The book that made my read pile for October is The First-Time Manager by Loren B. Belker, Jim McCormick, Gary S. Topchik. Many times, new managers, supervisors, and lead-persons are thrown into a leadership position with no idea of how they are supposed to manage. According to The First-Time Manager that is known as the sink or swim approach which makes this book an excellent selection for that newbie manager.
Title: The First-Time Manager
By Loren B. Belker, Jim McCormick, Gary S. Topchik
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: AMACOM; 6 edition (January 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0814417833
ISBN-13: 978-0814417836
Rating: 4/5
Wouldn’t you like to know how to manage people without being that Boss?
Come-on, we’ve all had one of those, that Boss in our lifetime. You know the one who never has anything good to say about your work performance and never seems to appreciate how hard you try to please the Boss. Is there more to managing people besides cracking the whip in hopes of getting a couple of extra completed orders out of them?
According to Belker, McCormick, and Topchik, there is more to managing people then telling them to move their hands faster than their mouths.
Loren B. Belker who is now deceased was an executive for a Midwestern insurance company for 30 some odd years.
Gary S. Topchik is a managing partner for SilverStar Enterprises, Inc. which is a consulting firm that specializes in management development. Topchick is also the author of The Accidental Manager and Managing Workplace Negativity.
Jim McCormick is not only an author, but he is also a speaker and a professional skydiver that is known for being an expert in intelligent risk-taking and innovation. He is also the founder of The Research Institute for Risk Intelligence.
Many leadership topics are covered in this book such as how best to respond to team members appropriately. Don’t be one of those bosses that correct their workers in front of everyone. Take them aside and explain in private without making a show of the incident. You will build more trust with your team members and not hurt department morale. Without spoiling the book, the information found in this book is well worth the read.
I did give this book a four-star rating only because some of the information sounded repetitive. However, that may have been the writers’ purpose since much of what is written in this book is helpful to all new managers and even some leads who have been in their position for some time would find this book useful if they want to learn to motivate their workers.
If you are looking at becoming a manager, supervisor, or lead-person soon, I highly recommend reading this book. Even if you have been in your position for some time, there is probably at least one chapter that would benefit your leadership role making this book well worth the time and effort for your next book to read.
Linda Nelson 