A Short Book for Busy First Time Managers

Most books are too damn long!

They're full of jargon and theories that aren't actionable.

You're busy and you need to add value to the team quickly.

This books will give you the most bag for your book or you'll get your money back!

Who is this for? Management is difficult but it isn’t rocket science. It’s common sense and with some guidance you will survive and thrive in management. This book is a practical guide to managing humans.

There are many books on management and if you had infinite time you could read them all. The reality is you have a new job, you’re working long hours and most likely have competing priorities like relationships, sport, family, social life, hobbies etc. to compete for your precious time. You need to ramp up quickly and start delivering value to win the trust of your manager and your team. The beginning of your management journey is crucial to make an impact and deliver results.

The good thing on your side is that at least someone (and more than likely a group) believes you have what it takes to excel in this position and to lead a group of people

Whatever you have learned as an individual contributor is less relevant now and you will need to rely almost entirely on your social skills, emotional intelligence and ability to get things done. Understanding people and what drives them as well as understanding yourself is crucial to your success.

What’s more you probably also have a busy manager who is occupied with their own busy agenda and they do not have the time to coach and develop you as a leader so you will need to own your own development.

The difficulty with traditional management books Typical management books fall into mainly 2 categories

- Senior leaders and CEOs who can teach you what makes great leaders but they are not in the weeds of managing people daily. They have more strategic roles and can teach you high-level concepts about running organizations rather than smaller teams 

- Coaches and academics who have great theories some of which are true but are not at the coal face of managing teams day to day. They may have walked in your shoes once but often don’t give you the tools to be successful

These can be useful but this book is written by an operational manager who is working in the field and knows the challenge you will face as a manager.

Why this book? I am a manager working in the field with practical experience in successfully building and managing teams day to day. I wanted to create a practical resource that people can just pick up and learn the essentials of management. There are some great management books available but who has time as a new manager to read them? I have hired over 65 people in 3 years all of which I have managed directly or indirectly and conducted countless interviews and watched them grow in the team. This gives me experience identifying what traits and characteristics work in an interview, hiring these people and then seeing how they work out once they are on the job

I have and continue to walk in your shoes and continue to share my knowledge. I know the do’s and don’ts of management and hiring I wish I hope to pass on to you so you can learn from my mistakes

As a new manager, you will need to:

• understand your role and your management’s expectations
• your daily, weekly, and quarterly tasks
• keep things “business as usual” or steer the ship in a different direction
• and perhaps start hiring to expand the team

What you need not to do

• Please everyone and make everyone happy - remember “you cannot make everyone happy all of the time”

Remember, management is a journey, not a destination. It's about continuous learning, adapting, and improving. All the best on your new journey!