On Managing People - HBR
Authors: Daniel Goleman, Frederick Herzberg, Jean-Francois Manzoni, Jean-Louis Barsoux, Carol A.Walker, Marcus Buckinghm, W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, Chris Argyris, Mahzarin R. Banaji, Max H. Bazerman, Dolly Chugh, Jon R. Katzenbach, Douglas K. Smith, John J. Gabarro, and John P. Kotter –
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press – 224 pages –
Article Featured on the Cover: Leadership That Gets Results, by Daniel Goleman –
Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram –
If you ask anyone what leadership qualities are needed on successfully managing people, you will probably get as many answers as the number of people you ask.
But Daniel Goleman points out to a study by consulting firm Hay/McBer involving 3,871 executives (selected from a database of some 20,000 executives worldwide) who were asked a number of questions on the qualities of effective leadership.
The research found six distinct leadership styles. He reports that the findings showed that each of the styles had a direct and unique impact on the workings of a company or any of its divisions or teams.
The study also revealed that each executive does not have or use just a single leadership style. Instead, like a golfer, he takes out a different club depending on the purpose or the job at hand.
6 Leadership Styles
What then are the six distinct leadership styles?
Coercive leaders demand immediate compliance. Authoritative leaders mobilize people toward a vision. Affiliative leaders create emotional bonds and harmony. Democratic leaders build consensus through participation. Pacesetting leaders expect excellence and self-direction. And coaching leaders develop people for the future. The more styles a leader used and mastered, and was able to switch among them, the more he was able to improve his measurable performance.
The research study also showed that all successful leaders possess sufficient amounts of these emotional intelligence competencies:
1. Self-awareness
2. Self-regulation
3. Motivation
4. Empathy
5. Social skill
Goleman goes into the details of each leadership style and the emotional intelligence competencies in this lead article in this book.
The book’s other contributors write on other aspects of managing people, such as on motivation, by Frederick Herzberg; on the set-up-to-fail syndrome by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux; and on how to save rookie managers from themselves by Carol A. Walker.
What great managers do is the subject of Marcus Buckingham’s piece; management in the knowledge economy and the issue of fair process are the topics W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne discuss, while Chris Argyris writes on teaching smart people to learn by themselves.
Have you asked yourself: How ethical am I? Mahzarin R. Banaji, max Bazerman and Dolly Chugh help you do the soul-searching in their article: “How (Un)ethical Are You?”
How to develop team discipline is the challenge than Jon. R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith put you up to, whereas Jon R. Gabarro and John P. Kotter show you all the fine aspects of “Managing Your Boss.” Yes, managing people also includes managing your superiors at work.
Don’t forget to read about the contributors at the end of this book so that you can search for their other writings on the Internet.
This collection of articles on managing people, like others in the Harvard Business Review Press series on management, is an excellent book that I highly recommend you obtain if you want to be successful in managing people, which is an essential part of management in any organization.
