{Hitting the Road} Leadership and Credibility Presentation

I have the honor, or is it street cred, to say that I've been working for a living longer than I've not been working.

When I consider the many jobs I've had, my favorite, by far, was my time as an ROTC instructor. Sure, we had the have-to-teach classes like military history, tactics and marksmanship but we also had the fun classes.

The best part of my week was when was able to mold and shape young minds and teach Leadership.

The thing about leadership is it extends beyond the walls of a classroom. When you are a leader, you wake up and step into a living, breathing leadership learning lab. In this lab, you learn from experiences. You often learn more from the bad experiences than from the good.

Last week, I had the opportunity to share my experiences and talk about leadership and credibility with the professionals of ALAMN. 

I tripped over my carefully constructed outline, botched a few lines and forgot to advance a slide or two but I resisted my natural urge to bolt, stayed within my time and noone got hurt.

It. Was. Awesome.

So awesome it may be time to take this conversation on the road.

Note: click on the "empty" slides for cool fly-in text.

Before I pack my bags, I'd like to publicly thank Cheryl Nelson, ALAMN Business Partner and Conference Committee, for finding me, the professionals of ALAMN for their generosity and Sean Schuette, CMP, Director of Meetings and Events at IntrinXec Management Inc., for the smooth running of the behind-the-scenes show.

Supervisor Training: You Get What You Pay For

Time for a little rant from the corner office.

Maybe it's because I don't really have a corner office, because I am a good supervisor who knows I haven't been doing a great job lately, or because I don't like Fred Pryor <actually, I've never met Mr. Pryor> but nonetheless, a brochure for a 1-day seminar, "How to Supervise People" got me going.

Attend this seminar and you'll walk away knowing how to develop a keen sense of timing for taking corrective action or firing an employee - and know the legal implications of your decisions, prevent hassles by using the best hiring practices and interviewing techniques, and control absenteeism and tardiness.

All this plus 7 more key deliverables for only $99.00.

I am not buying it. What scares me is that so many others will.

Even though the company set high expectations with their wording, I get that the trainers are not intending to address the legal/technical/HR aspects of these topics and instead, provide only basic at-your-fingertips tools and techniques.

Others may not get that and leave thinking they know much more than they really do about the topics presented.

For overall supervisor development, I'd put my money, and yours, on Eric B. Meyer <free blog> or Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership <$39.99>, send HR staff to #TNL Chicago - National Recruiting Conference <$159.99> so they can train and better advise supervisors on recruitment or up the stakes and get all access G5 Leadership <$129/year>.

Now this is some good stuff. Anything less is pure silliness.

Hat tip to Kris Dunn and Fistful of Talent for G5 Leadership and photo credit to iStockphoto