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Managing Your Greatest Assets - An Essential Guide to 'Real-Life' People Management

by Alex J. Malone

165 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0445; ISBN 1-4120-0082-3; US$18.00, C$19.50, EUR14.50, £10.50

Finally, a book dedicated to the day to day reality of managing people. A book designed to teach you the skills necessary to effectively manage your people, and build high performance teams.

Read more!

about the book      about the author      sample excerpt and Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book Managing people is one of the most difficult, yet one of the most satisfying elements of your management career. It takes experience, tact, passion and dedication to achieve success. Whether you are new to management or have aspirations towards it, whether you manage only one person or a team of one hundred people, this book is designed to help you. The content is the result of 15 years of dedication, exploration and personal experience in the area of people management and team building. It is designed to help teach you the essential areas of focus to achieve success relevent to the real world around us. It is not based on scientific theory, psychological studies or statistical analyses. It is based on 15 years of 'hands on' experience of what really works, and what doesn't. My hope for this book is that it helps you to become a great coach and motivator and to develop individuals and teams that you are proud of. I wish you all the success in your management career.

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About the Author

Alex J. Malone is a native of Liverpool, England, now working and residing in Orange County, California. A graduate of chemistry and biology, he has dedicated most of his professional life to people and team development and has managed hundreds of people over a 15-year management career. For the last 5 years, he has been a passionate advocate and leader of many people management and development initiatives. He describes his 15 years in management as follows:

"My first management position was when I was 27 years of age, and is still, to this day, the most challenging job I have ever had. I was given the responsibility of production shift manager, with approximately 30 people reporting to me, none of whom were in the ranks of management. Since I had no 'second in command', it was a make or break position. It was this role that taught me, the hard way, that people management takes great tact, skill, and dedication. After my next position, one in which I managed only four people for two years, I moved on to another role managing 25 technicians and one other manager. For the last five years, I have managed a team that includes 16 managers. At the same time, I have become heavily involved in many people development projects such as mentoring, rewards and recognition, appreciation, and coaching and development. So, essentially, I have spent the majority of the last 15 years in positions where I have managed relatively large groups of individuals in rank and file positions. I believe any success I have had in these endeavours can be attributed to a dedication to helping people to succeed in their careers.

It has been a long, hard road, but I think I can now justifiably claim some successes in the areas of people and team development. I have made my share of blunders, but I have acknowledged them, faced up to them, and learned from them. It is not a coincidence that my successes have become more frequent as my experience of managing people has developed. To those people I managed at age 27, my apologies! I was naïve and inexperienced, but I've learned from it.

I hope that by passing on my hard earned lessons, valuable experiences and well-intentioned advice, that I can help to inspire a new generation of exceptional people and team managers. I wish you all great success in your management careers".

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Sample Excerpt and Table of Contents

Introduction

People. The most important asset and valuable resource a company has. At the same time, possibly the most under-utilised. A business cannot function without its people, and the more engaged, motivated and inspired they are, the better their performance will be. The better their performance, the more chance of success your business has.

This book is about achieving success in your business by developing people to excel not only individually, but also as essential team players and effective team contributors. People who themselves can go on to become great pioneers, leaders, motivators, and mentors. It is about managing and developing individuals so they will be motivated to make a positive difference each and every day.

It explains how to develop your management style so you can better develop those who report to you and about how to coach and manage your greatest assets to achieve success. It explains how to develop and achieve 'stretch' objectives, how to measure success against them, and how to reward and celebrate that success.

You will learn people management techniques that work, as well as cautioning against those that do not. You will understand the importance of developing and maintaining a positive approach to your role while eliminating negativity. It also covers how to develop a high performing team, the skill sets you should look for, and how to nurture both the people and their talents. It even describes the kinds of individuals you should recruit for your team and those you should not--and why.

You will learn how to tackle the difficulties surrounding performance reviews and discipline, as well as how to deal with emotionally challenging situations in a mature, professional, and sensitive manner.

It explains how to structure individual career development plans, how to plan for the evolution and success of your team, and why it is necessary to embrace change and develop an outlook that is creative, innovative, and visionary. It explains the importance of effective communication, team morale, and team development along with the importance of recognising a job well done as well as a job not so well done. It covers management techniques that allow your people to grow in their roles while gaining confidence and skills to take them forward in their careers.

You will find no fancy diagrams, charts, buzzwords, catch phrases or deep psychological or statistical studies. These, I have often found to be either over elaborate, confusing or based too much in the theoretical. This book, instead, focuses on the 'nuts and bolts' of people management, written in a language that you will understand and identify with.

The subtitle "Effective real life people management" is exactly what the book addresses. Everything here is from personal, real life experiences. Experiences that have taught me one great lesson:

Whether you manage 1-2 people in a small business operation or 50-100 people in a multi-national corporation, success in people management follows the same basic principles, rules and techniques.

I hope you find the lessons and advice valuable, and that you choose to invest in your greatest assets. I can tell you honestly that my investment in people over the years has been my biggest motivator. When I consider my career, that which has made me most proud and made me feel most successful as a manager is the number of people I have helped to develop and succeed in their careers.

People management requires a set of skills that I have developed and nurtured through the guidance, influence, and support of countless people. I have learned from too many to mention, but I owe them all. I am constantly striving to become an even better people manager. It is an ongoing journey without a final destination because I will forever be a student of the fascinating subject of people management.

Hopefully, this book can inspire you to do the same.

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Contents

About the author

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Starting out

Chapter 2 - Mistakes and lessons

Chapter 3 - Positive influences and their importance

Chapter 4 - Negative influences and their importance

Chapter 5 - Learning from your direct reports

Chapter 6 - 20 different styles for 20 different people

Chapter 7 - Why people want to be managed

Chapter 8 - Motivation and morale

Chapter 9 - Coaching and mentoring

Chapter 10 - Trust, honour, and integrity

Chapter 11 - Teambuilding, teamwork & communication           Section 1 - The importance of the hiring process
          Section 2 * Teambuilding
          Section 3 * Teamwork and communication

Chapter 12 - Rewards and recognition

Chapter 13 - Challenging the comfort zone

Chapter 14 - Training, education, and development

Chapter 15 - Positive reinforcement versus discipline

Chapter 16 - Dealing with the bad apple

Chapter 17 - Challenging the rules

Chapter 18 - Succession planning

Chapter 19 - Strategy and strategic thinking

Chapter 20 - Performance reviews

Chapter 21 - Objectives and measures

Chapter 22 - What's in it for you?

Chapter 23 - The Check Lists

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Catalogue Information

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