Customer Reviews

Successful Manager's Handbook: Development Suggestions for Today's Managers (6th Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Successful Manager's Handbook has been used as the text for all Southwest Airlines Leadership programs. Over 1500 participants have received this invaluable resource and reference guide. The information and tips are practical, precise and right on target.

A serious book that covers the entire scope of good management practices. No cutesy language, and definitely neither for dummies nor idiots. The first few pages on goal setting and the model they provide alone are worth the price of the book. I actually started reading the book backwards. The chapters are self contained and well written.

That said, the book suffers a certain dryness in delivery. What would enliven it and make the content easy to remember is well placed diagrams. I do not mean the kind of useless icons one finds in Dummies books, but serious business oriented diagrams that visualize the concepts.

You buy yourself a great education in managing when you buy this book. You will not become a manager by reading the book; but if you are already a manager you can be a great one.

With a thorough examination of the issues a business faces, this book is as close as it comes to distilling a complete MBA degree into a single useful book.

The book breaks the critical areas of business into four basic areas: Thought Leadership, Results Leadership, People Leadership, and Self Leadership. In addition it breaks down those four areas into nine core factors that determine business success. These core factors include Strategy, Judgment, Business Knowledge, Planning and Execution, Motivation and Courage, Leadership, Interpersonal, Communication, and Self-Management.

The organization of the information was logical and useful. Some of the subjects covered include Strategic Advantage, Customer Loyalty, Sound Judgment, Thinking Strategically, Applying Expertise, Managing Technology, Planning, Managing Change, Influence, Coaching and Developing Others, Building Relationships, Managing Conflict and many, many others.

This is by far the most thorough and useful single reference book on managing that I have ever come across. For ease of use it can't be beat with each section having it's own introduction and a list of the most valuable tips in that section. Then to make it even more useful, at the end of the book is a listing of resources by chapter. These resources include available books and seminars that relate directly to the items in that chapter.

If you are involved in business management pick up a copy of this book and keep it close at hand you will find yourself referring to it often.

Every time I pick up this book, I find at least one helpful suggestion in resolving work issues, usually with my direct reports but other times for my own development! This book has never let me down in improving myself as a manager.

I enjoyed every part of this book and I highly recommend it. It's easy to read and covers all the relevant areas of management. Very impressed with the breadth of topics.

Also recommend a companion book for this, which focuses on leadership and management as an ensemble: "The Leader's Guide: 15 Essential Skills."

As Manager of our Training and Development function, I give this out to every participant in our Certificate in Management when they register for the program. They use it throughout the certificate and can't say enough about it!

and a copy of this book in every office. My executive coach handed this to me and said that it would have a couple of key bullet points to address almost any situation I would encounter; it also has a great, detailed table of contents. She was absolutely right! This is so full of practical how-to, that you can let the book fall open to any page and get a 2-minute reminder of anything from day-to-day operations to creating a more innovative organization. Chefs have The Joy of Cooking, car mechanics have Bentley's Guides, biologists have The Molecular Biology of the Cell, women have The Harvard Guide to Women's Health, managers have THIS!

Amazing book. Easy to refer. Excellent content. Right from the cover itself you can check which problem you are facing and then you go dive in to check for what are the various solutions or ways to handle a situation.

After several years of reviewing management books and observing live education sessions for managers, I found this book. It is a great reference; distilling useful information that is usually only found in small doses in other books and classes. It also contains a bibliography of other useful books at the end of each chapter.

This is an excellent book in managerial basics. We provide this text for all our new supervisors/managers as a resource!