First Among Equals
How To Manage A Group Of Professionals
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Managing people when you're not their boss is a challenge, particularly in professional service firms where, increasingly, top professionals are being tapped to lead their peers. Now Patrick McKenna and David Maister provide a 'play book' for professionals trying to be both a team member and coach.
In industies ranging from banking and insurance to law and engineering, as well as in research labs and software companies, management responsibility is increasingly delegated - ususally without guidance - to those who head up smaller teams of professionals. FIRST AMONG EQUALS speaks directly to those who have gone from focusing on their own performance to being a group manager in charge of leading others. From understanding the group leader role to setting terms of reference and effectively dealing with talented prima donnas, McKenna and Maister present a thorough introduction to managing and orchestrating talent.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Organizations are more successful when they mold highly talented individuals into a cohesive group. But most talented people especially professionals hate to be managed. How to resolve this tension is the subject of this tightly focused, effective book by consultants McKenna (Herding Cats) and Maister (Practice What You Preach). Recognizing that all groups of professionals are different, the authors don't set off to create sweeping rules. Rather, they divide the task of leading groups of professionals into three parts what one must accomplish as the leader; how one wants to interact with individual members of the group; and how one wants to deal with the group as a whole and then offer concrete suggestions. A big part of this book's appeal is the authors' inherent understanding of how professionals resist overtly and otherwise being managed. Not surprisingly, McKenna and Maister spend a great deal of time explaining strategies for getting colleagues to agree to being led. They are particularly effective in outlining approaches for dealing with talented prima donnas (e.g., "listen to the individual's reasons for this behavior" and "inform the individual how improved behavior will improve his or her career"). This is a valuable resource for anyone in the position of trying to manage someone who was and still is, to a large extent a peer.
