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Any good leadership/management books? (2 Viewers)

Otis

Otis

Footballguy
Boss has been signaling I will be tapped to take over his role at some point. I've led teams, but never a large group in an official capacity. Also his job seems like a major PIA as he seems to spend his day refereeing office disputes and sitting and listening to and trying to resolve the pissing and moaning of folks who just are never satisfied. Anyone have any good book recommendations for learning how to manage/lead a group in an office environment?

TIA. Shtick welcomed too. 

 
Baloney is right.  Experience is the key.  Also, having the ability to see things that other people in management did that were impressive/effective.  Believe it or not the young people in our company see me as the calming level headed presence.  A lot of that has to do with me taking on HR duties 10 plus years ago, so I have to be approachable about everything.  But IRL, I could never be the hard ###, it just isn't me.  Having said that, your style has to be true to who you are, if not it will come off fake and that is never good.

 
Read The One Minute Manager. It will take you less than an hour. Then read Leadership and The One Minute Manager. That will also take less than an hour. The last one to read, Putting the One Minute Manager to Work. About 40 minutes. You can buy them on Amazon for a buck.

 
Philo Beddoe said:
Read The One Minute Manager. It will take you less than an hour. Then read Leadership and The One Minute Manager. That will also take less than an hour. The last one to read, Putting the One Minute Manager to Work. About 40 minutes. You can buy them on Amazon for a buck.
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I second this.  And while it is true that you can't necessarily "learn" leadership from a book, you can definitely use books to improve leadership skills and enhance your management style.  

I'm currently reading The Energy Bus, and while it's a little cheesy, I've taken a couple of things from it that I think will help.  

 
Jim Collins' Good to Great. It's not specifically a management book but a lot of the general failures that they present as common but blockers to becoming great you'll find yourself in as a manager. The two biggest things to succeed are to build trust and learn to be an empathetic listener. My team knows I'm the captain who'll go down with the ship and be the first to praise and give them all the credit. 

 
"Setting the Table" by Danny Meyer is a pretty good one.  it's geared more towards Hospitality Managers, but it's a great read for any first time manager.

 
Philo Beddoe said:
Read The One Minute Manager. It will take you less than an hour. Then read Leadership and The One Minute Manager. That will also take less than an hour. The last one to read, Putting the One Minute Manager to Work. About 40 minutes. You can buy them on Amazon for a buck.
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Haven't read the first one in many years. Will revisit and check out subsequent ones. Not seeing for a dolla though. 

 
One of my partners and our CFO is an MBA (the rest of us are physicians) and he has many recommendations in this genre. Here are a few of those:

  1) Crucial Conversations - book about having tough conversations I think every manager, frankly every person should read.

2) Good to Great...a classic that I think will always have applicability.

3) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - self development, but you need these traits to make it.

4) Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity - also self help, and a different approach than 7 habits, but I use both in my own productivity system and I think they both are very good.

5) The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team - some people don’t like how this guy writes in fables, but this is probably his best, and I think it is very helpful for trying to build teams.

6) Leadership & Self-Deception - great book, also written as a fable, but excellent book on true leadership. 

He's got several more recommendations if you're interested. Just let me know. 

 
Maybe not a traditional management book, but American Icon is a good read on how Alan Mulally turned around Ford.  Breaking down the culture that had put Ford into a tailspin and getting people bought back in was a huge accomplishment.   

 
Another vote for First Break All the Rules. 

It talks about the difference between being a leader and manager. It sounds like you are a leader already, I was a leader long before I had the title. If you can lead without authority, I found it even easier once I had the formal title. 

Managing on the other hand is the worst part of my job.  Some of this is due to the mess I inherited, a team that hadn't been managed for years with many people in the wrong roles. 

 
Popovich's ebook on amazon is worth a read.  It only 55 pages and might cost you a morning, but its worth it. 

 
I've pimped Popovich before, but I've seen some serious results from implementing his practices.  Set the left and right limits and let your people explore them.  You might be surprised with the results.

 
The Dreaded Marco said:
One of my partners and our CFO is an MBA (the rest of us are physicians) and he has many recommendations in this genre. Here are a few of those:

5) The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team - some people don’t like how this guy writes in fables, but this is probably his best, and I think it is very helpful for trying to build teams.
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I went to HS with the guy that wrote this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Dysfunctions_of_a_Team

Don't hold that against him, though.

 
I find getting everybody in a room, getting all exasperated yelling wtf is your deal, focus and be better... then taking them out for oysters and tequila gets the job done and leaves more time for other things.

 
The Dreaded Marco said:
One of my partners and our CFO is an MBA (the rest of us are physicians) and he has many recommendations in this genre. Here are a few of those:

  1) Crucial Conversations - book about having tough conversations I think every manager, frankly every person should read.

2) Good to Great...a classic that I think will always have applicability.

3) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - self development, but you need these traits to make it.

4) Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity - also self help, and a different approach than 7 habits, but I use both in my own productivity system and I think they both are very good.

5) The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team - some people don’t like how this guy writes in fables, but this is probably his best, and I think it is very helpful for trying to build teams.

6) Leadership & Self-Deception - great book, also written as a fable, but excellent book on true leadership. 

He's got several more recommendations if you're interested. Just let me know. 
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Getting Things Done is more of a productivity book than a leadership book IMO.  But it's excellent.

I know it's cliche, but I found "How to win friends and influence people" as a good refresher read.  It's outdated in its references and very cheesy at times, but at it's core...just a good refresher on how to treat people.  

 
Missed this thread earlier - a good suggestion for new managers is What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith.

 
As a leader, I think it's important to draw the difference b/w management and leadership...too often they get lumped together.  In my words:

  • Management - day to day handling of tasks/work output in line with larger business deliverable
  • Leadership - Teaching, coaching, providing a vision.  How you as a leader "show up" on a daily basis (i.e. What signals are you sending, what are your blind spots, etc).
If you assemble the right team of very smart and competent folks, you'll be spending little time in the management space...of course there will be re-prioritization and guidance along the way....but by and large, people want to be lead....and it's and art, not a science.

Guess I'm rambling a bit....but my point is that leadership is not the same as managing.  Once you realize the difference in your workspace; you'll probably be a better leader for it.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Otis said:
Actually bought a bunch.  Have a stack of books from Amazon waiting at home.  Started two of them, but I'm a terribly slow reader.
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That's a smart strategy, you can bill more hours to your clients that way. 

 
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