30 Lessons Learned at Management Workshops

Michael Wade

I have no doubt that these 30 things were mentioned at various management workshops throughout the United States this week:

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1. Be patient.
2. But exude a sense of urgency.
3. Use your intuition.
4. But don’t trust your gut feelings.
5. None of us is as smart as all of us.
6. But listen carefully to the lone dissenter.
7. Establish systems.
8. But beware of a stifling bureaucracy.
9. Work your plan.
10. But improvise.
11. Celebrate diversity.
12. But discourage factions.
13. Rigidly focus.
14. But be flexible and multitask.
15. Value people.
16. But emphasize employment at will in your handbooks.
17. Have an open door.
18. But discourage interruptions.
19. Document employee relations problems.
20. But realize that documentation may be used against you.
21. Balance family and work.
22. But make yourself indispensable to your employer.
23. Work can be fun.
24. But some jobs are inherently stressful.
25. Get it done now.
26. But take time to think.
27. Be non-discriminatory.
28. But hire a diverse team.
29. Follow the rules.
30. But don’t hesitate to break rules that are unnecessary.

Michael Wade writes Execupundit.com, an eclectic combination of management advice, observations, and links. A partner with the Phoenix firm of Sanders Wade Rodarte Consulting Inc., he has advised private and public-sector organizations for more than 30 years.

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