Book Review: Simply A Great Manager
Posted on October 28th, 2009 by Paul McArdle – No CommentsNot sure where I first heard about this book, but it has been one of a number that have sat in our bookshelf for a while (we run a quasi-LIFO reading line).
Something prompted me to pick it up, and I am grateful I did.
1) Binary Review
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The Book |
What we thought |
 “Simply a Great Manager” |
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A useful slant on uncommon “common sense” |
| Full Disclosure – yes, that’s a tracked link to Amazon shown above. We buy quite a large number of books on a wide range of topics, all relevant to our business in some way. If you did happen to purchase the book from Amazon, they’d throw a few shekels our way, which would help us to buy (and hence publish reviews of) even more books. Hence, Karma would return the benefits to you… |
2) Trick Question?
Hands up who are managers out there?
The authors make the comment that you should all have your hands up, as you all are managers in some way – at home, at school, at work, or wherever (or even just of your own self).
With this in mind, the author makes the statement that management is meant to be simple (though I know for sure it does not feel that way to me, sometimes!)
3) Fifteen Virtues of Great Managers
If there are 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and 20 Career-Killing Habits to avoid, then it stands to reason that there will be some set number of virtues – at least for some…
Seriously, though, I believe models such as these do have the potential to add a lot of value – so long as people don’t start treating them as an absolute number (no more, no less), and recognise that every model has its limitations.
For the authors, the 15 virtues are as follows:
- Having the Courage to Confront Situations
- Understanding Your Priorities
- Knowing Your Objectives
- Listening and Learning
- Knowing Yourself
- Believing in Teams
- Believing in Delegation
- Knowing the Value of Time
- Believing in People Development
- Being a Motivator
- Being in Control
- Looking for Win-Win
- Taking Decisions and Sticking to Them
- Being Results-Oriented
- Being Imaginative
The book is written in easy-reading style, with some great content in each of these sections to prompt some further thought for you.
4) The Real Value in the Book
The listing of 15 virtues is fine, in itself – but (as you will have noticed) it’s not rocket science.
Where the real value of the book lies is in the examples provided about how to put the virtues into action – from section 3 onwards (about half-way through the book). Great content!
5) What it Means for Us
For a start, I will be making sure that all of our Product Managers (in their new roles created only a few short months ago at the autopsy) have the chance to read this book.
If they feel so inclined when they are finished, they might add commentary below (in the meantime, happy to hear what you think!)