warned us to make sure we don't think of leadership as being the boss or being bossy. Here's one of my favorite authors talking about power poisoning, the effect that happens when someone gets power. {youtube}Mozejv4sE5o{/youtube} NO GOOD LAYABOUT by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Adapt. Deliver. Fast. If you are in the business of delivering projects, especially in the area of software development, you have certainly heard about agile project management. A good sign that the influence of agile continues to grow is when the Project Management Institute created the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner credential (PMI-ACP®) in 2012. If you are actively involved with agile in any of its many forms, it's worth learning more about the PMI-ACP certification. And if you're not currently utilizing agile practices, it's worth investing time to understand what it is and isn't. Welcoming Back Cornelius Fichtner, PMP In this episode, I welcome back my friend and podcast colleague Cornelius Fichtner, whom you probably know as the voice of The Project Management Podcast. In this episode, I talk with Cornelius about agile, the PMI-ACP certification, and a new way to study for the PMI-ACP that might just fit your style of learning. Try the Agile PrepCast™ If you want to study to pass the PMI-ACP exam, check out The Agile PrepCast. Cornelius and his team have been working for over a year to make this a critical resource in your preparation. Similar to his PM PrepCast offering, the learning is delivered via a podcast stream so you can watch or listen to it in a manner that is convenient for your work and lifestyle. For years I have been an affiliate of Cornelius' products and it is with great confidence that I recommend the Agile PrepCast to you. Add Your Voice to Our Podcast! Are you a regular listener to The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to have your voice added to the beginning or end of the cast. Just send me an e-mail saying "I'd love to help!" I would love to have the opportunity to talk with you directly so contact me today and we'll set up a time to record your piece. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! A Little Agile Humor My favorite agilists tend to be people who don't take themselves too seriously. Enjoy! {youtube}ALWHCUNU8Nw{/youtube} FASTER DOES IT by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. "PMI" and "PMI-ACP" are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

What Does It Take To Motivate Your Team? One of the common concerns I hear from those who lead projects and teams has to do with motivation. What does it take? An inspirational speech (see the video below!)? Money? Time? All the above, depending on the person? Motivating Project Teams In this episode I talk with Heidi Grant Halvorson and E. Tory Higgins.. They are the authors of a book just released this week entitled Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence. The underlying research behind the book finds we each tend to have a primary motivational focus or mindset: either promotion or prevention. You'll learn more about what these mean in this episode. I invite you to visit Heidi's website at at http://www.heidigranthalvorson.com/. You can take an assessment to learn your motivational style by visiting http://www.yourfocusdiagnostic.com. Need Some Motivation Hey, you promotion-minded listener! Need a little pick-me-up that will speak right to your promotion-minded heart? Check it out! {youtube}d6wRkzCW5qI{/youtube} BIG BAND from April 1992, from The Music Bakery MILITARY PROCESSION from April 1992, from The Music Bakery GRATITUDE from the album PEACE & QUIET, from The Brain Store.

Can I Ask You a Favor? So let's say someone asks you for help. For a favor, let's say. What's your first reaction? Is it, "Sure! No problem! I'd love to help!" Perhaps most of us would like to think that's how we respond. Could your response vary, based on the situation? Let's modify the scenario. Let's say this person who is asking for help seems, in your mind, to have very little potential to help you in any meaningful way--now or in the future. Regardless of how you made that assessment, in economic terms, this favor would appear to have very little perceived return on investment. So, would you still help? Or would you scramble for an excuse to step away? Welcoming back Dr. Adam Grant My guest in this episode is Dr. Adam Grant. We talk about his new book released just this week entitled Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. In this episode you'll hear Adam talk about givers, takers, and matchers, three reciprocity styles that form the basis of the book. I invite you to visit the book's website at at http://www.giveandtake.com. You can take his self-assessment on that site to learn your preferred style. Also, Adam mentions work done by Alison Fragale at University of North Carolina. Here's a link to an article summarizing her work regarding powerless communication: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/news/2010/07/the-power-of-powerless-speech Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Adam Grant on Success Here's a 5 minute clip of Adam summarizing the reciprocity styles. {youtube}CLsqiRPiKD0{/youtube} How can you avoid being a doormat? {youtube}zL8CsfJiKH4{/youtube} Magic of Fog by Rushus is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License. The Giving and the Taking by Dolly Parton from the album Kenny & Dolly Additional music from Music Alley.

Introducing Kiron Bondale, PMP We continue our In the Trenches series of episodes, with this interview with Kiron Bondale, PMP. Kiron runs the Project Management Office at Agricorp. Make sure to check out Kiron's insightful blog at http://kbondale.wordpress.com. Kiron has graciously offered to share a risk register template with listeners of The People and Projects Podcast. Click the icon below to download the Microsoft Excel file: 20 PDUs for a Great Price! Whether you need contact hours for PMP®certification or PDUs, we can help! Our e-learning is engaging, informative, and even fun. Go to http://courses.i-leadonline.com/courses/advanced-project-management to get 20 PDU's for a great price. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! FIREWORKS by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.

So, how do you feel when each of the following occurs? You come across a typo in a project document. You receive an e-mail that is pages and pages long. Someone hits Reply All and there are hundreds of people on copy. You're stuck in a meeting listening to a presenter who has mastered every business cliche in the book! Yuck. We're living in a business climate where writing skills matter so much but get so little attention. Tips for Better Business Writing Ever sit there in front of your monitor, your keyboard anxiously waiting for you to start typing your communication and you just feel stuck? Wouldn't it be great if there was a concise guide to improve your business writing? Thankfully, there is! My guest in this episode is Professor Bryan A. Garner. He is the author of over 20 books, including Garner's Modern American Usage, Black's Law Dictionary (editor-in-chief), and the grammar and usage chapter in the venerable The Chicago Manual of Style. Brian recently published The HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, published by Harvard Business Review Press. If you want to raise the bar and think outside the box to leverage best practices in business writing, well, um, just listen to this interview with Bryan! You can learn more about Bryan and his organization at http://www.lawprose.org. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Business Jargon Gone Wild It's so easy for me to succumb to bizspeak. In the spirit of mocking business jargon, here's a 2 minute video from some friends in the U.K.: {youtube}0MFUE0KgoEQ{/youtube} Sentimental-Fields 3 All Kinds Of Gibberish Sounds by The Superfools is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareALike License. Talk to Me by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.

Lessons Learned... For Life Hopefully by now you have had the opportunity to listen to my interview with Karl Pillemer. I can honsestly say this is one of my favorite books in the last year so it's my pleasure to share some additional insights with you from the discussion with Karl. In this premium episode we'll discuss ideas such as: Who are your experts? How a profound awareness of short time horizon helps us make better choices The importance of work that is intrinsically motivating Why, unless there is a compelling reason not to, you should error on the side of saying "Yes" The importance of relationships and why emotional intelligence trumps expertise Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 12:38 {mp3remoate}http://traffic.libsyn.com/peopleandprojectspodcast/90-PremiumFollowUpLifeLessons.mp3{/mp3remote} Download the premium episode

When it comes to the stuff of life, there is no shortage of people and resources who offer insights on how to be successful, get a job, have meaningful relationships, and more. The experts range from celebrities to academics to anyone with a blog. Our guest in this episode is Karl Pillemer, author of 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. There are all kinds of reasons why Justin Bieber or other celebrities aren't the best sources for life lessons! But what if we talked to people who have lived much of their life and had a bit of a retrospective or lessons learned with them? That's the idea behind Karl's book, which we discuss in this episode. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! 30 Lessons Trailer For more about Karl and his book, check out this trailer: {youtube}PRaboPigDyc{/youtube} QUADRILLE LAURIER (6EME PARTIE) by Isidore Soucy is licensed under a Orphan Work License. TROUBA by Steve Gunn is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

In The Trenches... Like You A month or so ago I was talking with listener Mike Settlemire. Mike was participating in our Advanced Project Management e-learning program and we were talking about the podcast. Mike had a suggestion: what about interviewing practitioners? People who are leading and delivering in the real world? Insights from Your Peers, Not Authors Hey, I love bringing you discussions with people like John Kotter, Dan Pink, Kerry Patterson, Adam Grant, and the many other guests we have had thus far. And we will continue to deliver interviews from authors of books that can stretch and inform us to better lead and deliver. But I think Mike is exactly right! Some times it can be just as effective to hear from a peer. What does he or she do to help them lead and deliver? What has led to their success and what would they do over? Introducing Ryan Endres Our first installment of our In the Trenches series is with Ryan Endres, PMP. In the interview, Ryan shares insights and lessons that have helped him successfully lead and deliver. During the discussion, Ryan mentions the following resources: Herding Cats blog pmStudent A Girl's Guide to Project Management Ryan's blog: Thoughts of a Project Manager In the interview, Ryan mentions a status report that he loves to use. Ryan was gracious enough to share it with us. Click the icon below to download the Microsoft Word file: 20 PDUs for a Great Price! Whether you need contact hours for PMP®certification or PDUs, we can help! Our e-learning is engaging, informative, and even fun. Go to http://courses.i-leadonline.com/courses/advanced-project-management to get 20 PDU's for a great price. If you need contact hours to prepare for your PMP, check our PMP®Prep e-learning at http://courses.i-leadonline.com/bundles/pm-certification-exam-prep. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! JARDINS DU LUXEMBOURG by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.

You're a Salesperson. Seriously. So, when you think of a salesperson, who comes to mind? For many people, it's someone closer to Kenny the Sales Weasel from Dilbert (see the video below). Good thing you and I aren't salespeople! We're project managers. Team leads. Department heads. Scrum Masters. But salespeople? No way! Or are we? Though we may not be salespeople by title, we spend concerted time on a weekly basis trying to move people--influence people--getting them to take action or agree to something or sign off on a document or hire you or show up for a meeting, or finish a task on time. To Sell is Human Our guest in this episode is Daniel Pink, author of the new book entitled To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. Dan's new book can help us all be much more successful at helping move people without resorting to sleazy tricks. Help Getting Your PMP®Certification Whether you need contact hours for PMP®certification or PDUs, we can help! Our e-learning is engaging, informative, and even fun. Go to http://courses.i-leadonline.com/courses/advanced-project-management to get 20 PDU's for a great price. If you need contact hours to prepare for your PMP, check our PMP®Prep e-learning at http://courses.i-leadonline.com/bundles/pm-certification-exam-prep. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 38:58 Download episode 88 A Little Fun In Dan's book he refers to the Dilbert character Kenny the Sales Weasel. Here's a video version of the cartoon! {youtube}C3iTHHhgezY{/youtube} In the book, Dan talks about the benefits but also limitations of psyching yourself up. Interrogative talk is more powerful. The discussion on positive affirmations reminded me of my favorite Stuart Smalley skit on Saturday Night Live. Enjoy! Finally, here's Dan with one of my favorite past podcast guests, Dr. Adam Grant. Adam and Dan provide a great 20 minute summary of To Sell is Human. {youtube}J6EjBwrdHgE{/youtube} ANYTHING BUT THE TRUTH by Phil Reavis is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. IF I COULD CHANGE YOUR MIND by Sloan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Let's Talk About.... The Future Well, it's time to say good-bye to this year and welcome a new one. So, how do we wrap what's been a very busy year? We're going to talk about... the future. Ah, yes. The future. The start of a new year is a great time to reflect. It provides an opportunity to look at where you've been heading and consider what changes you'd like to see in the year ahead. Project Managers as Futurists In many ways, project managers and leaders are futurists. We try to anticipate what's ahead and navigate our projects in a way that allows us to successfully deliver. But how do you do that? How can you think like a futurist? In this episode, I speak with Cecily Sommers who an author and futurist Ever wonder how someone becomes a futurist? Well, you'll find out! Cecily just recently published an intriguing book entitled Think Like a Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn't, and What's Next. The book is on a lot of must read lists for executives so we're giving you a taste of the book in this episode. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! STARS, GALAXIES AND UNIVERSES and GLIDING....SOMETIMES, both by Jared C. Balogh, are licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Team Turnarounds, Part 2 In the last episode I started the conversation with Joe Frontiera, co-author of Team Turnarounds: A Playbook for Transforming Underperforming Teams. If you haven't already listened to Part 1 of the interview, I invite you to do that first. In this episode we talk about how Domino's Pizza went from admitting their pizza tasted like cardboard and did a team turnaround. We also talk about team culture and how you can increase your odds of turning it around. And we start out with an important conversation about threats and opportunities. You can learn more about Joe and his organization at menoconsulting.com. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Time to Reflect As we near the end of the year, it's a great time to reflect. What's going well with your teams? What's not so stellar? As you consider the year ahead, what changes do you want to see? What needs to be turned around? Time for a Turnaround? Joe Frontiera and Daniel Leidl released a book this year entitled Team Turnarounds. It's a helpful playbook for taking an underperforming team to a new level. I had the opportunity to talk with Joe and look forward to sharing that interview over the course of two episodes. What Do These Have in Common? In this episode we talk about the power of denial and how that holds us back from team turnarounds. We also talk about the value of tough goals. But we start the conversation with this: What do Domino's Pizza, Indianopolis Colts, State of Michigan, and the Broadway Musical Spiderman have in common? Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Agile Project Management Agile project management continues to gain momentum around the world, especially with regards to software development projects. Yet moving to agile is more than just adopting a bunch of new processes. It's as much a mindset as it is a set of tools and techniques, and the challenge of dealing with the human side of agile is often overlooked. The Human Side of Agile Well, to address that today you're going to hear from Gil Broza in this episode. His book The Human Side of Agile: How to Help Your Team Deliver was just released a couple weeks ago and it is packed with practical insights on this important aspect of leading agile projects. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 27:01 Download episode 84

Too Much To Do, Not Enough Time To Do It! Can you relate to that? This is a common theme that I hear from participants in our keynotes and workshops as well as the participants in our Leadership Fast Track Program. What is the Scarcest Resource? In my interview with Cathy Davidson last year regarding her book Now You See It!, we talked about the scarcest resource. What would you say is the scarcest resource? Most people respond with time--that the most constrained resource we have to deal with is the clock on the wall. Or sometimes I hear people respond that money is the scarcest resource. In Cathy's opinion, it's neither. Rather, it's attention. We all get the same 24 hours. It's what we do with those 24 hours--what we put our attention to--that makes all the difference. The Attention Habits of the Highly Productive So, what is most worthy of our attention? How can we use the limited time that we have to be most productive? I'm really excited about a new book released just this week. It's entitled Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours. I caught up with the author Bob Pozen last week and look forward to sharing that interview with you in this episode. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Contented Teams OK, I have another confession to make in this episode! Once again, you'll have to listen to this premium episode to catch it. Beyond what I think about Bill and Richard's book title, this premium episode includes additional coaching on topics from the book and the interview. Enjoy! Make sure to let me know if you're interested in the free license to our Advanced Project Management workshop! Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and then join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Could You Use Some Extra Hands On Deck? Could you use some extra staffing on your teams these days? I'm glad to say that I'm seeing more organizations hiring, which is a refreshing change from when our economy was at its worst a few years ago. But even those who are hiring typically aren't planning on doubling their staff any time soon. So what if you need more staffing but your company isn't hiring? How can you keep up with the demands when the capacity of your team seems to be tapped out? Contented Cows Give Better Milk What about tapping into the discretionary effort reserve that most people have but leave untouched in the day-to-day grind of work? What is discretionary effort and how does that relate to the capacity of your team? In this episode I share a recent discussion with Bill Catlette. This last summer Bill and his co-author Richard Hadden released their new book entitled Contented Cows Still Give Better Milk, Revised and Expanded: The Plain Truth about Employee Engagement and Your Bottom Line, and there are some lessons for all of us about how we can better engage our teams. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Everything's a Project OK, I have a confession to make! You'll have to listen to this premium episode to catch it. Beyond the confession, this premium episode includes additional coaching on topics that Ben and I discussed during the interview. Enjoy! Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "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!

Everything's a Project Everything's a Project.... That's not only a great name for a book--which it is--but it's also a great way to look at many things at work and in life. Looking for a job? It's a project. Need to create a report for your boss? It's likely a project. Looking for ways to develop your skills? You guessed it--your personal development is a project. Now, of course, not everything is a project. But most leaders would benefit if we thought of our work as projects and applied lessons that we've learned from the world of project management. Well, Everything's a Project: 70 Lessons From Successful Project-Driven Organizations is the title of a book published earlier this year by my friend and colleague Ben Snyder. In this episode I look forward to sharing with you a recent discussion I had with Ben about his new book. Don't miss the normal end of episode outtakes! More About Ben To learn more about Ben and his organization, check out http://www.systemation.com. Keynotes for Your Company Meeting Hey, I have a quick idea for you: Many organizations hold department or company meetings in the last half of the year or to kick off a new year. It could just be that someone in your company is planning one of those right now! I invite you to recommend one of our keynotes or workshops for that meeting. We have a series of sessions designed to help you and your organization lead and deliver. They are practical, interactive, motivating, and ultimately results-oriented. If you like what you hear on this podcast, it's even better live! And if you reserve a session before the end of September, I'd be glad to extend a 20% discount to the fee for podcast listeners. Visit https://www.i-leadonline.com/documents/AndyKaufmanBrochure.pdf to learn more. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "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!

Free Premium Episode I am immensely thankful for the many people who are premium subscribers to the People and Projects Podcast. By making this investment in their personal development, they receive extra episodes for additional insights into the topics covered by our free episodes. In addition, this investment helps cover part of our costs for our free episodes. So here's a big thank you to our Premium Subscribers! To give you an idea of what Premium Subscribers get with each episode, I'm including this Premium episode in the free podcast stream. If you'd like to get these additional episodes each month to further your application of the material, please go to http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe to learn more. Follow-Up to the Tom DeMarco Interview I trust you had the opportunity to listen to both episodes of my interview with Tom DeMarco. He's a guy who has uniquely impacted the world of projects, and it was certainly a pleasure for me to talk with him. His books are insightful, practical, and even a bit quirky (in a good way) at times. But I'm confident that if you're in the software development side of project management or leadership, you'll get value from his books. In this premium episode, I follow-up on some issues that Tom and I touched on that are relevant whether or not your projects are related to software development. Tom's ideas truly span further than that domain. I cover topics such as: The myth of "The more pressure, the better" Why having only a 50%-70% likelihood of success could be a good thing Why stressed brains do not learn the same way as non-stressed brains Where the line crosses between stress being a good thing and it becomes a dangerous thing One additional factor that impacts workplace stress and productivity (and it's none of your business!) Why it can help to realize that all your team members are volunteer employees Max DePree's secret for learning how effective of a leader you are "It's not what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that just isn't so." Are we changing people or just amusing them? Resources Resources that I refer to during this premium episode include: Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen. You can listen to my interviews with Michael Roberto at http://bit.ly/RobertoCast1 and http://bit.ly/RobertoOnFilters. Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. To listen to my interview with Cathy, go to http://bit.ly/NowYouSeeIt-1 and http://bit.ly/NowYouSeeIt-2. Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and then join the discussion. Thank you for being a Premium Subscriber to The People and Projects Podcast! I greatly appreciate this opportunity to be part of your personal development strategy. Have a great week!

The Deadline In this episode, I continue my discussion with Tom DeMarco, with insights related to his writing in books such as The Deadline. If you didn't listen to the first part of my interview with Tom, I recommend you listen to that one before continuing. In this episode, Tom addresses topics such as knowing what we don't know, dealing with jerk bosses, and what he writes and speaks about but has trouble doing himself. Make sure to stay tuned after the interview for a very transparent story from Tom about his career. Tom DeMarco Resources Want more from Tom DeMarco? Here are some recommended resources: The Deadline Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Second Edition) Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

The Deadline A couple of months back I was teaching a PMP®Exam Prep workshop. One of the participants mentioned that he was reading Tom DeMarco's book entitled The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management. It's a book that I had wanted to read many times since it was originally published in the late 1990s but it never bubbled up to the top of my book list. But when this workshop participant continued to rave about the book, it ended up on my iPad Kindle Reader before the day was done. And in the coming days, I couldn't put the book down. If you're not in the software side of project management or leadership, you might not have heard of Tom DeMarco before. But if you do work on that side of the house, Tom DeMarco has likely impacted you and your job more than you know. He's been a leading thinker and practitioner in this space for decades, and in the next two episodes, you have a great opportunity to hear from this industry giant. Even if you're not in the software development arena, you'll get some practical insights from this exceptionally insightful thinker on how to deliver your projects and lead teams. More Tom DeMarco To get your copy of The Deadline, click here Join us in the next episode when Tom will address topics such as knowing what we don't know, dealing with jerk bosses, and what he writes and speaks about but has trouble doing himself. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

I seem to be encountering a lot of favorite books these days, and the one we're talking about today is no exception. I really like How Will You Measure Your Life? Perhaps my favorite thing about the book is how it takes business practices and ideas and applies them to life. Frankly, if you haven't read much of Clayton's work or just haven't had much training in topics such as strategic planning, the book is worth the price just for the business concepts. But then applying those concepts to life is powerful. Thank you for being a premium subscriber to the People and Projects Podcast! It is a privilege to be part of your personal development strategy. Please let me know what questions you have and if there's anything I can do to help you lead and deliver. Thank you for joining me for this premium episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

How Will You Measure Your Life? In this episode, I continue my discussion with Karen Dillon about her new book entitled How Will You Measure Your Life? Karen talks about success with the important relationships in our life as well as a powerful concept they refer to as "Just This Once." Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Sara Adam: Making a Difference With Her Life I am recording this episode from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I have the privilege of speaking at a conference this week. Since this is a very special destination, my wife and family have joined me on the trip, which included prior stops in London, Nairobi, and Doha. If all goes as planned, we hope to go all the way around the world as a family over the course of three weeks. While in Nairobi we had the opportunity to spend time with some very close family. And one of the real treats was spending time with my niece Sara Adam. Sara will soon be starting up her senior year at Duke, but she's not waiting until graduation to make a difference. Despite her age, Sara is building an amazingly cool clothing and accessory business that is based in Kenya. Along with her business partner Anna, they are growing a business they name Judith and James. They are developing marketable sewing skills for vulnerable women, most of whom live in the Nairobi area slums. As these skills are developed, they begin working on merchandise that will be sold in the U.S. and other countries. In turn, the proceeds from that merchandise will produce a sustainable income stream for the women. It's an inspiring model being driven by an inspiring young lady. Sara is in the process of making a remarkable difference in this world. How Will You Measure Success? How do you measure success in life? As professionals who lead projects, we know that defining measurable success criteria for projects is a very important and helpful practice. But what about life? There will be a day when you've finished your last project at work. Whether it's when you hang up your Gantt charts, so to speak, or come to the end of your life, how will you measure it? It's an intriguing question that is also the title of one of the most anticipated business books of this year. How Will You Measure Your Life? is authored by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon. I recently had an opportunity to have a discussion with Karen and look forward to sharing that interview with you over the next two episodes. By the way, if you're a premium subscriber, your extra episode will show up in the podcast stream when the second part of my discussion with Karen goes live. For now, let's hear from Karen about her work with the book entitled, How Will You Measure Your Life? Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

I trust you were able to take away an idea or two from the discussion with Keith Murnighan. Between his book Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader and the forthcoming interview with the author of How Will You Measure Your Life? these are two of my favorite books in some time. In this premium episode, I call out some specific ideas from Keith's book that I got to benefit from, with the intention to help you grow in your ability to lead and deliver. There is so much from Do Nothing! that you'll find helpful to your calling of leading people and projects. I strongly encourage you to add this book to your personal or team library. And if you'd like to help develop the leaders in your organization, I invite you to contact me! Between our keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching, we can help you and your organization learn how to more effectively lead and deliver. Thank you for being a premium subscriber to the People and Projects Podcast! It is a privilege to be part of your personal development strategy. Please let me know what questions you have and if there's anything I can do to help you lead and deliver. Thank you for joining me for this premium episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Beware: Management Heresy Ahead! In this episode, I continue my discussion with Keith Murnighan about his new book entitled Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader. Keith talks about why some long-accepted management practices might just get in the way of our team successfully delivering. And you'll find that he offers some intriguing alternatives to help you become a more effective leader. You can find the first part of the interview with Keith here. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Is it possible that we make difficult situations worse by overmanaging them? Keith Murnighan responds with a resounding "Absolutely!" In the next two episodes, I talk with Keith about his new book Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader, which hits the shelves this week. Keith will tell us how we can, perhaps surprisingly so, be more successful when we Do Nothing! Make Sure to Listen to The Rest of the Interview Join us in the next episode when Keith will talk about such heresy as ignoring performance goals and de-emphasizing profits. I trust you'll find it helpful in your quest to more effectively lead and deliver. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

So have you spent some time trying to better understand agile project management? I know some of our premium subscribers are avid agile practitioners, so good for you. But for many people, it's a topic that you know you should be looking into more but have been standing on the sidelines for too long. In this premium episode I follow-up on some points from my discussion with Andy Crowe about agile project management. Thank you for being a premium subscriber to The People and Projects Podcast! Total Duration 7:48 Download the premium episode "PMI", "PMBOK, "PMP®" and "PMI-ACP" are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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 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.

In this premium episode, I'm going to share some additional thoughts to help us personally apply this learning. I talk about why you need a social media strategy, why you need to be using social media if you're not, and why a solid understanding of personality styles is critical for those who seek to deliver projects and lead teams. Here's the freebie for you as 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. Thank you for being a premium subscriber to The People and Projects Podcast!

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. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

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

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. 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 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!) 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

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 of 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. Join our Facebook Page Please take a minute to stop by our podcast Facebook page! I invite you to Like it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!