Lead Well and Prosper

During a recent trip I had the pleasure of reading and commenting a wonderful book about management: Lead Well and Prosper (15 successful strategies for becoming a good manager) by Nick McCormick. Please, note that I’ve read several books about management, but this is the first one I read on the management subject that does not feel boring in any way, in any moment. It’s a very concise book, not wordy and not vague. In fact, the book grasps your attention from the first chapter, “Adopt a serving attitude”, which sets up the dynamic for the rest of the book, and clearly demonstrates that the author has plenty of practical experience on the subject, i.e., that he knows what he is talking about. The book tries (and succeeds) to improve the reading and learning experience, by using a direct language and funny cartoons at the start of each chapter. Cartoons humorously depict a wrong management attitude or behavior, which the rest of the chapter will explain how to correct. Besides, cartoons are refreshing and provide and outlook of the topic to be presented in the chapter. More than a guide, the book turns out to be a friend.

The book’s structure is lovely simple. Fifteen chapters which focus on specific management issues:

Chapter 1 – Adopt a serving attitude: Be humble, serve and love your team (but don’t let your team members to walk all over you either… balance is the key).
Chapter 2 – Teach: Management is a teaching experience. Improving your staff skills, sharing your knowledge, will yield better results. I liked the book’s suggestion about hiring people with potential, rather than focusing solely on experience.
Chapter 3 – Provide Honest and Timely Feedback: This is related to the previous chapter. You have to provide feedback to your people, both positive and negative. However, feedback is a subtle issue (you don’t want to hurt people’s feelings, or to praise them excessively)… regarding this issue, the book provides a few guidelines about how to do it right.
Chapter 4 – Share Information: What’s the point of hoarding information? You have to share information with your team in order to complete projects! This chapter points out the way.
Chapter 5 – Listen: Dedicate your attention to your people. And be an educated listener. They will trust you more easily.
Chapter 6 – Treat People Like Human Beings: They’re not machines (they’re better than machines). Put yourself in other shoes, and you’ll have a better perspective about each of the members of your team.
Chapter 7 – Set Goals, Plan and Execute: You must set the example for your group. Be logical, realistic and organized, and they will follow your approach.
Chapter 8 – Learn: Life is about learning! Don’t ever let any learning opportunity to pass you by. Take your time to read books, articles, to learn from your uppers and from your team.
Chapter 9 – Do the Right Thing: Be good. Be human. You’re not an automaton. You’re a human being. Awareness of your human condition is a key requirement for being a successful manager.
Chapter 10 – Embrace the Uncomfortable: A good manager knows how to approach those boring, complex, uncomfortable tasks. This chapter provides rationale and motivation for doing that.
Chapter 11 – Clean Up your Own House First: You set the example, and teams tend to reflect their manager’s nature. Be positive. Again, be good.
Chapter 12 – Persist: Don’t ever give up! I love a phrase from this chapter: “Don’t succumb to the pressure of those who worship the status quo. You can do better -and so can your organization“.
Chapter 13 – Do What You Say You’ll Do: Good managers complete their task. Good managers set and achieve “realistic” goals (which sometimes means saying “no” to unrealistic requests).
Chapter 14 – Always Follow Up: This chapter discusses the (oftenly overlooked) issue of following up with clients, team members, bosses, etc. Learn here how to do it right.
Chapter 15 – Plan Your Week: Planning is at the core of management. Plan for your work, and plan for yourself.

Further, the book includes 7 appendices, which summarize some ideas of the book, provide some tools for assessing your progress, and offer a few expansions to the knowledge discussed in the book. Overall, the book promotes “balance”. The language is direct. After reading this book, one acquires a lot of rich notions about “practical” (and thereby useful) aspects of management. Reading this book is a first step toward becoming a better manager.

All in all, if you wish to improve your management skills, I totally recommend this book!

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