Dulye Noted

Note: This is the first of a two-part article on Work-Life Balance written by our friend and colleague Calvin Schmid of The Ronin Consulting Group.

Linda Heasley is president and chief executive of retailer The Limited. 

When interviewed for The New York Times' Corner Office series, she was asked to describe her management style.

Here's what she said:  

A popular question that we were asked at the IABC Global Conference last month was: What is the biggest challenge facing managers? Talk about a timely question. Today's managers are stretched thin -- and will continue to be as few companies have ramped up hiring.

The big challenge for managers is that they don't have a game plan for being a key communicator within their organization. Overcoming this challenge will require an investment by managers to grapple with concepts and practices that might be way out of their comfort zone. That investment, of course, is time.

Remember, employees look first to their manager for news, guidance and context. This is where professional communicators can -- and must -- help managers and supervisors answer four questions.

When you have nearly 500 million global customers, even if one percent of them have concerns with how your organization is doing business, you've got five million unhappy people. That's the situation Facebook, the social networking behemoth, finds itself in these days. (Of course, some have pointed out that Facebook members aren't customers at all; they're providers of status updates, photos, videos and other content that essentially make Facebook the customer.)

As Facebook has grown it has faced concerns with its privacy policies. Specifically, how and with whom members' personal information is shared online. Just last week, after nearly a month of considerable heat from members – some of them high profile – privacy organizations and the media, Facebook announced new measures to address these concerns. What struck me was a quote from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the New York Times.

Late last month we received some exciting news and I’m proud to share it with you. 

"The only way we find out anything about the crisis is through the media. Does Mr. Toyoda have the ability to lead? That's on every employee's mind."

This is a quote from a high-ranking Toyota chief engineer in Japan that appeared in The Wall Street Journal. And it the nightmare of every leader – and every communicator.

Unfortunately for Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, the crisis seems to take on new dimensions every day.

Chances are, the company’s focus is so intense on customers, Wall Street and the media that employee communication is nudged to the backburner. But if the Toyota engineers quote is any indication, there’s much to be done to shore up confidence in the workforce.

Last week President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address and it got us thinking about how important a similar speech can be for an organization – particularly during uncertain times.

Here’s a five-step approach to preparing and delivering a state of the business address that resonates with and revs up your team: 

The holidays are now in the rearview mirror but employees often struggle to get back into the groove at work. Everyone needs a bit of ramp-up time after time away from the office, but in today’s environment the need to re-engage quickly is essential. Here are four tips to get your team focused and ready for action in 2010.