Customer Reviews

Just Promoted!: How to Survive and Thrive in Your First 12 Months As a Manager

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

after I've given my first to a friend who liked it so much that s/he kept it. This is a well-structured, clear, concise guide on how to hit the ground running in a leadership position. The authors' approach favors "this is what works--do it" over touchy-feely, less generally useful philosophizing. Whether you are a seasoned leader or a first-time supervisor, don't embark on a new position without this!

An enjoyable read with excellent sugestions, ideas, and examples. Especially valuable if you have never been a manager. There are so many great suggestions made without a lot of management theory to weed through. Made me feel confident in my abilities when my new position made me feel in over my head.

This was the first management book I read and I didn't realize how good it was until I read a couple of others. This book has the most thorough and practical advice of all the management books I've read.

No book is going to give you the magic bullet of management and this book seems to acknowledge that. If you enjoy being treated like an adult and aren't out looking for a "Snake Oil" magic management cure-all I would recommend this book (If you enjoyed "Who Moved My Cheese" might I recommend you stop reading this review and go look at "Frog and Toad Are Friends").

Also, while the title claims this book is focused on the "First 12 Months" of your new management position most of the methods and examples it gives aren't specific to that time period--although that is the best time to start.

I read this book several years ago, and I have used the pragmatic advice over and over in my career. Chapter three has been particularly valuable because it has kept me focused upon the principle of making my boss look good!

Time after time, Mr. Betof and Mr. Harwood present the difficult choices and harsh realities of leadership and give you guidance as to what to do. I don't agree with everything they advise, but without question they warn you about what you will face when you are in charge and at least give you a practical plan to work from.

If you aspire to lead, I would recommend reading this book now and then watch leaders to observe how they deal with their challenges and decide what you think works. I applaud the authors' effort to outline a plan of action, but I trust that you will develop your own version for better or worse as you learn.

The great thing about this book is that it addresses the power and politics of the business world. I have seen quite a few promising but naive managers fail because they were blind-sided by coniving opponents. This book is useful to prepare good people to succeed and thereby make companies successful.

My disclaimer: As with any opinion, it is only my opinion and these reviews will vary depending on who reads the book and what the reader is looking for. I look for ways to improve businesses, sales, and my life. Although I purchased this book I continually used it as a reference for over 15 years. There are some great ideas included in this book.

On a 1 to 5 scale, 5 being the best:

Readability: 5 I read this book in about three hours. An easy read, but great information. At the time, I had just started a new job with a new company.

Information and new ideas: 5 Great ideas to take and use.

Applicable Ideas: 5 Over the fifteen years that I've had this, I've used ideas for myself and used ideas in training classes that I designed and rolled out. There are ideas for a new hire as well as managers.

Value: 5 Worth every penny. I continue to take ideas away and use them elsewhere.

I give it a 5 overall. Good reading and great ideas. The information is very applicable no matter what business or what level you are in a company.

Thank you Edward Betof and Frederic Harwood.

Rip Walker
Author:Rip's Book of Common Sense Selling: Improving Sales Through Process Implementation

This book is geared more towards the executive manager, but it has some advice that is useful for any new employee. Some of it talked about the importance of first impressions, and what you need to achieve in order to earn credibility in a new position. It also wrote about the psychological effects of going from an individual contributor position to supervisory/management position. Overall, it hasn't been that helpful to me but I will keep it on my shelf for the future.

The authors of this book seem to believe that the best individual performers should become managers - that is not something that I can agree with. It is full of pompous language (I do not want to see the word empowerment again in my whole life) instead of real-world advice. I simultaneously bought the book First-Time Manager and it is much better.

this book is extremly bad,,too mucho technich and encripted,,with stupid examples and long long lines,,saying nothing,, this book is so bad,,that I did not finish reading it,, is so boring,,if I could I would give 0 star to this book,,,I highly reccommend the book "the first time manager,,,"
that book is master and exceptional,,written in a very simple a open language,,this book is 100% excellent..