Every guide,
sorted by the problem.
Practical guides for the situations managers actually face, written to be used rather than admired. No sign-up, no gate, nothing to buy. Find the one that matches this week.
Your First 90 Days as a New Manager
What to do week one, the four questions to ask every person, when to make your first change, and how to set the standard by day ninety.
Read the guide →Leading People Who Used to Be Your Peers
Naming the change, handling the person who wanted the job, and changing a friendship honestly rather than secretly.
Read the guide →Trusting Your Own Judgment at Work
Six moves for second-guessing yourself, plus survey data on how common it is and how to tell doubt from a real skill gap.
Read the guide →Giving Feedback People Actually Use
Six moves, four minutes, and the words to say — plus how to take it well when it is aimed at you.
Read the guide →The Hard Conversation You Have Been Putting Off
How to open it, what to do when they get upset or deny it, and why waiting makes it less fair to them.
Read the guide →One on One Questions That Get Real Answers
Thirty questions sorted by how often to ask them, and the four format rules that decide whether they work.
Read the guide →Getting Honest Answers From Your Team
Eight structural moves that produce candor, and what to do the first time someone tells you something hard.
Read the guide →Keeping Good People When You Cannot Pay More
Eight retention levers that cost little or nothing, starting with asking people why they stay while they are still here.
Read the guide →Onboarding Someone So They Stay
From the week before day one to day ninety, including the question to ask at thirty days while it is still fixable.
Read the guide →Recognition People Actually Remember
Eighteen ideas that cost little or nothing, what to skip, and how to recognize shift and frontline staff.
Read the guide →Team Meeting Ideas That Get Your Team Talking
Twelve ideas with a time and the words to say, plus the four changes that give you the most back.
Read the guide →Planning a Leadership Retreat
A full one day agenda with timings, half day and two day variants, and the follow-through that makes it stick.
Read the guide →Running a Sales Kickoff That Sticks
The short opening, reps teaching reps, live practice, where the keynote goes, and the three week follow-up.
Read the guide →Running a Book Club at Work
Group size, paid time, rotating leaders, the three questions, and what to do the month nobody read it.
Read the guide →Leading a Team Through Change They Did Not Choose
Eight moves for a merger, restructure or new system, and how to rebuild after a hard one.
Read the guide →Building a Team That Holds Itself Accountable
Seven moves, no crackdown. Clear standards, commitments people state themselves, and reliable follow-up.
Read the guide →Staff Development With No Training Budget
What an hour buys, the six steps, and the script for getting the hour approved by your boss.
Read the guide →Why These Are Free
Most development material is written for organizations with a budget and a training department. These are written for the manager, HR generalist, supervisor or volunteer who has neither, and who is going to do it anyway.
Nothing here is gated. If a guide is useful, run it. If you want to take it further with a team, five workshop formats are free too, and the planner will tell you which sessions fit your people.
Progress does not come from knowing more. It comes from doing more with what you already know.
Run it with your people.
The same ten concepts at five different levels of commitment. Every guide is written so the person running it takes part rather than instructs, and nothing is gated, licensed or paid.
The Lunch and Learn
All ten concepts at five minutes each, with a full run of show. Nobody needs to have read the book.
Open the Guide → 60 to 90 minutesThe Workshop
One concept worked properly. A question, silence, tables of four, and a commitment from every person.
Open the Guide → Ten x 45 minutesThe Book Club Guide
One session per concept, built to be run by anyone in the group. Everyone needs a copy.
Download It → One dayThe Boot Camp
All ten condensed into a day, or two half days. The group leaves with a written plan.
Open the Guide → Ten weeksThe 10-Week Program
One concept a week with real life in between. The version that changes how a group operates.
Open the Guide →Seventeen free guides for managers, sorted by the problem — first 90 days, feedback, hard conversations, retention, onboarding, meetings, retreats and change. Browse the guides, or pick the concepts your people need and get a session order back.
Choose Your SessionsSeen On
Chris has taken this material onto morning television in seven markets, and writes for Forbes and Inc.
When I’ve got something worth sending.
Just a story or an idea I picked up that I think will help you.
Sometimes that’s twice in a month. Sometimes it’s not for a while.