Paul Glen

Even though they may have lasted a relatively short period of time, some projects seem to occupy more mental space than other, perhaps larger projects do

Over the years that I've advised technical managers, young and old, some patterns have become apparent. One is that most seem to go through a series of distinct stages in their understanding of the role of manager.

The job market has improved, and power is shifting away from managers and toward staffs, so retaining employees is back on managers' minds

We've all seen it happen. Self-destruction. Career-limiting be

Niccolo Machiavelli would have considered occasional, small-scale cruelty justifiable and wise when it inspired fear and enabled a prince "to keep his subjects united and obedient." Ethical issues aside, this seems to work reasonably well, at least for a while, if your goal is to control the behaviour of a population, quell social unrest or suppress dissent. But if your goal is to lead a group of knowledge workers to peak productivity, this may not be a recipe for success.

I'll never forget the first time I learned that one of my subordinates was afraid of me. A talented young man, probably 26, had just left my office after explaining to me how happy he was with his current project. My assistant came in and told me that he had spent the 20 minutes prior to our appointment complaining to her about how terrible his project was and how miserable he felt.

The promise and the pain of workplace relationships is that they are cobbled together not of hardware or software, but of wetware

Don't count on the marketplace to provide your next generation of senior IT managers. With the baby-boom generation of managers rapidly approaching retirement, your search may not be as easy as you think. A better solution may be to do what thrifty gardeners have done for years: grow your own.