Last week I had a short, informal coaching conversation with an experienced, level 2 retail manager. Soon to be involved with staffing a new store, he was concerned about the…
Author: Bill Catlette

Struggling Supervisors – Coach ‘em Up or Move Them Out
Confirming what many had been sensing for some time, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President, Richard Fisher said recently that increasing numbers of workers are quitting their jobs voluntarily, and concomitantly,…
Discretionary Effort Beats an Inversion Strategy Any Day
Business news has been rife of late with coverage of U.S.-based corporations (e.g., Medtronic, Walgreen, AbbVie, Pfizer, Aon, Eaton, Omnicon) either attempting or completing an effort to re-flag the business as…

Metrics and Managing – Be Careful What and How You Measure
One of the time honored, oft repeated (sometimes mindlessly) management mantras is, “What gets measured gets done.” It seems harmless enough on the surface, right? After all, if you visibly…
Three Things That Will Improve Employee Engagement
Recently I read a piece in the e-version of a major business publication which, by title and implication suggested that seventy percent of Americans hate their work. The piece used…

What Are YOU Expecting?
Before the World Cup soccer games even start, U.S. men’s head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann has apparently relegated his team to loser status, in what has been termed a “brutally honest…

Shoot. Move. Communicate. Management Lesson from the New York Times
Beginning in boot camp, the Army embeds a short, three word mantra in its soldiers: Shoot. Move. Communicate. Within the confines of both military (absolutely), and business settings (metaphorically), that…
Three Things You Can Do to Help Your Team Perform Like a Champion
As an executive coach, part of my job is to help clients learn from and avoid getting their own version of some of the scars on my back. One of…
Bad Apples
Recently, in preparation for a long, 1200-mile road trip (nasty winter weather coupled with living in a high airfare market causes one to do things like that), I shopped for…

Go Ask Your People
One of the traps that newly appointed managers at any level commonly fall into is in believing that, to be worthy of their job title and pay check, they must…