Customer Reviews

Tony Soprano on Management: Leadership Lessons Inspired By America's Favorite Mobst

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Schneider has mined nuggets of management wisdom from the first four seasons of Sopranos episodes, and he cleverly uses quotes, anecdotes, and vignettes from the show to illustrate his lessons about management skills such as delegating, negotiating, and giving praise.

Tony Soprano on Management has additional attractions, if you're not a Sopranos fan. The book includes an excellent chapter offering advice on how to manage up (that is, how to influence people in management positions above you). There are also plenty of case studies and traditional advice on good management practices, along with worksheets to help readers identify their hot buttons or concerns and plan future corrective actions.

Kathy Graden
Society for Technical Communication
November, 2004

I found "Tony Soprano on Management" by Anthony Schneider to be a well written, coherent discussion of leadership rules in which every manager should follow. He covers every aspect of leadership from knowing yourself to dealing with poor performance. Several of the essential theories of leadership discussed in this text include seeing your vision, making decisions, resolving conflict, delegating, fueling energy, negotiating, and building the right team. In every chapter, Schneider uses the Tony Soprano approach as a guideline for the rules of management. For instance, knowing yourself is the first rule of leadership presented by Schneider. He introduces this rule by explaining that the beginning of The Sopranos pilot, Tony Soprano is in the waiting room of his therapist, Dr. Melfi. Schneider states, "what is more symbolic of a man on a quest of self-knowledge than standing in the waiting room before his first meeting with a therapist?" Several lines later, Schneider is able to relate Tony Soprano's therapist visits to rules of leadership. "Knowing yourself and understanding your tendencies as a person and leader are keys to becoming a better person and a more effective leader." Throughout this entire book, Schneider backs up every argument on leadership style with an example from The Sopranos.

In addition to the valuable contents of the book, the set up of each chapter is useful for leaders working to improve their skills. Each chapter breaks down the aspects of leadership into segments. For instance, the chapter on praise and feedback examines how to determine when praise is due, rapidly responding to praiseworthy performance, praising in public and reprimanding in private, and the effects of annual performance evaluations. Each segment includes bullet-pointed summaries and worksheets, and the chapter concludes with a wrap-up summary. The style of the book allows it to become a workbook for the aspiring leader.

Schneider's technique of using mob boss, Tony Soprano, as an example keeps the reader intrigued and entertained. For example, he compares Tony's decisions to "whack people" with a manager's decisions on firing employees. He even includes comical quotes from Tony, such as, "[Screwed-up] thing is I don't even like Ralph. If he was drowning, I'd throw him a cinderblock. But not protect one of my captains?" This quote indicates that a good leader always stands by his or her team. Schneider's entire discussion of leadership style is presented in a knowledgeable, organized manner. The added element of Tony Soprano, one of America's favorite mobsters, leads me to classify this book as a must-read for any type of manager or leader.

This is a remarkable book. It's smart, fun to read, very up to date in terms of case studies, methods and examples from the corporate and not-for-profit worlds, both in the US and abroad.

I'm an old manager, stuffy, jaded. Someone recommended this book, and I didn't think I'd like it. I don't like many biz books. But this one is a winner. It's not just for managers -- entrepreneurs, freelancers, board members, this book is for you.

My favorite chapter is on vision. Another favorite deals with time-saving, decision making and delegating. I try and try to get better at those things, and usually books don't help. But so far, this one is.

I really enjoyed this book about leadership. The comparison to Tony Soprano's management and leadership ability makes it worth reading and it is not boring.

I had some leadership classes and the fundamentals are there, the style is authentic...Tony Soprano makes leadership more interesting.

I bought this book because I read articles the author wrote (on related subjects) in US News and the Toronto Globe & Mail. Like the articles, the book cuts through the crap and delivers the goods, while being fun to read. I'm using this book to help develop my team skills at work, communicate better and it's helped me in two negotiations so far. Tony Soprano may not be the nicest guy around, but I gotta say, he's a great management coach.

Once a concept takes off, others jump on the bandstand. The idea of using fictional characters to give leadership advice is not new. This author tries to use the actions of mob boss Tony Soprano to teach management. Unfortunately he falls very short. His examples ring stale and reworked. As a management practioner, there is no way I'd use what he has to say. He misses the mark by a mile. Save your time and money. It has already been done much better.

I thought this book would offer me something new---along with insights gained from one of my favorite characters. I was robbed! The suthor IS slick--and summarizes some great 'Tonyisms', but what he knows about business and management wouldn't fill a gnat's eye. His applications are forced, trite and very old. Nothing new here. Guess it takes a real manager to write a real book about it. All those reviewers who told how it saved their businesses must be in a business world other than mine! What a rip off!

Anthony Schneider has given the world a new and important way to approach leadership. This book has everything, insight, humor, a deft eye toward pop culture and the wisdom it can lend, but most of all, the book keeps us reading and keeps us laughing, all due to Schneider's skill as a writer. This book is a must.

Like "The Godfather," the lessons are simple and memorable. Rita Schiano,author "Painting The Invisible Man"Painting the Invisible Man

I've been managing people for years. And I have not found a book that says it like it is. Really tells you what to do, how to excel, what works and what doesn't. This book is the first one, and I've been following it like a bible. I had a negotiation recently. Consulted the book. Did better than ever before. I had to hire someone. Fire someone. Both went better. The good, the bad, the long term, the shor term, this is the one book that will help you steer through management and do better than you would without it.