Lead with Grace
Article Some managers focus so much on showing assertiveness and strength that they forget to be gracious, says an entrepreneur.

How to Manage a Team of Former Peers
Article Transitioning from peer to boss needn't be awkward, says a leadership expert.

How to be a More Assertive Leader
Article Assertiveness is an essential management skill that can be learned, says a career coach.

What Leaders Should Do Before the End of the Year
Article The best leaders know how to ensure their employees are happy and motivated for the new year, says an executive coach.

Don’t Pretend You’re All-Powerful
Article Leaders should have the courage to admit that some things are simply beyond their control, says an executive coach.

Bosses should be Both Managers and Leaders
Article Successful managers know how to lead and manage, says a workforce expert.

How to Build Trust with Employees
Article Managers must reveal their professional motives and personal values to build trust with their employees, say two leadership experts.

Why Too Much Positive Thinking can be a Weakness
Article New research indicates that leaders with an overly positive management style can put their organizations at risk.

Leadership Lessons from the Peace Corps
Article A manager who spent three years in Zambia with the Peace Corps says the experience taught him how to be a well-rounded leader.

The Achilles' Heels of Great Leaders
Article A few positive behaviors that managers pick up on their rise to the top may eventually turn into liabilities, says a leadership expert.

Lead Like an Olympian
Article The Olympic games offer many lessons for managers looking to strengthen their skill sets, says one long-time observer of the games.

Good Managers Know How to Do Less
Article Leaders who want to be more productive should stop micromanaging their employees and trust them, says a management researcher.

Leadership Lessons from Queen Elizabeth II
Article Following all of the recent pageantry surrounding the Diamond Jubilee, an executive coach says there are some applicable lessons that leaders can learn from Queen Elizabeth II.

Boost Your Mental Toughness
Article An executive coach says that having the right mentalattitude will lead to better leadership decisions.

Career Tips from the Bard
Article William Shakespeare’s plays are full of ideal role models for modern-day leaders in the workplace, writes one leadership expert.

The Dangers of Being Too Smart
Article A leadership guru says that know-it-all managers can anger colleagues and slow down the progress of their organizations.

Leadership Lessons from Yoga
Article An executive coach says that, in addition to its physical and mental health benefits, yoga can help managers learn certain leadership lessons.

Understanding Advancement Leadership: Developing Your Potential as a Chief Advancement Officer
Product Authors of a book profiling 10 advancement leaders discuss important points and themes that emerged from the interviews and outline practical applications for developing current and future chief advancement officers. This multimedia file is a recording of a webinar originally presented April 25, 2012. The webinar is part 1 of a three-part Advancement Staffing Webinars series.

What Makes Chief Advancement Officers Tick?
Article Self-awareness is one of 14 competencies that successful chief advancement officers have in common, according to two fundraising experts who will share their research findings in an upcoming CASE Online Speaker Series.

Assertiveness is Key to Leadership
Article Leaders should be more assertive, according to one management expert, who believes assertiveness magnifies other leadership strenghts.

Volunteering Helps Develop Leadership Skills
Article One of the best ways to learn to become a leader is by making a commitment to a cause through volunteer service, writes a leadership expert.

Office Space: Stepping into a Leadership Role
CURRENTS Article Laurie Houck is new to her job as a vice president for development and alumni relations and reflects on what is most important in the first 100 days of a new job.

Leaders Should be Global Citizens
Article Given how interconnected and international the workforce has become, it is increasingly important for organizational leaders to be global citizens and understand the importance of cultural nuances, write two management experts.

Tips for Personal Leadership Development
Article To be a great leader, you must be a continual learner, writes one management guru.

Why Great Leaders Should be like Philosophers
Article It is important for managers to have a leadership philosophy that guides all of their actions, says one management expert, who adds that these leaders can put that philosophy into practice in a few simple steps.

Being the Most Memorable Person in the Room
Article By truly embodying a few simple principles, leaders can have an incalculable impact on the people around them, writes one management expert.

Communication Runs Through It
CURRENTS Article In this article, Tom S. Landrum, the senior vice president for external affairs at The University of Georgia, traces his career path in advancement from his first job in public relations more than 35 years ago to his appointment to the top advancement job in 2008 and discusses how his background in communications has affected his views on how development, alumni relations, and communications work together.

Good Leaders are like Meteorologists
Article We rely on the expertise of meteorologists to tell us everything about the weather—from whether we’ll need an umbrella tomorrow to how much we can expect to perspire on the weekend. One management blogger says many employees look to their organizational leaders for similar foresight.

Why Leaders Need a Sense of Humor
Article Humor and humility appear to go hand in hand, says a management guru who believes these attributes help self-confident leaders keep their feet on the ground and their egos in check.

When to Reveal Your Decision-Making Process
Article Sometimes it pays to show the hard work and drama that went into making a management decision while at other times it may be better to simply make a pronouncement. How should you determine which to do?

How to Get out of a Leadership Rut
Article Some managers can get comfortable playing things safely and stop investing in their own personal growth and development. They, essentially, become a leader in title only. Sound familiar?

Managing Up
CURRENTS Article When institutional leaders lay out unrealistic fundraising expectations, it helps to educate them about the unique fundraising needs and approaches of your institution.

Maintaining Your Cool as a Manager
Article Managers are constantly being watched by their employees, and so it behooves them to keep their cool, especially when the going gets tough.

Being a "Good Enough" Manager
Article Nobody’s perfect, so why try to be? The author of a new leadership book writes that managers should strive to be simply “good enough.”

Characteristics of Ineffective Leaders
Article Many organizations suffer from a recognition problem, according to one management guru—they can’t recognize good leaders from bad ones.

Charisma is a Teachable Trait
Article Charisma is a valuable though sometimes elusive quality in leadership. It’s commonly thought that this trait is something you either have or you don’t. But a new study suggests that the trait is not as intangible as once thought and can be taught.

Odds and Ends: Breaking Through
CURRENTS Article In this interview with Vernice "FlyGirl" Armour, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. military's first black female combat pilot, she discusses her experience with creating a culture of teamwork and mutual respect, the challenges of keeping people who work for large organizations engaged, and how higher education can help veterans as well as be helped by their experience.

Tied but Not Bound
CURRENTS Article Alumni leaders who have worked for their alma mater and another institution (or two) offer insight on both experiences.

The Likability of Managers
Article Do leaders have to be liked by their subordinates to be effective? A study suggests that managers should strive for a happy medium when it comes to being assertive in the workplace.

Leadership is like Riding a Bike
Article There’s more to competitive cycling than meets the eye. And one leadership expert says there’s plenty managers can learn from those who compete in endurance races like the Tour de France.

The Leadership Ladder
CURRENTS Article How will you acquire the skills necessary to be a leader in our profession or a leader on your current team? An alumni relations leader reflects on the experiences that prepared her for leadership.

Taking Advice from Colleagues
Article A new study reports that managers in powerful positions tend to dismiss others' advice when making decisions. The researchers warn that they do so to their own detriment.

Lead Yourself to Lead Others
Article Managers are used to leading others and telling them what to do. But, to truly succeed, they should focus on personal leadership. That’s according to one expert at last week’s CASE Summer Institute in Communications and Marketing.

Leadership Lessons from Harry Potter
Article Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know the final installment of the Harry Potter series hit the big screen earlier this month. If you take in this fantasy flick, pay attention not only to the boy wizard’s heroics but also his leadership style. Some management gurus say you just might learn something.

Looking and Acting Like a Leader
Article Effective managers talk the talk and walk the walk. They give off an aura of leadership. But gaining this skill doesn’t have to be easier said than done.

Outlook: New Directions
CURRENTS Article As education and advancement leaders are exhorted to be more open, they fret about letting go of control. What leaders need to accept to succeed in today's social media landscape is that they are no longer in control (and probably never really were to the degree they thought).

Odds and Ends: Father Time
CURRENTS Article The author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People discusses time management, leadership, and leaving a legacy.

Career Path: The Perfect Fit
CURRENTS Article Sometimes a person outside of the field can make the best leader. That's what happened when a marketing professional became the head of the foundation of a large community college system.

Manager's Portfolio: Making a Management Transition
CURRENTS Article Even when you have management experience, you face new staff, a new campus culture, and new challenges when you move to a different institution. This article by an advancement professional in that situation shares his plan and offers some practical tips.

Career Path: Follow and Leader
CURRENTS Article The author took a sabbatical to raise money for a project close to her heart and learned some important lessons about how to be a good manager.

Manager's Portfolio: Leading by Questioning and Listening
CURRENTS Article Strategic questions can uncover need-to-know information for team motivation and performance

Managers Portfolio: I'm All Ears
CURRENTS Article Listening leadership means to guide yourself and others to positive results by enhanced sensing, interpreting, evaluating, storing, and responding to messages. Unfortunately, great listening is a rare management skill. To build a solid foundation for listening success, advancement managers should understand that listening is a primary communication activity; it’s an innate, learned, and improvable behavior; and that responsible and active listeners are productive listeners. Further, listening leaders constantly strive to improve their skills.

Manager's Portfolio: Hat Tricks
CURRENTS Article Successful chief advancement officers must play numerous campus roles--everything from motivator and manager to pace-setter and major gifts officer. The article identifies the seven characteristics these top professionals need to manage institution CEOs, board members, staff members across campus, and the internal advancement team.

Overarching Concerns
CURRENTS Article Just as the nature of higher education is changing, so too is the campus presidency. As advancement officers increasingly work closely with campus CEOs, they should be well informed about the demands and new challenges they face.

Closing Remarks: Lead Story
CURRENTS Article Campus leaders are the chief storytellers of their institutions. Telling stories—communicating core messages—helps them build trust, maintain integrity, model productive behavior, and set a tone for their campuses. To do so, they must ensure they’re heard amid the din of other communications, practice self-disclosure so others will be open with them, and maintain balance in their roles so their stories and messages convey a broad range of perspectives.

Closing Remarks: Looking for Leaders
CURRENTS Article Even though responsibility for creating an ethical advancement program starts at the top, too many senior leaders are silent about the importance of doing the right thing. This Closing Remarks column spells out basic principles to raise standards and create ethical organizations. The article is of interest to chief advancement officers as well as managers of alumni relations, development, marketing and communications, and advancement services.

AdvanceWork: Leadership Lessons
CURRENTS Article More guiding principles for advancement officers

Manager's Portfolio: The Leadership Paradox
CURRENTS Article Institutions want great leaders, but for leaders to be successful, their staff members must be good followers. Sevier lists four key responsibilities of exceptional followers: 1) Speak up when you feel the leader is making a mistake, but do so privately and professionally. 2) Support the leader's final decision. 3) Encourage the leader. 4) Defend the leader, and avoid engaging in public criticism.