by David Cottrell

Reviewed by Shannon Mueller, WELD III Intern, University of CA Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Fresno, California

Find a comfortable chair and grab a cup of coffee.  This book is a quick and easy read that you may have a tendency to gobble up in one sitting.  Go ahead, but then I recommend you return to savor one chapter at a time and really consider how it can influence your management skills.

In this book, the author is experiencing a major slump in his life, struggling with a lack of balance between work and family and experiencing self-doubt regarding his leadership abilities.  He asks for help from an old acquaintance who was a "turnaround specialist" (someone who was able to rescue companies from bankruptcy and lead them to profitability).  The mentor agrees; so for the next 8 weeks, the author visits with his mentor each Monday morning and they discuss various topics involving leadership.

In Chapter 1, the focus is on making the transition from employee to manager (leader) using the analogy of being the driver vs. being a passenger.  You become aware that when you transition from passenger to driver, there is an increase in responsibility and a loss of the rights/freedoms/privileges that the passengers enjoy.  As the driver, you are responsible for making sure the car reaches its destination.  You can no longer be "one of the guys".  Nested within this understanding is the recognition that a leader's goals should not include to be well-liked.  A leader won't be able to make tough decisions if they focus on being liked. 

In Chapter 2, the author stresses focusing on what is important.  Both supervisors and employees must know what is important.  Supervisors shouldn't assume their employees know; their perceptions may be different from the supervisor's.  It must be made clear what you need from each other, and not let circumstances dictate actions; the mission should dictate actions.

Chapter 3 is called 'Escape from Management Land (where things aren't always what they seem).  In it, there are guidelines to getting in touch with employees and working well with teams.  Recommendations include:

• Hiring good employees and being careful not to abuse them!  Good employees are often asked to do more when poor employees aren't pulling their weight.  They are in effect punished, and the poor employees are rewarded with fewer responsibilities while still receiving decent performance evaluations.
  
• Coaching every member of the team to become better - recognize excellent performance and work with poor performers.
  
• Firing people who aren't carrying their share of the load.  Performance issues affect the rest of the team.

In Chapter 4, the author discusses the "Do Right" Rule, reminding the reader that your integrity is your most precious leadership possession.  It takes courage to do the right thing, but doing the right thing is always right.  As a leader, you must focus on what is causing the problem and fix it.  Scenarios are presented illustrating that you are probably not the only one seeing the problem.  In fact, managers are often the last to know and only see the tip of the iceberg.  The rest of the team is closer to the situation and often has a clearer view of what is actually going on.  Ultimately, your team is watching and depending on you to do the right thing.

Chapter 5 revisits and refines some of the information in Chapter 3 in discussing working with employees.  It stresses the importance of Hiring Tough.  The right people can be an asset to your operation while the wrong people are a liability.  If you hire tough, managing those employees is easy.  The reverse is also true - if you hire easy, it may require a higher level of management to accomplish team goals.  When hiring, take your time and get the right person.  Never lower your standards just to fill a position.

In Chapter 6, time management tips are provided.  The bottom line is our time is our responsibility.  Since we can't add hours to the day, the only options are to do less or work faster.  We can all probably use some advice to make better decisions about how we spend our time.  There are three general areas to consider with brief suggestions to improve time management:

            Prioritizing/organizing - Set aside some uninterrupted planning time every day, touch paper only once, audit every report that hits your desk and pare it down to the essentials, clean your desk, control email deliveries so they aren't distracting, batch "like" activities, and avoid crowds (go to lunch at 11 or 1).

            Paying attention to interruptions - Keep track of who is interrupting you and why, keep interruptions short, your desk shouldn't face the flow of traffic, schedule one-on-one sessions with your staff and boss and regular times to avoid interruptions, and ask your team how you waste their time and hinder their performance so their time management ability improves.

            Meetings - make meetings productive and short by being prepared, on time, and focused.  Don't fall into perpetually scheduled meeting syndrome, cover the most important items first, don't recap for latecomers, and start and end on time.

In Chapter 7, the concept of "buckets and dippers" is covered.  Leaders (managers) must help employees grow personally and professionally.  "Buckets" describe an individual's motivation.  The bucket can be full, empty, or leaky.  Leaders keep buckets filled by clearly communicating what is important to doing a good job, providing feedback (sincere, specific, timely, and aligned with the receiver's value system), and letting employees know you care about them and the job they do (providing recognition).  "Dippers" are those people that drain the desire and motivation from their own buckets or the buckets of others through cynicism, negativism, doubt, stress, etc.  The effects of the dippers need to be minimized or eliminated.

Chapter 8 is titled "Enter the Learning Zone".  All leaders must move out of their comfort zone and into the Learning Zone.  Recommended as one of the most important activities is reading more about leadership.  Through reading, you have the opportunity to learn from others. The WELD program subscribes to this recommendation in requiring a book report and, like other interns, I feel it has been a valuable part of the WELD experience.  After reading book reports submitted by other interns, I plan to read several of the books they reviewed.  I hope you feel the same way about this book.  It is such a simple book packed with morsels of wisdom that can benefit anyone in the pursuit of improved leadership skills.