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Truth About Managing People, The (2nd Edition)
written by Stephen P. Robbins
Studio : FT Press
by FT Press
Publisher : FT Press
Released : 2007-09-30
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780132346030
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 5 reviews)
List Price : $18.99
Our Price : $11.45
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Product Description |
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“The premiere writer of management textbooks has sifted through the research to extract the truths every manager should know. This book is an antidote for the unsupported opinions handed out in many popular management books.” Kenneth W. Thomas, Professor of Management, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, author of Intrinsic Motivation at Work “A prolific scholar and writer, Robbins cuts through the research and theory to deliver immediately useful and essential insights for the effective management of people.” Eric G. Stephan, Professor Organizational Leadership & Strategy, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University You can succeed brilliantly as a leader and overcome the “killer” problems faced by every manager! • The truth about building winning teams and designing high-productivity jobs • The truth about why “happy” employees aren’t always more productive • The (surprising) truth about what behaviors you really want to reward This book reveals 53 Proven Principles for handling virtually every management challenge The Truth About Managing People offers real solutions for the make-or-break problems faced by every manager. You'll discover: how to overcome the true obstacles to teamwork; why too much communication can be as dangerous as too little; how to improve your hiring and employee evaluations; how to heal "layoff survivor sickness"; even how to learn charisma. This isn't someone's opinion; it's a definitive, evidence-based guide to effective management: a set of bedrock principles you can rely on throughout your entire management career. |
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Useful and Easy Read on Management |
Robbins book is a well-written and easy to read look at managing people. The book presents 53 short chapters (not 63), in parts: i) Hiring; ii) Motivation; iii) Leadership; iv) Communication; v) Building Teams; vi) Managing Conflict; vii) Designing Jobs; viii) Performance Evaluation; ix) Coping with Change; x) Managing Behavior. That's a great set of topics of interest to any effective manager/leader.
Some of the chapters I thought were quite good: consider past behavior as the best predictor of a person's future behavior; some excellent tips on interviewing; looking first and foremost for a good 'fit' between the potential employee and your organization's culture; a productive worker is a happy worker; specific goals are much better than 'do your best'; many employee's love to participate in setting their own goals - but some really do not; specific feedback is much more helpful than generic praise or criticism; trust is essential to leadership.
There was some advice that was counterintuitive, and the author did a good job in backing up his claims with data when this was the case. The only chapter I thought was way off the mark was #25 - 'Make others dependent on you'. For example "The key to gaining power is making others dependent on you. And how do you do that? By gaining control over resources that are important and scarce." This kind of short-term thinking can be dangerous, and is at odds with leadership being about trust. That may be the key to gaining power, but it's certainly not the key to effective leadership.
The author has sought to pull together management wisdom from thousands of research studies, rather than present some academic theory of management. Overall I found the book helpful and enjoyable to read. I read the Kindle edition, and this short-chapter format is particularly well suited for an e-book format. |
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Very good but... |
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This was a very good book which offers great viewpoints to various problems in the workplace. The but comes in because I feel there could have been more examples and details. Overall a great book to keep in your desk and review quarterly to make sure you can see problems before they arise. |
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A time when Kindle doesn't shine and it can be to your advantage. |
Bottom Line: "The Truth About Managing People" is an easy and entertaining read that provides invaluable information easily worth much more that what is being charged.
Like another reviewer said, 63 short chapters presenting truisms in 10 categories. Each two-page(ish) section provides background and description along with the short "rule" that encapsulates the concept. That's great for the Kindle (in my case iPhone) because there's no flipping back and forth. What's missing from a print addition is a handy summary of those rules to act as a summary and reminder of what you've read. That can be to your advantage if it motivates you to take a few minutes and copy from the book just the rules. By the time you're done you'll be a long way to internalizing this valuable information and improving the way you interact with others.
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Management CliffsNotes |
This is an excellent book about "managing people" (I prefer "leading people") with 63 short myth-dispelling "truth" chapters. By the way, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones said, "You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."
Here's how this book will change you. It's time for the weekly staff meeting--and your interruptions have been interrupted by interruptions. Your job is to lead, inspire and motivate--and you need something fresh, but quick. This book is your CliffsNotes for all things management. Pick from 63 two-page chapters--and get this--the memorable content is not just opinion--the insights are all research-based.
Does Barack Obama (or Sarah Palin) have enough experience to be U.S. president? Eventually, yes/maybe. Author Stephen Robbins writes, "Even in the most complex jobs, real learning typically ends after two years." His research says that "experience, per se, is not a very good predictor of effectiveness. Just because a (job) candidate has 10 years of previous experience is no assurance that his or her experience will transfer to a new situation. What is relevant is the quality of previous experience and the relevance of that experience to the new situation that the leader will face." He adds, "Too often, 20 years of experience is nothing other than one year of experience repeated 20 times!"
The 63 mini-chapters are listed under 10 sections: The Truth About...Hiring, Motivation, Leadership, Communication, Building Teams, Managing Conflict, Designing Jobs, Performance Evaluation, Coping With Change and Managing Behavior. They fit well with the 20 buckets in my book, Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit.
The well-researched conclusions/chapter titles are compelling: Truth #4: Want Pleasant Employees? It's in the Genes! Truth #16: Not Everyone Wants to Participate in Setting Their Goals; Truth #28: Effective Leaders Know How to Frame Issues (he suggest five ways: metaphors, jargon, contrast, spin and stories); Truth #31: Charisma Can Be Learned; Truth #36: Hearing Isn't Listening (he gives eight behaviors associated with effective listening--like making eye contact); Truth #45: Not Everyone Is Team Material; and Truth #62: People Aren't Completely Rational: Don't Ignore Emotions!
"Personal references are easy to acquire but they're essentially worthless," says Robbins in the chapter, "Don't Count Too Much on Reference Checks." He says friends of applicants won't be honest with you. I tend to agree with him.
Some teams lower productivity, says the author. According to his research, "The truth is that teams often create negative synergy. Individuals expend less effort when working collectively that when working individually, so 2 + 2 can equal 3!" He calls it "social loafing." We need to look deeper at this research--it might dramatically change how we organize work.
From Chicago to Orange County last week, the senior manager in Seat 10C read the book over my shoulder--and plans to order it. That's a pretty good indicator of a great book! (Yeah--I got the dreaded middle seat.)
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I was very please with the condtion and timeframe that it took to receive the book. |
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