Review of The Successful Manager
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Thubelihle Mpofu
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Review of The Successful Manager
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Successful Manager" by Practical Approaches for Building and Leading High-Performing Teams.]
The Successful Manager by James Potter is a powerful book about leadership with a practical approach to business management. A great manager is portrayed as a transparent, empathetic, adaptable, communicative, humble, empowering and responsive person who organises, coaches, teaches and delegates responsibility. Successful managers do not micro-manage their teams but empower them so that they learn, grow and succeed. The manager has to trust that his teams will perform to the best of their ability, just as he taught and coached them. This builds up their self-confidence and provides opportunities for personal growth and development and catapults the A-players for progression in their careers to the next level. This career progression is made possible by goal setting which has also been outlined as an important tool that contributes to the success of a team, especially if the goals are aligned with the mission statement of the organisation and are achievable, transparent and have a realistic time-frame. Goals go hand in hand with motivation because a motivated team can work together in unity towards a common goal. Motivated teams must have a reason to follow the leader. Why follow? What are we following? How do we follow? If the leader manages to motivate the team to work with him towards specific goals, and also motivate their pockets, he can be sure he has a powerful force rallying behind him.
Managing a successful team goes hand in hand with giving constant feedback which reinforces positive action. Feedback should not be given too early or late but right on time so that the employee knows what they are doing right and where to improve because there is always room for improvement even for the best performing individual or team. Perfect timing is a must in giving feedback. Another characteristic of a great manager is adaptability. People are different and they understand things differently, thus the leader must not be rigid in using the same leadership style for everybody. Flexibility in this regard will help him choose a leadership style best suited to each team and in that way the manager can accommodate everyone and lead them in a style they can relate to.
Great leaders do not only show their leading prowess in good times but also amid crises. What do you do as a leader when a crisis arises? Crises like the Covid19 pandemic can throw the company into disarray. What does a leader do then? How do you manage teams working from home that you can no longer see and monitor face to face? How do you positively make use of the time like Lockdown alert level 5 to improve the team members professionally and their contribution to the company? Great managers do not just sit at home demotivated and wait for a crisis to take its toll on both the company and the team. They use that time productively.
What I like about the book is the fact that the author used simple layman’s language to explain and teach about leadership and it makes it easy to understand and implement for both the starters in the journey and those who are already managing teams and employees. It feels like a face-to-face tutorial which is explained step-by-step by the best lecturer, making it easier to understand. I also loved the practical illustrations of the author’s personal encounters in different companies. They help the reader to connect with the writer on a personal level and to also understand that leading is doable if a person puts their mind to it. I enjoyed when the author referred to employees as team members, which translates to them being counted as important members of the company who are part and parcel of every decision made in the interest of the company. It makes me feel that the author values the employees on a personal level and also values the input and skills they bring to the company and that makes for a successful team where people feel valued and important.
I loved every bit of the book. It motivates the reader to delve deeper and learn more about leadership and also aspire to be, not only a leader, but a successful leader one day. The book has been professionally edited. I got about four errors in its pages but that is not reason enough to deduct any star from the rating as it is an excellent book. Hence I rate the book The Successful Manager 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to leadership managers in training, readers who are already leaders and to readers planning to open new businesses. All people in positions of management need to get their hands on this book. It gives great leadership ideas for all leaders and managers.
******
The Successful Manager
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Successful Manager by James Potter is a powerful book about leadership with a practical approach to business management. A great manager is portrayed as a transparent, empathetic, adaptable, communicative, humble, empowering and responsive person who organises, coaches, teaches and delegates responsibility. Successful managers do not micro-manage their teams but empower them so that they learn, grow and succeed. The manager has to trust that his teams will perform to the best of their ability, just as he taught and coached them. This builds up their self-confidence and provides opportunities for personal growth and development and catapults the A-players for progression in their careers to the next level. This career progression is made possible by goal setting which has also been outlined as an important tool that contributes to the success of a team, especially if the goals are aligned with the mission statement of the organisation and are achievable, transparent and have a realistic time-frame. Goals go hand in hand with motivation because a motivated team can work together in unity towards a common goal. Motivated teams must have a reason to follow the leader. Why follow? What are we following? How do we follow? If the leader manages to motivate the team to work with him towards specific goals, and also motivate their pockets, he can be sure he has a powerful force rallying behind him.
Managing a successful team goes hand in hand with giving constant feedback which reinforces positive action. Feedback should not be given too early or late but right on time so that the employee knows what they are doing right and where to improve because there is always room for improvement even for the best performing individual or team. Perfect timing is a must in giving feedback. Another characteristic of a great manager is adaptability. People are different and they understand things differently, thus the leader must not be rigid in using the same leadership style for everybody. Flexibility in this regard will help him choose a leadership style best suited to each team and in that way the manager can accommodate everyone and lead them in a style they can relate to.
Great leaders do not only show their leading prowess in good times but also amid crises. What do you do as a leader when a crisis arises? Crises like the Covid19 pandemic can throw the company into disarray. What does a leader do then? How do you manage teams working from home that you can no longer see and monitor face to face? How do you positively make use of the time like Lockdown alert level 5 to improve the team members professionally and their contribution to the company? Great managers do not just sit at home demotivated and wait for a crisis to take its toll on both the company and the team. They use that time productively.
What I like about the book is the fact that the author used simple layman’s language to explain and teach about leadership and it makes it easy to understand and implement for both the starters in the journey and those who are already managing teams and employees. It feels like a face-to-face tutorial which is explained step-by-step by the best lecturer, making it easier to understand. I also loved the practical illustrations of the author’s personal encounters in different companies. They help the reader to connect with the writer on a personal level and to also understand that leading is doable if a person puts their mind to it. I enjoyed when the author referred to employees as team members, which translates to them being counted as important members of the company who are part and parcel of every decision made in the interest of the company. It makes me feel that the author values the employees on a personal level and also values the input and skills they bring to the company and that makes for a successful team where people feel valued and important.
I loved every bit of the book. It motivates the reader to delve deeper and learn more about leadership and also aspire to be, not only a leader, but a successful leader one day. The book has been professionally edited. I got about four errors in its pages but that is not reason enough to deduct any star from the rating as it is an excellent book. Hence I rate the book The Successful Manager 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to leadership managers in training, readers who are already leaders and to readers planning to open new businesses. All people in positions of management need to get their hands on this book. It gives great leadership ideas for all leaders and managers.
******
The Successful Manager
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: How To Be Successful by M. Curtis McCoy
