First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group of Professionals (Hardcover)

by Patrick J. McKenna (Author), David H. Maister (Author) "BENJAMIN HAAS is the managing partner in the Chicago office of the human resource consulting firm Towers Perrin, which has about 8,500 employees in seventy..." (more)
Key Phrases: nagging rights, compelling challenge, one group leader, Practice What You Preach, Cliff Farrah, Karl Kristoff (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Competently managing a group of peers is unquestionably among the most difficult of workplace tasks, but key steps that produce success are laid out so clearly by consultants Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister in First Among Equals that even those who completely lack experience should find the process feasible and effective. McKenna and Maister focus on leading teams of professionals--often composed of people who don't feel like they are part of a team or in need of leadership--by transforming the way managers assume responsibility and direct members. "Success in helping your group succeed is mostly about you. Not them," they write. Their book starts by explaining how to prepare for the job ahead, for example, by meeting informally with participants and displaying sincere interest in things that matter to them. It then explores coaching the individuals involved (offering methods for gaining acceptance, building rapport, assisting underperformers and dealing with prima donnas) and guiding the collective group (by developing rules, building trust, invigorating meetings, and resolving conflicts). Finally, it proposes measures for continued success, such as integrating new hires and gauging performance. Dozens of self-assessment questionnaires and diagnostic tests help make this an exceptionally practical guidebook on a critical but oft-neglected topic. --Howard Rothman

From Publishers Weekly
Organizations are more successful when they mold highly talented individuals into a cohesive group. But most talented people especially professionals hate to be managed. How to resolve this tension is the subject of this tightly focused, effective book by consultants McKenna (Herding Cats) and Maister (Practice What You Preach). Recognizing that all groups of professionals are different, the authors don't set off to create sweeping rules. Rather, they divide the task of leading groups of professionals into three parts what one must accomplish as the leader; how one wants to interact with individual members of the group; and how one wants to deal with the group as a whole and then offer concrete suggestions. A big part of this book's appeal is the authors' inherent understanding of how professionals resist overtly and otherwise being managed. Not surprisingly, McKenna and Maister spend a great deal of time explaining strategies for getting colleagues to agree to being led. They are particularly effective in outlining approaches for dealing with talented prima donnas (e.g., "listen to the individual's reasons for this behavior" and "inform the individual how improved behavior will improve his or her career"). This is a valuable resource for anyone in the position of trying to manage someone who was and still is, to a large extent a peer.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1 edition (April 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743225511
• ISBN-13: 978-0743225519
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #345,845 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars weLEAD Book Review, March 28, 2002

By	Greg L. Thomas (Litchfield, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

FIRST AMONG EQUALS is more than a catchy title of a book promoted as a guide to managing others in professional environments. When you finish reading this book and the depth of knowledge presented by its authors, you will agree that it is first among equals. Often times books written by two authors come across as disjointed or unconnected. However, McKenna & Maister seem to complement each other's skills very well and the end result is clearly evident.

FIRST AMONG EQUALS was written to fill a large need in most modern organizations. Its premise is how to manage a group and lead them to peak performance without possessing formal authority. Today, it is common to be leader of a group of individuals without possessing any real power or authority over the embers of the group. Wise leaders also know that even if they do have formal authority over others, the high performance leader doesn't act like they do. Instead, the way to get the most out of the individuals we serve with is to be primus inter pares, the first among equals. The authors then boldly take you step by step through an enlightened process of how to interact with and manage groups as an individual group leader. McKenna & Maister state in the introduction that, This is a book about "doing." It is not concerned primarily with theories, concepts, or insights. It's a book we wish we had read when we were first given the challenge of leading a group!" This is achieved by providing frank observations, stirring questions, and wise advice from two respected consultants. FIRST AMONG EQUALS is also replete with quizzes, sidebars and checklists to enhance your personal growth as a group leader.

Part one of the book deals with the issue of how to prepare or "get ready" for your role as a group leader. It discusses how you add value to the group as its leader, and your rights and responsibilities within this important role. It discusses how you can build valuable relationships with other members and examine your essential people skills. It also deals with the question of what it means to be an inspirational leader.

Part two is a section dedicated to help you to learn to be a superior personal coach. It shows you how to get others to accept your guidance. Why unscheduled, informal "one-on-one" coaching is the most powerful way to improve a group's success. It deals with issues of building support for change, helping the underperformers who need assistance and dealing with the proverbial "prima donnas" or difficult people.

Part three of FIRST AMONG EQUALS moves on to the skills needed to coach the team. This part of the book deals with diverse team leadership topics such as developing group rules & goals, building trust among members, presenting an exciting challenge and how to energize group gatherings with good meeting discipline. This part of the book concludes with a discussion of how to resolve interpersonal conflicts and how to respond to a group crisis!

Part Four of the book looks to the future and how to prepare for it. It will show you how to nurture the next generation of junior staff and insure the success of newly hired personnel. It also discusses problems associated with group size, and how to properly measure the groups' success. The final chapter in the book entitled "Why Bother" concludes with a summery of the various lists provided throughout the text grouped by category in an effort to help you implement and synthesize much of the material.

If you are involved with managing or leading groups you should buy this book! No matter what level of experience or expertise you possess, FIRST AMONG EQUALS is a winner and is guaranteed to broaden your perspective on leading your group to peak performance.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some great material that I can share & use as a refresher, January 22, 2004

By	Keith Appleyard "kapple999" (Brighton, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Gripe no. 1 : I hope its not going to become a common occurrence in business books, but there were 7 pages of 35 advance reviews (but 5 of them were only 2 lines which said little). Let me decide for myself if the book is any good - show me the product. Also, I work in IT, but there didn't seem to be a single reviewer with an IT background?

The book looks at the leader/manager/coach of a disparate group of professionals, assuming a mix of seniors & juniors.

I think the book isn't just for the leader/manager/coach - because in many such groups today, there can be rotation (time-based or task-based) where any of the group of professionals might be called upon to perform the leadership / coaching / mentoring role. So the book should be read by all members of the team. Also the leader is human - they might not be 'doing it right as per the book', and it could be useful for the others (they are all equals after all) to be informed to provide that guidance/correction.

The Sections are laid out well : getting ready; coaching the individual; coaching the team; building for the future.

It classes individuals into 4 styles : amiable, analytical, driver, expressive (I tend more towards the expressive), and how to work with each.

I also like the way it addressed underperforming members, how to correct the problem rather than try to rationalise it out of existence.

Because professionals jealously guard their autonomy, reserving the right to work as they see fit, professional groups have a greater-than-average tendency to become ill-disciplined - and thus a whole chapter is dedicate to how to run a meeting of such individuals.

I work in such a group, where there are 20 of us, probably 50:50 seniors & juniors (though we don't refer to ourselves in those terms).

Gripe no. 2 : However, one thing missing explicitly from the book is if there are any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats from a geographically disparate or culturally diverse group?

My group is spread across 2 continents, 5 different timezones, with only 2 hours in the day when our extended workday (8am-6pm) coincides. We comprise at least 5 different nationalities & religions, and it seems many more political viewpoints. But time and time again, this material seemed to assume that this was a relatively homogeneous group, everyone was coming together physically in the same room, or at least, didn't even consider that people might be in the same geographical locations but be on the phone, and thus unable to see each others body language. My group only get together in the same room twice a year. We've evolved techniques over the 7 years we've been together to accommodate this, but I would have appreciated it more if this modern reality had been addressed?

I also liked the discussion on the maximum size of the group, and one correspondents rule of thumb that the group is too big if he can't tell you the name of everyone's spouse/significant other & what that person does for a living (assuming its OK culturally to ask for that information - in some cultures it's a no-no).

There's an excellent wrap-up where the dozens of checklist (don't let the apparent volume put you off - it's not that bad) are summarised and classified, and you are reminded in which chapters they are to be found.

Overall I think my group is doing quite well 80% of what is in the book, with maybe 10% that we wouldn't agree with, leaving us 10% that we could improve upon. I'm going to recommend it to everyone else.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Managers in Professional Service Firms, March 31, 2002

By A Customer

McKenna and Maister have written what will become the ultimate "must read" for people who have the unenviable task of trying to manager professionals. The book is filled with sound thoughts but the most valuable parts are the quotes and throughts from the managing partners of professional firms. It was an enjoyable read and one that I'm sure I will reread quite a few times in the future.