What to Do When You Become the Boss: How New Managers Become Successful Managers

by Bob Selden

Book Overview

Make a success of your career as a manager. This is your complete "How to" for managing your boss, your people, yourself. You will refer to this book again and again as you progress through your... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1432714287
• ISBN13: 9781432714284
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great General and Specific Advice

What To Do when You Become the Boss by Bob Selden is a practical, step by step guide on how to survive the transition from employee to someone others report to. These types of books by their nature often have to make assumptions about your learning style and the situation you're in. Bob really does go above and beyond by trying to have his book meet all needs. To begin with, he has you determine if you are an activist, pragmatist, theorist or reflective learning style. He then gives you a step by step guide on how to "hop chapters" to find the information you most need. I admit that I would find it very hard to jump around - I wanted to start from the beginning and read through chapter by chapter. But maybe that's just an indication of my personal style. Maybe someone else would really enjoy the chapter leaping :) Bob says that you need to balance leading, managing and operating. Leaders don't just "happen" - they need to be *chosen*. I.e. if your followers are unwilling to follow you, then you really aren't a leader. A leader needs to help his followers understand their tasks, provide direction provide belief in what they're doing and help enable them. Bob also comments that leading is path finding, while managing is path minding. Bob talks about these generalities - but he also gets down to specifics as well to help you in each area. He recommends you find concrete, specific things to praise your employees for - they appreciate this much more than one might imagine. Also, when discussing problems, avoid the word "but". Also avoid the word "you". Phrase things with "I" - such as "I was disappointed in the quarterly report, and I think together we can find a way to improve this." Always discuss the ACTION that needs to be fixed - not the person. Other specific suggestions really do seem helpful. He suggests setting Outlook to open to the task view - not to email which might distract you from your tasks. He suggests turning off the pop-up reminders of new mail and the associated sounds. That being said, he talks about only checking on mail for a brief time in the afternoon. I would never survive managing my web businesses if I ignored my mail all morning long :) Finally I did find it a little annoying when he constantly recommends you buy copies of the book for friends and family and discuss the book with them. Talk about viral marketing! If you have the book you've probably already bought one copy. Now he's telling you to go out and triple his sales by yourself? That just seemed wrong to me. Still, there's a lot of great information in here, and rather than buying a copy for a friend, I'm going to give them MY copy :)

Learn to be a great boss with this book

If you are searching for a book to read to help you in your role as a manager, look no farther. Bob Selden has done an excellent job covering all the bases you will need. I have been in management for 15 years and wish this book would have been available for reading and studing before I started as a manager. You will learn that managing is getting things done through people. You will learn how to manage people through the hiring process, setting expectations, motivating, holding then accountable and appraising. Also the difficult task of firing when all else fails. You will also learn how to manage people through delegation and influence to get the most work done. I also enjoyed the end of the book that explained mistakes that new managers make and how to avoid them. This book is packed with useful information that my review can not begin to cover, buy and read the book, it will be very beneficial. The forward of the book sums up the books value: "You usually have to make a mistake before your boss explains how you should have done it. This book tells you how not to make mistakes in all the critical areas of leading and managing". I could not agree more.

Not just for new managers.

As a business coach, WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU BECOME THE BOSS by Bob Selden, is a book I will reference often. I found several really powerful ideas for more effective leadership and management. Selden opens his work with a way for the reader to determine their best methods of study. I found myself to be equal parts Activist and Protagonist and followed the direction of study as indicated, which means I skipped over a few parts here and there. In time, I will probably read the entire text. Throughout the text, Seldon varies his approach, recognizing the differences in management styles. This is a refreshing variation from the normal "one size fits all" we find in so many management and leadership books. I guess the thing that impressed me the most with this book is the amount of fresh ideas. Don't get me wrong. You will find a few things you've heard before in one way or another, but you'll also find ideas that will definitely make you alter your approach. Overall, a good book for any level of management. Easy to comprehend and covers a lot of territory.

Well worth a read

Wish I had read this one a long time go. Practical and useful information for the new and not so new manager. Strongly recommended

You can avoid costly mistakes

Being the boss or becoming one is not easy. There's lots of responsibility. There's lots of interactivity between people and a good boss must know how to deal with all sorts of people and their issues. Bob Selden helps the new manager in this practical package of knowledge and techniques. The book segments managers into activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. The author then gives advice on how to learn the job by using the book. The boss, or manager, can make or break a company. Most bosses really are not good bosses. They often cause a good company to go bad. This book will help all new managers avoid costly mistakes. Highly recommended.