This week, we finish (finally!) our series on working effectively with administrative assistants.

Also, for all of those who went to Podcast Alley and voted for Manager Tools, thank you very much! We achieved a long-held objective of getting in the Top 10 list of all podcasts. We don’t know how long we’ll stay there … but we’re enjoying the moment. And we owe that to all our friends here on Manager Tools. Thank You!

Here’s a brief outline of the 3-part Series:

1. Part 1
• The Role of the Executive
• The Role of the Admin
• The Single Biggest Roadblock
2. Part 2
• Managing the Executive’s Schedule
3. Part 3
• Managing the Executive’s Office
• Managing the Executive’s Relationships
• Managing the Executive’s Administrative Deliverables

Every week, we get questions about people’s resumes on the discussion boards. Our resume casts are some of the most wanted of all our work. It’s pretty obvious that more and more folks are tuned into their own careers, and how to manage them. That’s a good thing, as we’ve said before, because no one else is managing it for you. And, because so few people manage their careers at all, it only takes a little to get a competitive advantage.

We thought we’d address a career management topic that also leverages our recent cast about building your network. We want to discuss the basics of Mentoring.

There’s a lot of different aspects of mentoring. In fact, we have a future show scheduled on how to use mentoring as part of an organizational talent management and development and succession planning program. Believe us, we’re not big fans of corporate plans..but there is a way to do it that is easy and very powerful. Stay tuned for that cast.

This week (and next), though, it’s just the basics. After we talk some big picture stuff, we’ll give you some basic guidelines. In our traditional manner, we’ll cover 7 simple guidelines:

1. Whom Should I Ask?
2. How Long Should It Last?
3. You Make the Ask
4. How Does It Work?
5. You Run It
6. The First Meeting is Critical - Script It
7. Be Ready For Feedback

Today we cover the second in our 2-part series on mentoring. As a reminder, our 7 simple guidelines for mentoring are:

1. Whom Should I Ask?
2. How Long Should It Last?
3. You Make the Ask
4. How Does It Work?
5. You Run It
6. The First Meeting is Critical - Script It
7. Be Ready For Feedback

Also, June 26th represents the 1-year Anniversary of Manager Tools. We previously discussed having a special second part of today’s podcast where we would discuss our thoughts about this last year, as well as discuss our plans for the coming year. Unfortunately, the “discussion” was an hour long! So, rather than bundle it with this podcast and create an incredibly large download, we will release an additional podcast in the next day or two with that discussion. Look for it in your podcast player of choice shortly!

I recently “promoted” to the main blog a question about interviewing attire. I made the point that even in a business casual environment, a suit was really the only smart and acceptable way to go to an interview (ladies too).

Because sometimes our approach tends to be a little more formal - or at least, we tend to deliver it with a tone that brooks less discussion - I try to provide reinforcement from other sources.

Recently, CareerJournal, the excellent careers site run by the Wall Street Journal, ran an article on What Not To Wear in Interviews.

In case you don’t want to go read it (it’s short and quite good, and there’s more than what’s here), I will excerpt one quote from Patrick Dailey, a Nokia HR manager, with whom I am familiar. His advice is routinely quite good.

The dress-code rule of thumb for men interviewing at most U.S. companies remains a dark suit, a light or white shirt and a bright-colored but sophisticated tie, says Patrick Dailey, a Dallas-based director of business human resources for Nokia Corp., a Finnish telecommunications company. He notes that since there are so many uncontrollable things that can work against you during job interviews, it’s wise to control what you can.

“Go by your mom’s rule,” says Mr. Dailey. “You can never be overdressed. Even if they say to wear business casual, it’s appropriate for you to be in a suit and tie.”

Today’s show is an interesting one … At least once in your career, and perhaps as many as five times, you’re going to have to resign from a position. And this is another one of those tasks or responsibilities that no one talks about, no one knows how to do, and therefore many do it poorly.

It’s not hard to do well, and in this series of casts, we make it a simple step by step process. If you’re thinking that you already know how, consider that we recommend you need SIX WEEKS to do it well.

Today, we follow-up with part 2 of our 3-part series on Resigning. Usually not a lot of fun contemplating, and certainly no more fun executing. However, IF you have to do it, there IS a professional way to resign. You CAN leave your job and feel good about HOW you did it, AND leave a great impression on the way out. Now, how often does that happen in your workplace today?

We spent a lot of time at the end of last year talking about how to write someone else’s review.

What should you do to prepare for your own?

Think of it this way. Suppose you had three folks working for you, and one of the three spent a couple of hours over the previous months preparing for their time with you. They had reviewed the entire year, prepared better information for you for their review, and had taken their time writing their self-evaluation, including specific data to support their points.

Wouldn’t that be impressive? If there were a close call to be made, might it go in your direction?

In this cast, we walk you through everything YOU need to do to prepare for YOUR review with YOUR boss.

And if you think it’s too early, think again – the timeline is THREE MONTHS!

And, by the way, during the show we promised a couple of things. You’ll find all of these in the Manager Tools website under Tools section under Preparing for Your Review Documents.

1. A complete transcript of the entire show
2. A Powerpoint presentation (in PDF form) with a detailed outline of the review preparation process
3. A detailed note-taking form to guide you through the process.

Folks, no note-taking required … we’ve done all the work for you. As we discussed on the discussion boards, these are examples of what you’ll get with our premium membership program … which will be announced shortly!

Note: So everyone can get a look at the documents associated with this podcast, we’re making this month’s member-only cast available to ALL listeners. Enjoy!

Today’s show is the third and final part of our series on resigning. If you have to resign, distinguish yourself my resigning professionally. With the completion of this series, you now know how!

Today we cover the 2nd part of our series on Preparing For Your Review. After you’ve listened to the podcast, I think you’ll agree that if you follow this simple process you will be in a position to not only get the best possible review possible this year, you will also have all the information you need to improve your performance (and your next review!) over the coming year.

And, as a reminder, you’ll find a number of documents to assist you in this process in the Tools section under Preparing for Your Review Documents.

1. A complete transcript of the entire show
2. A Powerpoint presentation (in PDF form) with a detailed outline of the review preparation process
3. A detailed note-taking form to guide you through the process.

Whether you’re at a small or big company, the competitiveness of the commercial world and the demands for growth make your firm either prey or predator. If a company can’t grow organically - by growing sales of its own products - often leadership looks to be acquired or acquire another firm.

But what does that mean for a manager? What is our role in helping two organizations come together? How do you navigate the stressful, water-cooler-talk-filled, flurry-of-emails world of a merger or an acquisition? In this series of casts, we lay it out for you.