Clever Geek Handbook
30 December 2025

The Little Black Book of Leadership

Recommendation

If a “little black book” is a list of top date choices, Todd Dewett’s book is well named. This handy little volume provides a quick overview of the basics – enough information to have a fling with leadership, but not enough to be ready to marry it. While it lacks deep insight, it is certainly helpful as a directory for new managers and wannabe leaders. Dewett adopts a global, big-picture approach, outlining and discussing the personal and professional attributes, qualities, and characteristics leaders need. His suggestions include some detail (note the cogent two pages on body language), but they may seem routine unless you need an introduction to the basics. Even Dewett characterizes his concepts as “simple ideas,” but his time-tested advice tells novice managers how to start stepping out – and isn’t that one of the things a little black book is supposed to do? BooksInShort suggests this book as a useful guide to first dates for new leaders.

Take-Aways

  • Leadership is simple and straightforward.
  • A leader should pledge to respect people, improve, be a role model, share credit, learn, make good decisions, be responsible, accept accountability and be proactive.
  • While intelligence is helpful, you don’t need to be super smart to be a good leader.
  • Ignore the myths claiming that leadership is complex and requires greatness, or that leaders are born and not made.
  • Indeed, anyone who works hard to develop the necessary skills – particularly people skills – can become a good leader.
  • Leaders are aware of their cognitive biases, values, emotional intelligence and personal strengths.
  • Leadership has three rules: “Reduce ambiguity, be fair and stay positive.”
  • Leaders must clarify information for the people who follow them.
  • To motivate employees, develop strong relationships with them.
  • Carefully controlled conflict can be useful at work.

Summary

Looking at Leadership

Leadership, “the ability to achieve great personal and organizational results through others using positive interpersonal relationships,” depends on three qualities: First, being smart is helpful, though it’s not the defining factor. Second, you must make an effort. The harder you work, the better a leader you’ll be. Third, you must build leadership skills by developing your abilities to communicate, make decisions, motivate others, manage conflict and direct teams. Many observers contend that managers and leaders are separate species. Not true. Leaders manage and managers lead. Leadership relies on a steady, consistent effort. It’s a marathon, not a 100-yard race, and it is the subject of numerous myths you must ignore:

  • “Leadership is complex” – It is anything but. Leadership is straightforward and simple.
  • “Leadership is about ‘great men’” – You don’t need to be charismatic to be a successful leader. Most effective leaders are not. Instead, you must understand who you are and recognize your personal strengths.
  • “Leadership is defined by big moments” – Au contraire, leadership is built on the actions you take on a daily basis, consistently, to lead others.
  • “Leaders are born, not made” – People who work hard can become effective leaders.
“The people with the strongest ability to make an emotional impact are those in positions of leadership.”

No matter who you are or where you work, you need leadership skills, particularly people skills. The better you work with others, the more opportunities you will have to get hired and promoted. Plus, good leaders make significant contributions to their firms, while poor leaders chase away talented employees. Motivational leaders never play the “blame game.” They accept responsibility and rely on themselves. They are disciplined and willing to sacrifice to boost their skills and reach their goals. They know who they are. This self-awareness involves five areas:

  1. “Cognitive biases” – These are typical, quick but misguided “mental shortcuts” to avoid. “Self-biased assumptions” may lead you to believe that everyone thinks like you. Never assume that your employees share your attitudes. “Positive bias” can lead you to evaluate yourself too optimistically. “Stereotyping” can misguide you into assuming you know about people based on their group affiliations, like thinking “jocks are dumb.”
  2. “Values” – To be a top-quality leader, you must know your values. Without them, you can easily stumble and fall when you face a perplexing choice in a “gray area.”
  3. “Personality” – Take a personality test or two, and have your team do the same. Your aim is to “develop a new vocabulary for understanding and talking about characteristic differences” so you have the knowledge to solve conflicts.
  4. “Emotional intelligence” – When you want to motivate others, EQ is as crucial as IQ.
  5. “Professional strengths” – First, identify your strengths and build on them. Use “self-observation” to study your performance; pay attention to what you say and do. Second, note your “professional outcomes,” since your achievements point to your strengths. Third, solicit feedback; ask others how you’re doing. And fourth, evaluate yourself; ask your HR department for professional assessment tools you can use.
“Self-awareness is the cornerstone of your professional development.”

Once you identify your personal strengths and weaknesses, set goals to help you focus your energies and time on the projects, tasks, and activities that count the most. Write down your primary goals. Target the top 20%, and spend 80% of your time on them (that’s the 80/20 Rule). Work on crucial goals during your most productive hours. Goal setting involves five steps:

  1. “Defining your goals” – To get started, establish only a few main objectives.
  2. “Identifying milestones” – Divide each goal into specific, chronological tasks.
  3. “Tracking progress” – Track your mile markers so you know how you’re doing.
  4. “Communicating progress” – Share your plans with “key confidants.”
  5. “Administering self-rewards” – Enjoy motivating hits of “delayed gratification.”
“Career rule #1 is to pursue your passions and interests, and to maximize the use of your strengths.”

Goals take a number of forms. Projects and tasks call for measurable “performance goals” – for example, such objectives might relate to sales volumes, procedures, jobs, and your level of achievement or status. “Leadership goals” concern “soft” skills, like problem solving, motivating employees, and so on. “Life goals” cover the targets you want to accomplish outside the office.

“Every time we face a problem, we have a choice as to whether we will fix the problem today, or fix the problem for good.”

How can you develop the skills you need to achieve your goals? College can help. So can career certification classes, or advice from mentors or coaches. Observe how experts do things. Register for professional seminars. Ask to work on projects that force you to develop new skills. Seek training. Volunteer. Read at least “5-10 books” a year, especially business books. To build skills and develop your network, set up a group at work with other people who seek self-improvement.

“The Three Rules of Leadership”

The way you treat your employees will affect how much success you attain as a leader. Develop strong relationships with the people who work for you by following the three rules of leadership:

  1. “Reduce ambiguity” – Make sure your staff knows what’s happening. Be open, honest and transparent. Communicate clearly. Be “specific, concise, supportive” and “timely.” When you speak, watch your volume, tone, grammar, pronunciation, jargon and body language. Stand still and straight; don’t cross your arms. Smile and make eye contact.
  2. “Be fair” – While no one expects absolutely equal outcomes, people do want equitable, respectful treatment. Unfair or unjust bosses demotivate employees and provoke trouble. Share the reasoning behind your decisions. From time to time, ask staffers what they think about how you and the company treat them. Make sure that any cuts in pay or benefits affect everyone in a similar manner.
  3. “Stay positive” – People do not like to work for negative bosses. Be a positive leader, and try to help your employees remain optimistic as well. Assume the role of a workplace cheerleader. Encourage your people in everything they do. Compliment them when they succeed. Stay supportive. Stand up for your team members when outsiders criticize them.

Developing and Inspiring Employees

To help your employees improve, use skill assessments to measure their individual capabilities. These tools include tests, surveys and observation, including 360º feedback programs. Once you understand what your staffers can do, help them learn to do more. Shadowing offers effective training; this is where a less-skilled staff member carefully watches the way an expert, senior employee works. Job rotations can help employees – often those slated for executive advancement – develop a stronger appreciation of how the organization functions. Employees can benefit from professional training or seminars, or they can develop their skills – particularly technical capabilities – inexpensively and flexibly through self-directed independent study.

“Your decisions will not make everyone happy all the time.”

As a leader, help employees develop in new directions by assigning challenging tasks that push their capabilities. “Big, hairy, audacious goals,” also called “stretch goals,” can help people grow in new, ambitious ways. Work through a “performance management process” that incorporates accountability, metrics, goals, evaluations, feedback, and personal recognition and rewards.

Decision Making and Solving Problems

The “DIE” model – “define, investigate, execute” – is one way leaders solve problems. First, define what you’re facing. Is it a core problem or a symptom of a bigger issue? Ask about the reason the problem exists at least five times. Urge your team to find an answer. Bring in outside help. As you delve into the problem, generate and evaluate possible solutions. Make sure you have quality data. Brainstorm, and have your team study the problem and suggest potential cures. Choose the tactic that seems to offer the most promise, but develop contingencies just in case. Problem solving involves decision making, which may include using these tools and techniques:

  • “Pareto analysis” – Put the 80/20 principle to work to find a viable solution.
  • “Grid or matrix analysis” – Contrast various factors about each choice to develop “weighted scores” for each component.
  • “Paired comparisons” – Compare all possible choices with each other.
  • “Force field analysis” – Visually depict the forces, pro and con, that affect your choice.
  • “Cost/benefit analysis” – Evaluate options by comparing their advantages and costs.
  • “Decision trees” – Use this diagram to examine your decisions and their possible outcomes. This is a helpful method for weighing “probability and value.”
  • “Risk analysis” – Assess the possible downside of each option’s outcome.

Don’t Discount the Value of Conflict

People automatically assume conflict is always bad. That’s not true, but you must “choose your battles wisely” anyway. “Positive conflict” – which is planned, such as a facilitator-led discussion of contentious work issues – offers benefits, but “negative conflict” – which is unplanned, unstructured, ungoverned, emotional, and opinionated – does not. Positive conflict’s predetermined rules govern the discussion so no one can act like a “jerk.” Instead, people focus on the facts, keep personalities out of the picture and discuss the issues. Participants engage with one another; they don’t interrupt, throw around strong emotions or opinions, assign blame, or wander into tangential topics. Use the following methods to mediate a positive conflict session:

  • “Begin by listening” – Do not micromanage.
  • “Call it conflict” – As emotions rise, label contested areas as “conflicts” to help participants stay grounded.
  • “Ensure adherence to the rules” – If you don’t, you’ll create more conflict.
  • “Add input when needed” – All facts are welcome.
  • “Spot common ground” – This is where the facilitator comes in handy.
  • “Resist taking sides” – The facilitator must remain neutral.
  • “Try to keep it balanced” – No one is allowed to deliver a tirade.
  • “Stop and reschedule” – Temporarily shut down the session if matters get out of hand.

Managing a Team

Teams can be helpful, but they are not necessarily the ideal solution for all organizational issues and problems. If you set up a team to address an issue or a project, keep the number of members as small as possible while including enough people to do the job. Select meritorious participants who can make notable contributions. Your team might include these members:

  • “Director” – Someone needs to be in charge.
  • “Mr. Data” – This team member relies solely on facts.
  • “Task master” – Someone has to keep everybody else on track.
  • “Dr. Process” – This staffer insists that everyone stick to a preordained operational format.
  • “Practical one” – Your team will need someone to keep things in perspective.
  • “Dreamer” – This person shoots for the biggest, best possibilities.
  • “Social roles” – Along with these team members, be sure you have a “spark,” a “peacemaker,” a “comedian” and a “helper,...the team’s best utility player.” Avoid people who want to take charge, to halt your progress with extra analysis, to rule by “gut,” to shyly dodge doing the work or to be treated like stars.
“Leadership starts with you, not them.”

The best way to motivate employees is to develop strong personal relationships with them. This requires being an admirable, authentic, service-oriented leader, so that people want to follow you and know that they can learn from you.

“The Leadership Oath”

Leaders should commit to a 10-point pledge in which they promise to improve themselves, respect their staff members, act as role models, recognize other people’s achievements, take “calculated risks,” continue to learn, make wise decisions, take responsibility, hold themselves accountable and be proactive.

About the Author

Todd Dewitt speaks, writes, consults and teaches about leadership. He is professor of management in the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University.

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The Little Black Book of Leadership

Book The Little Black Book of Leadership

The Fundamental Skills Required for Improving Yourself and Successfully Leading Others

TVA Inc.,
 


30 December 2025

Triumph of the City

Recommendation

Harvard economics professor Edward Glaeser revels in cities. He loves the historical, cultural and economic forces that intersect to create cities, he loves what makes them fail or succeed, and he loves the collaborative exchange of ideas and energy that only cities offer. His wide-ranging, storytelling approach provides illustrative tales and resonant factoids, all in support of his main contention: Cities are healthier for people, economies and the environment than any other mode of living. Glaeser makes a strong, entertaining case as he travels around the world and through time. His episodic, anecdotal style both obscures and reveals his work’s intent. The evocative history he unearths makes his theoretical points with more force than his attempts to plainly state his concepts. In fact, his conjectured solutions to urban problems read as academic, and he offers no practical plans to translate them into action. But those are smaller issues within an amusing read. BooksInShort recommends his welcome distillation of current thinking about cities to those who live in one, who might be considering living in one or who swear they never would.

Take-Aways

  • “Ideas spread easily in dense environments.” That’s one primary advantage of urban life.
  • Cities prosper when they contain numerous businesses as well as residents who have diverse abilities.
  • To succeed, cities must supply clean drinking water and dispose of human waste.
  • Cities are environmentally healthier than suburbs, exurbs or rural living.
  • London and Singapore assess “congestion” fees to control traffic in their central zones. New Yorkers use less gasoline per capita than people in any other US city.
  • Density is a crucial factor in gas use. More miles of roads always means more traffic.
  • Average January temperature is a significant factor in the decline or expansion of a US city. “Rust Belt” residents fled unemployment and the cold, and won’t be back.
  • Compare the lives of the urban poor not to the lives of the urban rich, but to the lives of the rural poor.
  • Urban crime is predominantly the poor stealing from the poor.
  • The virtual world will never replace the benefits of face-to-face contact or fulfill the need to be with other people.

Summary

Proximity in an Urban World

More than 50% of all people now live in cities. Urbanity can be harsh, but it endures because city space is necessary, fulfilling and efficient. People flock to the financial and cultural opportunities of cities. Despite expanding exurbs and myths of cottage living, 243 million Americans live in urban environments, covering only 3% of the nation’s land.

“The strength that comes from human collaboration is the central truth behind civilization’s success and the primary reason cities exist.”

New York City’s harbor made the area a natural transportation hub, and it grew as such. The city’s fortunes fell as import-export business shifted to other harbor and railroad urban centers, and New York remade itself as a manufacturing city. When manufacturing became cheaper elsewhere, the city transformed once more, becoming a capital of information, and demonstrating a dominant component of a successful city: It brings diverse cultures and ideas together closely enough to collaborate. New York “introduces...the central paradox of the modern metropolis – proximity has become ever more valuable as the cost of connecting over long distances has fallen.” Though you can Skype with your business partner half a continent away, you need a city to connect to others who might inspire you.

“Urban density may create marvels but it also comes with costs.”

Cities work. Cities put people and businesses close to one another. Cities provide “proximity, density, closeness.” United States urban workers out-earn nonurban workers by 30%, and those in big cities are 50% “more productive” than those in smaller cities or rural areas. The ever-growing number of people who reverse commute indicates urban advantages beyond work. Living in the city offers so many benefits that workers make the sacrifice of commuting to outside jobs.

Transportation

The contemporary mode of transportation – no matter what the historical time frame – gives cities their identity. In cities with ancient walls – like Florence or Jerusalem – tight, curving streets mean citizens must walk, so those narrow streets feature endless retail outlets. In compressed Hong Kong, residents live and work on top of one another. Folks in sprawling Houston or Atlanta drive everywhere. Even all their mileage cannot change a crucial fact: Urban environments are healthier for the planet. New Yorkers use less gas per capita than people in any other US city.

“Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich.”

Cities teach valuable lessons. For one, society should discourage home ownership, with its mortgage tax deduction and enormous energy expenditures. Villages are not more efficient or more conducive to good health than cities. Electronic communication cannot and never will replace face-to-face interaction. Cities first thrived as transfer thresholds among different ways of life. Think of Constantinople, now Istanbul, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia; consider all the energy and ideas exchanged there among people who never dreamed they might meet. No matter how technology advances, human beings need the crackle, the inspiration, of contact. An overheard remark in a coffee shop, a gathering of like-minded souls at a book reading, a mass cheer and shared song at a soccer match – the virtual world cannot duplicate these interactions. The exurbs and suburbs are well-known wellsprings of alienation. The car-dependent life separates neighbors, but rubbing elbows on the subway or walking amid the mix of rich and poor on any big-city sidewalk inspires ideas and suggests a myriad of possible collaborations.

“Even when compared to the most dire urban poverty, conditions in rural areas are usually worse.”

A thousand years ago, three of Europe’s biggest cities, Seville, Palermo and Cordoba, were Islamic. The Caliphate reached from the Near East to Portugal. A web of trade brought ideas from every corner of the world. As Europe retrenched in the Middle Ages, Venice emerged as a portal for Eastern ideas and a center of the printed word. So many scholars from so many nations came through or lived there that it had more demand to print books than any other city. Its multifaceted nature enabled it to thrive for centuries. Cities that falter often depend on only one resource.

Cities In Decline

Detroit is an industrial city. New York City is a commercial one. New York, like Chicago, and for a time, Detroit, thrived as a location where transportation modes intersected and goods moved between them: from ships to wagons, from canal barges to trains, and so on. Early in the 20th century, the tonnage of goods moving through Detroit was three times as much as the flow through New York or London. As intersections, commercial cities shelter a sufficient variety of businesses to survive global changes in technology and finance. Industrial cities do not. Industrial cities throughout history have – dangerously – been one-product metropolises.

“No matter how much we love New Orleans jazz, it never made sense to spend more than $100 billion putting infrastructure in a place that lost its economic rationale long ago.”

When Detroit became a one-industry town, it sowed the seeds of its own decline. Its automobile assembly lines and the related manufacturing brought new standards of living to nonskilled labor, and initiated one of America’s great migrations by bringing southern and rural African-American workers north. But Detroit’s factories did not help semiskilled or one-skill workers gain new abilities. When modern times moved past Detroit’s methods, it lacked enough workers trained in other fields to stay dynamic, and no alternative jobs awaited its workforce. “Between 1950 and 2008, Detroit lost 58% of its population.” Now, 33% of its people live below the poverty line. Other US “Rust Belt” industrial cities suffered similar impoverishment. And another phenomenon is in play: “Over the last century, no variable has been a better predictor of urban growth than temperate winters.” People leave cold cities and move to warmer locales. Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Nashville have experienced explosive growth. The population that abandoned Detroit and other dying Rust Belt cities is simply never coming back.

The Power of Slums

The movement of the rural poor to any city in any country always indicates the same thing: Life is worse outside the city than in the worst urban slums. Cities in underdeveloped nations gain five million new people a month. This growing number of urban poor testifies to the city’s vitality, the countryside’s lack of options, or both. “Cities attract poor people with the prospect of improving their lot.” New city slum dwellers often have higher poverty rates than long-term citizens because the longer people live in cities, even in slums, the better their standard of living becomes. Comparing the lives of the urban poor to the urban rich reveals little. The more telling comparison is between the urban poor and the rural poor. By most standards – life expectancy, earnings, health and opportunities for education – the urban poor fare better. Urban density, even in slums, promotes markets, big and small. People living close together trade with one another.

“When a city has really high housing prices relative to income, you can bet there is something nice about the place.”

Former slaves created Rio de Janeiro’s famous slum hill-cities, the “favelas.” When the slaves initiated a tax rebellion in 1896, the Brazilian army suppressed them. When the government withheld the soldiers’ salaries, they established their own villages on the hillsides overlooking Rio. Thus were the favelas born. Poverty in the favelas is crushing, but people there thrive compared to those in Brazil’s hinterlands. Imagining that the urban poor should return to the countryside is a fallacy. Lack of agricultural opportunities (“many poor nations suffer...poor soil quality”) drove the rural poor to the cities in the first place. They could not make a living in the country. This trend drives the rural poor in China and Africa into ever-expanding cities.

Urban Crime

City proximity breeds another norm: Poor people who live tightly together steal from one another. Gangs flourish because poor urban youth need protection from one another, and city services seldom provide it. Because impoverished neighborhoods are both compressed and separated from upscale areas, percentage-wise, little crime leaks out to plague the rich. Crime remains an urban phenomenon. In 1989, fewer than 10% of residents of towns of 10,000 or fewer people were crime victims. But 20% of those in cities of a million-plus suffered at the hands of criminals. Differing crime rates among cities seldom align with customary metrics like “law enforcement or income.” The slums of Mumbai, India are remarkably crime-free, though the people are desperately poor. The very overcrowding that oppresses Mumbai’s poor also generates a self-policing community. Everyone seems to know everyone in each neighborhood, and they all know when something amiss occurs.

The Short Commute

The urban poor stay in cities because public transportation enables their lives. The rich live in the center of urban areas because they value a short commute and pay to live near their jobs. If a city thrives on one mode of transportation – say, driving – it’s likely that richer residents live nearer to the city center. When a city offers several modes – driving, buses and subways – the poor usually live close to the center. The newer the city, the less likely it is to have dominant public transport.

The Basics of City Health

Any city’s success depends on two basic metrics of health and civilization: It must provide clean drinking water and safely remove human waste. Urban centers in developing nations must recognize these two tasks as their most crucial goals. Sadly, poor infrastructure and corruption stand in the way. Healthy water determines a city’s safety. Regular sustained outbreaks of cholera plagued London until 1854, when physician John Snow charted where in the poor neighborhoods outbreaks began. He examined London “street by street” and interviewed residents in slums where few from the outside dared venture. To his surprise, he discovered clusters of cholera centered around one public water pump. At the time, science knew little about water-borne infections; Snow did not make that connection. He did record that those who lived near the pump but drank ale instead of water seldom contracted cholera. When Snow finally convinced the city to shut down that unhealthy pump and others near it, London suffered few cholera outbreaks.

“The enduring strength of cities reflects the profoundly social nature of humanity.”

“A century ago, America was just as corrupt as many developing countries today.” Corruption remains the single greatest impediment to clean water and safe sewage removal. Usually, as the number of educated citizens in a city rises, corruption falls. An educated citizenry takes better care of itself and has less need to rely on the local services that a corrupt organization supplies. As the power of dishonest urban networks drops, city government makes inroads in poor neighborhoods. At the start of the 20th century, New York City’s government fought a crooked police department and shady agencies before taking over street sweeping and sewage removal. Once government gained the upper hand, health improved in poor areas.

More Roads Always Mean More Cars

“Vehicle miles traveled increases essentially one-to-one with the number of miles of new highway.” This is the basic law of traffic. Since building new roads increases traffic, how can cities ease gridlock and congestion? “Congestion pricing” provides the solution. London hugely reduced its city center traffic by imposing congestion fees. Simply put, the closer to the city center you drive, the more you pay. City center residents are exempt, which helps keep urban real estate values high. Large archways over Singapore’s city center streets have sensors that read electronic toll-payment devices on every car and photograph the license plates of those who fail to pay. Those drivers receive an invoice and a citation. Congestion pricing has never taken hold in the US because “politics trumps economics.” Americans regards millions of miles of highways as their public right and are loath to pay fees to use them, so US cities face increasing gridlock.

Cities Are Greener

Cities are simply better for the environment. Seminal urban planner Jane Jacobs maintained that gathering citizens in high-rises that occupied little space and were placed so that residents could walk to work would cause far less environmental damage than exurban sprawl. Lower density living – suburbs, exurbs and villages – requires more driving. Single-family homes use more electricity than multifamily buildings, and generate, per person, a larger carbon footprint. The US’s urban coastal and northeastern areas use less electricity than elsewhere in the country.

“Our culture, our prosperity and our freedom are all ultimately gifts of people living, working and thinking together – the ultimate triumph of the city.”

Environmental disaster awaits if emerging populations in India and China – where “the most important battles over urban development in the coming years will be waged” – recreate the American lifestyle, with suburbs and long commutes. Density is a crucial factor in gas use. People drive most of their mileage not traveling to work but running errands, shopping and picking up kids at school. City dwellers accomplish these tasks on foot or by mass transit, which is far more efficient and greener than cars.

About the Author

Edward Glaeser is the Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

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Triumph of the City

Book Triumph of the City

How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier

Penguin Group (USA),
 


30 December 2025

Suddenly in Charge

Recommendation

Leadership expert and four-time author Roberta Chinsky Matuson knows that to succeed you must manage your relationship with your boss and with those who report to you. Her book features a unique format: Start at the front of the book with the “Managing Up” cover, read the text that follows and learn how to manage your boss. Flip the book over, open the “Managing Down” cover and learn how to manage your team. Thus, the author provides two separate books with two separate covers within the same binding. BooksInShort believes that Matuson’s book will dramatically help you become a better manager and advance your career.

Take-Aways

  • No one trains you to be a manager; teach yourself how to manage people.
  • They don’t teach “managing up” in college or in most management training courses, yet this skill is critical for career success.
  • You need to manage your boss so you can get the resources you and your people need to be successful.
  • If your boss is younger than you, manage your attitude and be aware of your responses.
  • Learn to deal with, not ignore, office politics.
  • With growth opportunities all around, strengthen your position at work, and always be ready for the next opportunity.
  • You must adjust to those who report to you, not vice versa.
  • A malcontent can infect your team with negativity, which damages spirit and productivity.
  • It’s a lot easier to attract talent than it is to recruit people.
  • Guard your exits to prevent employees from taking the next flight out.

Summary

“Managing Down”

Managers are professionals, yet unlike doctors or even plumbers, there’s little training for the job. One day you’re a respected employee, the next day you’re managing people – without ever having managed or learning what to do. How do you begin? For a manager, relationships are everything. To build strong connections, use these seven techniques:

  1. “Trust me” – Without trust, you are a dead duck. You will have no influence over those who answer to you (your “direct reports”).
  2. “First impressions count” – Be open, welcoming and collaborative. Involve your group in team building.
  3. “Jump into the trenches” – Expect your early days to be like warfare with plenty of action and surprises. Leap into the fray, and learn who you have at your side.
  4. “Be respectful” – If you want respect, show your staffers you hold them in high regard.
  5. “Flex your style of management” – You must adjust to those who report to you, not the other way around. Do not focus on “me” but on “we.”
  6. “Listen more, talk less” – Let everyone see that you value their input.
  7. “Help others shine” – Your superiors assess your performance on how well you inspire others. Recognize your team members’ contributions, reward them for jobs well done and show you appreciate them.

How to Find the People You Need

In most cases, you can train people to do what you want. Always hire people according to their talent and how they will fit on your team, not according to their individual skills. Avoid these common recruitment errors:

  • “Failure to clearly define the role” – Create precise job descriptions for all open positions on your team.
  • “Failure to cast a wide net” – Interview as many applicants as possible.
  • “Refusal to pay recruitment fees” – Recruitment agencies perform a valuable service. Don’t haggle over fees, or they will offer you only the dregs of their talent.
  • “Hiring for skills rather than fit” – Recruit staffers whose personalities and work ethics align with your needs.
  • “Settling: hiring Mr. Right for right now” – Hire someone for the long term.

How to Retain the People You Worked So Hard to Find

Nobody likes to talk about it, even though it is happening in workplaces all across the globe – employees who have decided to leave. Departure lounges are overflowing with these types of employees – all waiting for their final boarding call. Here are some signs your employees may be seeking greener pastures and how you can bring them back into the fold:

  • LinkedIn connections go from a total of fifty connections to fifty connections a day. Take the employee(s) out for a cup of coffee and discuss their next move in the company.
  • Longer lunches outside the office. Ask how to improve your leadership style.
  • Uptick in the number of requests for personal time off. Have a heart to heart talk. If your hunch is right, see if there’s anything you can do to help your people find opportunities inside your company.

Managing a Multigenerational Workforce

Be sensitive and aware in your dealings with all your employees, new hires and seasoned veterans alike. They will span five different generations with these likely traits:

  1. “Traditionalists” – Technology-averse senior employees.
  2. “Baby Boomers” – Highly competitive workers born between 1946 and 1964.
  3. “Gen Xers” – Staffers born between 1965 and 1981 hate meetings and working late.
  4. “Millennials” – Born after 1982, they’re comfortable with technology and are natural multitaskers.
  5. “Gen Z” – Employees born after 2000 appreciate working in virtual teams, as they are used to operating five screens simultaneously.

Problem Employees

Certain workers, whatever their age, will always be problematic. Confront such staffers with specific details concerning how their bad behavior damages your team and the organization. Similarly, directly confront employees who underperform. Document everything. Don’t worry about whether your subordinates dislike you. Your job is not to be liked but to get results. You must constantly monitor and manage performance. Follow these tips on how to discharge problem makers:

  • “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” – Demonstrate it with every word and gesture.
  • “Avoid surprises” – Provide problem employees with clear warnings that they must shape up or you will ship them out.
  • “Be prepared” – Develop a script, and stick to it during your termination meeting with a problem employee.
  • “Focus on performance” – A termination based on perceived attitude invites a civil suit. But no one can argue about quantified poor performance, so present your evidence.
  • “It’s not about winning” – If possible, convince the problem employee to resign.

“Managing Up”

Managing up comprises the far trickier task of managing your boss. Your job depends on this essential skill. Learn everything you can about your boss. Develop a sustainable working relationship with him or her. Adapt and keep adapting. Never go over your boss’s head. There are four recognizable types of bosses:

  1. “The dictatorial manager” – Never take the authoritarian boss’s heavy-handed management style personally. Avoid battles because you will lose.
  2. “The laissez-faire manager” – This hands-off manager assumes that you can do your job without direction. Ask what your boss expects of you. Keep your superior informed about your activities, especially your successes.
  3. “The bureaucratic boss” – This boss’s holy text is the rulebook, so learn the rules. Always follow company protocol, and keep your paperwork up-to-date.
  4. “The consultative leader” – This is the boss you want – one who involves you in important decisions. When this boss asks, offer your honest opinion.

Office Politics

Office politics is part of every organization. Since you can’t avoid it, become political. Power in an office takes two forms: hierarchical, which depends on position, and personal, which depends on influence. Learn where the power resides in your organization, and behave accordingly. Follow these tips to survive office intrigues:

  • “Know the other players” – Office politics is all about people. Know who is who.
  • “Think before moving” – Office politics is a chess game; plot your moves.
  • “Learn from your mistakes” – If you repeat unproductive behavior, your job is at risk.
  • “Play quietly” – Avoid the spotlight.

Age Disparity

If your boss is much younger than you, you must carefully manage how you act toward him or her. Successful management has nothing to do with age. This individual probably would not be a manager without a previous demonstration of superior skills. Give him or her a fair chance. Never play the role of parent. Instead, treat your boss with the same deference you would someone older. Work hard to meet your boss’s expectations and needs. Whether young or old, every superior deserves your respect, at least initially.

“Bad Bosses”

Some bosses quickly prove that they are not worthy of esteem, these types of bosses are:

  • “Indecisive bosses” – These leaders tell you what they want and then get angry when you do it. Confirm your understanding of any assignment in detail.
  • “‘I’ve got you under my thumb’ bosses” – These micromanagers do not trust their direct reports. Demonstrate that your boss can rely on you.
  • “Bosses who play favorites” – This is not fair, but neither is life. Don’t compare yourself to the boss’s special pet. Simply do the best work you can.
  • “Bosses who discriminate” – It’s against the law, but managers still get away with it.
  • “Screamers” – These superiors quickly lose their tempers. Do not accept abuse placidly. Tell the screamer to treat you with respect.
  • “Workaholics” – Such bosses don’t mind working around the clock. They expect you to do the same. But don’t let them infringe on your personal time. Leave with the rest of the office. Turn off your mobile device. Don’t answer emails that arrive after work.

Tooting Your Own Horn

You want to ensure the next promotion goes to you? Never think your accomplishments will speak for themselves, because they won’t. Don’t be overly humble. Others in your office are reminding the bosses of all the wonderful things they’ve done. With so many capable and self-aggrandizing colleagues, here are six tips on gaining attention for yourself:

  1. “Storytelling” – Stories enable you to reference your successes without bragging.
  2. “Deliver with confidence” – When you speak with others, do so proudly. Hold your head up, enunciate and be forthright.
  3. “Create a master list of boastful moments” – You might forget them otherwise. Gracefully reference your accomplishments to remind yourself and others of your value.
  4. “Lead, don’t just follow” – It’s great to join professional associations. It’s even better to lead them.
  5. “Volunteer for highly visible projects” – Your CEO can learn about your capabilities.
  6. “Keep your boss updated on your accomplishments” – If you don’t, who will? Speak with ease, and never make your boss feel that you are trying to one-up him or her.

How to Work with a Coach or a Mentor

Even New England Patriot’s star quarterback Tom Brady has a coach. A coach or a mentor can help you dramatically accelerate your development and improve your performance as a leader. Here are some questions to consider when looking for a coach or a mentor:

  • Does this person’s experience make the grade? You want to work with someone whose already been where you are going.
  • Do your styles match? You need to be comfortable showing this person who you truly are and at times hearing some difficult feedback.
  • Is this person willing to give you a trial period? This does not mean you will be entitled to a full refund should you decide to part ways. This simply means they are willing to agree to an out clause in case you need to go your separate ways.
  • Is this person available? Finding a wonderful coach or mentor won’t do much for you if this person doesn’t have the time to help you.

Thanks for Your Hard Work; You’re Fired.

No matter what profitable contributions you make, you can still lose your job. Prepare for that possibility. Line up your references. If your company asks you to sign a separation agreement, make sure a lawyer reads it first. Watch out for these seven signs:

  1. “You are no longer in the loop” – You are invited to fewer significant meetings. Your company no longer wants your input.
  2. “Your boss asks you to train a ‘backup’” – Ask detailed questions as to why the firm needs a backup and what this new person’s job will be.
  3. “Your company is tanking” – Carefully assess how important you are to helping the company stay afloat.
  4. “Self-imposed barriers box in your company” – Senior executives make stupid decisions that hurt the company. Get out while you can.
  5. “Your company is merging or being acquired” – Your firm has plenty of managers and professionals; so does the other company. Someone will be redundant.
  6. “Your boss gets fired” – Your new boss likely wants his or her own team.
  7. “There is no place left to go” – You can’t advance any higher. Don’t hang about.

About the Author

Leadership expert Roberta Chinsky Matuson, often referred to as “The Talent Maximizer”. She is the president of Matuson Consulting.

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Suddenly in Charge

Book Suddenly in Charge

Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around

Nicholas Brealey Publishing,
 



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