Rating: 
Summary: Good book - filled with common sense
Review: It is recommended reading for anyone rendering professional services.
Rating: 
Summary: A courageous, thought-provoking and great book
Review: Maister adresses fundamental issues in managing professionals and firms. He provokes by challenging the way many firms manage their professionals and the way professionals manage their work and careers. Maister comes up with very practical recommendations. The examples he uses are relevant and recognizable. His messages are positieve and constructive yet also realistic. The insights Maister offers are deep yet presented in a delightfully simple manner. Professional and manager: read this.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST for any professional in the service industry.
Review: Mr. Maister has written the "the bible" for the service industry. His concepts and views are on the money. True Professionalism is not a quick fix or trend, but a collection of timeless business advice.This book is a must for any consultant and/or business leader in the service industry.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful & simple - but too hard to use.
Review: You're a consultant, lawyer, accountant or some other professional in a practice which needs to sell to survive. This book gives good, simple, guidelines to succeed. Follow them and you'll do well. Don't worry that your competition will do the same because many of the recommendations will get lost in the "Too Hard" basket. For example, Maister's treatment of unchargeable time is simple and cuts right to the chase: how is non-chargeable time measured? What is the RoI of this time? Is there a schedule or a programme for what is essential investment in the future? The logic is impeccable, but it will lead to little action precisely because unchargeable time by definition doesn't contribute to the bottom line immediately. It is a book which seeks out many of the sloppy, unimaginative practices prevalent in professional firms and provides practical remedies. It is a book that will be much recommended but too hard to use, and the reason why is best illustrated by Maister's recommendation on guarantees: "Guarantee your work to the complete satisfaction of the client. If the client is not completely satisfied, accept that portion of the fee that reflects the client's level of satisfaction". This stuff is just too scary. To trust clients and staff that much is asking a lot. To force a firm to live up to its marketing claims is, for most, a risk not worth taking.
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