Rating: 
Summary: Simply the best management book I've ever read.
Review: The researchers and author behind this much-needed book started with a simple question: What do the world's best managers do differently from all other managers? And approached the question in a scientific manner, first doing research to determine who the best managers in the world were, and then examining their abilities and actions from every angle (along with the abilities and actions of average managers) to see what set them apart.
The result is deceptively simple and decidedly powerful; focus on the strengths of those who work for you. It obviously gets more involved than that and explains how to deal with the weaknesses of your reports, but I've put these principles into action in my business and have gotten measurable results.
I recommend this book for any manager. It helped me in a very real, measurable way.
Rating: 
Summary: I am not an expert in management...
Review: but my manager recommended this book to me and I loved it! I have been working in retail management for over 5 years, and it was so refreshing to find a management book that I could actually relate to, and I could understand. So many business books detail plans to drive sales, or improve numbers, and this one helps to focus in on keeping employees and raising your potential. I personally feel that this book could apply to all industries and all forms of management, and it is a definite read if you want a different perspective on learning how to be a better manager, and how to run a better business.
Rating:
Summary: What great managers do and don't do
Review: This book offers a different perspective on people management. Based on 80,000 interviews and Gallup's research, Buckingham describes the "Four Keys of Great Managers" that empower employees to experience more of their potential.
1. Selection process - Select for talent, not just experience, intelligence, or determination.
2. Expectations - Define the right outcomes. Don't micromanage by defining the right steps.
3. Motivation - Focus on strengths, not weaknesses.
4. Employee development - Find the right fit, not the next rung on the organization's ladder.
Great managers are realists. They do not believe that people can achieve anything they set their minds to. They play favorites and reward the best performers.
Buckingham's 12 questions to define the strength of the workplace are helpful in monitoring performance standards. I especially like this question: "At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?"
All in all, a book that leaders can benefit from. I also recommend Optimal Thinking; How To Be Your Best Self to help leaders and employees to identify the "best" and consistently make the most of everyday situations, and Good to Great to learn what it takes to be a Level 5 leader.
Rating:
Summary: If you are a new manager, read this book first
Review: After having managed 2 branches for a major stock brokerage firm, I have to say this is the most useful book on managing people I have ever read. In some ways the ideas are basic, but without the basics you can't really be effective. I also recommend the CD's for when you have down time (in your car) and want to revisit some of the topics.
Learning what thousands of top managers have done is so much better than re-inventing the wheel again yourself. As a sales manager, I learned to spend the most time with my best people. Others may tell you to try to improve the under-performers, but as I found out the hard way and this book states, take care of and give your best people what they need to be happy and effective, and you gain much more. That is just one example of many of the topics in this management bible.
READ IT AND LIVE BY IT!
Rating:
Summary: THE best book on management I've ever read!
Review: It's based on extensive research, not on opinion.
Presents and explains the scientifically validated "12 question" tool you can apply immediately.
The "four keys" concept is also validated empirically and immediately useful.
Overall, read it and apply imediately, as I did for my small project management consulting company.
Rating:
Summary: Breaking all the rules, maybe not, but still interesting
Review: The book is based on the results of two research studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization over the last 25 years. The first study was about finding what top performing employees need from their workplace. Once this study revealed that one of the most important needs was to have a great manager, Gallup focused the second study on discovering the traits of great managers.
The book then goes about summarizing the results of these two studies. In my view it doesn't really break all the rules as the title leads to believe but it does highlight a few interesting points that do indeed challenge conventional wisdom about people management.
One of the key messages of the book is that a good manager should select for talent (not just skills and/or knowledge as we sometimes do by focusing on the resume and the experience), define the right outcomes (in other words provide a specific and measurable definition of the targets and not of the means to achieve those targets), focus on strengths (and not try to fix the weaknesses per se), and find the right fit (the role that fits the talents and doesn't require the non-talents - what the authors call a good casting). The manager then becomes a catalyst whose main role it is to transform those talents into performance and excellence that is aligned with the business strategies.
It does also make a plea for favoritism, i.e. spend the bulk of your time with your top performers and not with your `problem' employees. The reasons for this are that a) it is the fairest thing to do (obviously those people put in the work, they perform, and therefore they deserve the attention), b) it is the best way for you as a manager to learn (you learn by observing your top performers), c) it is the only way to stay focused on excellence.
Other than those two messages the book also talks briefly about career development, handling of poor performers, and interestingly also how to handle a not-so-great boss. Overall the book is interesting, an easy read, and it does provide some good insights. It does also provide a few easily applicable ideas that you can take back to your work environment and experiment with.
Rating:
Summary: My Secret Weapon in Executing as a People Manager
Review: This book is provocative and it challenges conventional wisdom in people management.
Gallup's thorough research presented in this book reveal the "Four Keys of Great Managers" that should unlock the potential of each and every employee (the "... not" statements represent conventional wisdom according to the authors)
1. When selecting someone, they select for talent ... not simply experience, intelligence, or determination.
2. When setting expectations, they define the right outcomes ... not the right steps.
3. When motivating someone, they focus on strengths ... not on weaknesses.
4. When developing someone, they find him the right fit ... not simply the next rung on the ladder
So great managers don't believe that a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They don't try to help a person overcome his weaknesses (instead they devise a support system. Find a complementary partner. Or find an alternative role). They consistently disregard the golden rule - i.e. treat people as you would like to be treated - instead they acknowledge that each employee is unique and thus would demand different things of you, the manager! And they even play favourites (i.e. spend the most time with your best people).
Many of us know by experience that it is hard to manage others well. Continually, you have to balance the competing interests of the employee, the customer, the company, and even yourself. You attend too much to one, and you invariably upset the others.
This book cannot make the manager's role easier. But it certainly provides you with some brilliant insights into effective people management. The book's Four Keys should be inspiring for any people manager, even if you do not accept all of their findings. At least, you'll find yourself challenged as they document their conclusions based on 80,000 interviews.
I have found their twelve questions to measure the strength of a workplace very helpful for regular individual reviews as well:
[What do the employee get?]
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
[What do the employee give?]
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
[Do the employee belong here?]
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
[How can we all grow?]
11. In the last six months, have I talked with someone about my progress?
12. At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?"
I liked the book so much that I also bought the audio CD, which is enthusiastically read by Cunningham with a British accent.
At last, one of my favourite quotes from this book:
People don't change that much.
Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out.
Try to draw out what was left in.
That's hard enough.
Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business
Rating:
Summary: Great Managers help make great employees great
Review: When did we lose our common sense? In college? Whenever this happened (and whatever the cause), this book helps to reclaim our common sense when applied to the world of managing employees of small, medium, and large-based companies. This book is essential reading for economics majors, MBA students, and those working in management. It cuts through the jargon and helps people realize that management requires an understanding of human nature. It returns us to psychology. After all, the business world is bound by the rules of psychology. Violate the rules and you may harm your business. The book delivers harsh facts. Not all employees are going to do well at every task. Managers: stop thinking that everyone can do anything. They can't. It's unreasonable to believe it. It's better to create incentives -- both monetary and prestigue -- on the idea that someone may want to continue working in a similar capacity. The book cites attorneys who start out at a law firm at junior associate, associate, senior associate, and then work on to junior partner, partner, and senior partner. Throughout the process, the attorney does not radically change what he or she is doing. Instead, their work merely becomes more interesting and their pay (and equity in the firm) rises over time. That is, rather than promote someone to a position that is radically different from what they are doing, offer perks and monetary advantages as time goes on to your employees. The book says to promote strengths rather than overcome employee weaknesses. Some people are just never going to be able to do well at certain tasks. The book's realistic edge says we ought to understand this and move on. We can't strive for perfectin in every avenue. Make sure that your employees are doing what they do best at. Therefore, the goals of the firm -- and the employees' morale, will coincide, allowing harmony to exist in the firm. This book has many golden nuggets of wisdom, and it definitely is a keeper. Michael
|
