SESSION HIGHLIGHT
Getting Stuff Done: Building or Being a Modern Manager
Tuesday Oct. 7 | 2:15 P.M. - 3:15 P.M.
The modern workplace is different. Strategies are agile, and many teams are hybrid. Being a modern manager means adapting more than ever before - and Christine Sandman Stone can help. We interviewed Christine, noted management consultant, speaker, and author of The Modern Management Mentor, about her upcoming session at Staffing World and what it’s all about.
Can you provide quick overview of your session?
The session is an interactive mix of stories from the front lines of businesses who got results, and simple exercises you will complete to test out the tactics yourself in real time.
What can Staffing World attendees expect to gain if they attend?
Real ways to renew yourself or your management team to help get results out of the last quarter of 2025, and the new year ahead.
You mention in the abstract that modern workplaces are different. Talk to me about that and the evolution you’ve seen in your career?
The biggest evolution came in the last 5 years. There are 3 changes of significance for business leaders that are new norms:
AI. AI can be automated to do lower-level tasks, it can help smart people be smarter faster (by supporting ideation with validated sources). Most importantly, tool usage and prompt engineering are complicated to do well. Each of us should be thinking about how we train our people to be AI literate, cyber-aware, and how to avoid the fast, unsecure, and crappy answers from AI tools.
Strategy. The pandemic first and now shifting economic and regulatory landscapes have us all using agile strategies. No more 5 or 10 year plans. We change quickly to adapt. This adaptable strategy is here to stay, and we have to clearly share our moving targets with our team so we all can hit the numbers together.
Hybrid. 5 years ago, hybrid work wasn’t a norm, now it is. People leaders have to understand how to get the best out of staff and drive results no matter where they are.
It’s interesting in the title of the session that you use the term “building” a modern manager. So, how do you build a modern manager?
Most importantly – my observation from years in Fortune 500 to startups is that managers are rarely born, and instead they built. They are given tactics: ways to do the mechanics of delivering results and keeping their people. When I wrote The Modern Management Mentor with my 29 year old daughter, I saw these tactics help her (and others) to have an impact quickly, and avoid those first-year-manager mistakes so many people make. Great managers are built, definitely.
Honestly – they can be renovated too. I am seeing many seasoned managers looking for new ways to do their work, new ways to refresh their management athleticism.
Tell us a little about the tool you are offering in your session and how it can help staffing firm owners.
The tool is a great glimpse into my work. Most days I am advising on revenue and operational alignment for individuals and teams. It’s mostly in large companies between 200M and $1B in revenue who struggle to translate strategy into results, but I have a group of SMB owners as well. This tool is one that I use. It’s a deceptively simple but powerful way to help owners and their leadership teams quickly triage their list of work, and accelerate the work that will drive revenue.
What’s one practical takeaway you want people to leave your session with?
My favorite takeaway is the single page view of your company’s top goal and the work aligned to it, but there are more tools. I’ll buy a drink for anyone who doesn’t leave with a tactic to try.
We’re all busy. Beyond busy even. So many books and sessions are inspirational. I’m not sure about you, but inspiration feels like a luxury. This workshop has tactics that make your business grow and your management teams stronger. Yup, no inspiration here! Just results. The biggest fans of this workshop have been experienced leaders looking for an injection of progress in their business.
Thank you Christine for sitting down with us to talk modern management! You can find her session at Staffing World on Tuesday Oct. 7 from 2:15 P.M. - 3:15 P.M.
About the Author:
Christine Sandman Stone Founder, Deliver at Scale
Sandman Stone can change the trajectory of a team or a leader in an hour. An expert in modern management and career progression, she has a reputation for getting results and turning teams around. Sandman Stone pairs a master’s degree in management and organizational behavior with experience working with a large community of tech startups and with elite companies like Dell, McDonald’s, Volkswagen, and Groupon. She currently advises leaders and teams in Fortune 500 and startup organizations.