Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership [Paperback]

Linda A. Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

New managers must learn how to lead others rather than do the work themselves, to win trust and respect, to motivate, and to strike the right balance between delegation and control. It is a transition many fail to make. This book traces the experiences of nineteen new managers over the course of their first year in a managerial capacity. Reveals the complexity of the transition and analyzes the expectations of the managers, their subordinates, and their superiors. New managers describe how they reframed their understanding of their roles and responsibilities, how they learned to build effective work relationships, how and when they used individual and organizational resources, and how they learned to cope with the inevitable stresses of the transformation. They describe what it was like to take on a new identity. Two themes emerge: first the transition from individual contributor to manager is a profound psychological adjustment--a transformation; second, the process of becoming a manager is primarily one of learning from experience. Through trial and error, observation and interpretation, the new managers learned what it took to become effective business leaders.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hill vividly documents the experiences of 19 first-year managers. Initially, these managers focused on formal authority and setting business performance agendas while ignoring the responsibilities of accomplishing things through others and network building. "They were genuinely surprised, though, by the discontinuity between the producer and manager roles and between their expectations and the realities of management." Hill clearly explains the interpersonal problems of dealing with employee diversity and evaluating the performance of others along with the stressful and emotional side of making the transformation to management. She also addresses how new managers can learn from their experiences and the implications for those responsible for management development. Unlike Joseph and Susan Berk's Managing Effectively ( LJ 6/1/91), which examines what first-time managers should know, Hill discusses the actual transformation of individual performers into effective new managers. Strongly recommended for all types of business collections.
- Jane M. Kathman, Coll. of St. Benedict Lib., St. Joseph, Minn.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Leadership When There Is No One to Ask: An Interview with ENT's Franco Bernabe" with S. Wetlaufer (July 1998)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press; Second Edition edition (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591391822
• ISBN-13: 978-1591391821
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for managers (new or old), January 2, 2005

By 

RamblingLibrarian (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership (Paperback)

I highly recommend this to anyone involved in "management", particularly where you have to lead people.

The value of this book -- to me -- was not that it revealed anything new (most managers would instinctively know what the issues are when working with a team). What it did for me was to give me assurance that the trials and tribulations that I've gone through (some of which are daily occurances) are normal. That told me that I AM NOT ALONE! -- for management is a lonely business.

This book took me sometime to finish (440 over pages) but a very readable book. Not overly academic. I particularly liked the section on "Is Management Really for Me?".

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read for new managers, especially former top producers!, September 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership (Paperback)

This is one of the few books that explores and discusses the reasons that new managers FEEL the way they do. It helped me through my own difficulty transition from top individual producer to manager/director of others. I recommend it often in conversation or speaking engagements and actually give it to each new manager I promote, as required reading. Lastly, I have found it most effective when read after a month or two of performing as a new manager. By: Pete Dignam, Sales Director and General Manager, ICG Communications

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A necessary tool for new managers or those considering it, June 14, 2001

By 

Lisa Price (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book as one that should be kept handy for all new managers transitioning from the role of "individual producer". I also recommend it for those top performers who feel it is likely they will be "approached" about a management position and/or are wondering if management is their "cup of tea". It's also of benefit for managers OF new managers (who sometimes forget what it's like), and HR professionals responsible for designing New Manager training programs.

It's very well written, even humorous at times, and details the actual statements and insights of these new managers. What an absolutely accurate sanity check!!! These folks really let their hair down and were completely honest about their experiences.

Not only did I dog-ear and underline my book all over the place, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this book for a friend or close colleague who is considering or transitioning to management. It's like being in a roomful of other new/fairly new managers and getting honest feedback on the ups-and-downs, the highlights, and the things you would love to have known before accepting the management position!!

Linda Hill's analysis in the final chapters is the icing on the cake. Based on this study, she offers extremely valuable insights into how corporations need to support and train new managers, and suggests things that potential and new managers need to be aware of and prepare for.