The Harvard Business Review Managers Handbook: The 17 Skills Leaders Need to Stand Out by Harvard Business Review

The Harvard Business Review Managers Handbook: The 17 Skills Leaders Need to Stand Out Reviews

• 
  Toyin A

  
  The book is divided into 5 parts:
  
  1.Developing a Leader mindset;
  2.Managing yourself;
  3.Managing Individuals
  4.Managing Teams; and
  5.Managing the Business.
  
  It provides coping mechanisms and strategies to deal with stress.
  
  For example, it lists 4 sources of stress (Role strain, Problem-solving fatigue, Isolation and Imposter Syndrome), the symptoms and solutions.
  
  There are action items provided at the end of each chapter for the reader to undertake,
  
  I particularly like how the book defines Influence as “helping to create positive and productive outcomes for your organisation, with and through other”.
  
  Favourite Quote: “People are likely to perceive you as untrustworthy when you clasp your hands, touch your face, cross your arms or lean away from a conversation”. I didn’t know that!
  
  Recommendation: This is a definitely a book for all managers and leaders to read. Not only do the action items provide a process for managing/ leading effectively, it is also a go-to guide for people in new positions.
• 
  Bent Hansen

  If I had read this book before getting into my first managerial position some 10 years ago, I would have run away screaming instead! Talk about pressure... Well, the prestigious
  Harvard Business Review (HBR) knows stuff about management and leadership (yep, there is a difference!) and tons of other business-related things, and the importance here lies in the subtitle of the book: "The 17 Skills Leaders Need to Stand Out". So of course so can be a mediocre or flat out terrible manager without working on any of these 17 skills dealt with in this book.
  The book points at some very important things and takes a point of departure in both classic and new theory on these subjects. My main objection - and the reason why I only give it 4 stars - is that is tries to cover too much, and by doing so, only scratches the surface of all of them. The purpose of the book is most likely to give a brief intro to the 17 skills and lure the reader into buying specific books on the subjects with most relevance to the him or her, which of course is a great marketing plan for HBR but I ended up feeling underwhelmed. To cover so different subjects as making good presentations, hiring and developing talent, understanding financial statements, and writing business cases in less than 340 pages is simply not doable if you want to do it properly.
  There are some really good points in the book, while other things are downright self-evident, but the bottom line is that HBR is a professional authority on these matters, and if you are a newly appointed manager and you look for a "quick-and-dirty" introduction to which skills to master to become a good manager, this book is a good place to start. The problem is just that it is just that: a place to start; with this book, you only scratch the surface and need a lot more - including on-the-ground experience - to learn more and improve.
  
  [An ARC of this book was generously provided by the publisher through NetGalley. The copy was so poorly formatted to the Kindle format that the many tables were almost impossible to read and with word and line divisions at random places. I hope that the real Kindle version is nothing like this, because otherwise you should stick to the printed version of the book!]
• 
  Wesley Zapellini

  Great start for aspiring managers.
  
  This book covers a lot of ground regarding skills a person should develop to become a new manager or even to improve as a seasoned one.
  
  It does not delve deeper into topics, but in the way content is presented, there are always references to other content if the reader feels the need for a more thorough understanding of the subject.
• 
  Tiina

  Siin räägitakse küll meeskonna juhtimisest, aga ka enesejuhtimisest. Kindlasti on sellest abi kõigile, kes töötavad asutuses, kus on olulisel kohal meeskonna dünaamika või sõltuvad sellest otseselt tootmisprotsessid või kasum. Autor võtab kokku erinevate artiklite ja Harvard Business Review alt avaldatud teoste põhimõtted ning annab need edasi 17 peatüki kaupa. Räägitakse küll delegeerimisest ja otseselt juhtimisest, aga ka sellest, kuidas kirjutada häid e-kirju, kuidas juhtida koosolekut, teha virtuaalseid või kohapealsed esitlusi. Muidugi seda, kuidas enda jaoks mõtestada lahti eesmärgid, mida keegi oma töös leiab. Miks midagi teeb või ei tee. Milliseid oskusi saab arendada, mida peaks arendama, mida silmas pidada. Ehk siis eelkõige saan ma igalt lehelt mõtteid, kuidas teadlikult töötada selle nimel, et su enda eesmärgid klapivad asutuse omaga, kus töötad. Boonuseks see, kui saate kogu meeskonna ühe asja nimel töötama. Teoses on palju praktilisi näpunäiteid sõnastusest kuni arenguvestluse küsimusteni, nii et see pole vaid anekdootidest ja teoreetilisest situatsioonidest koosnev juhtimisõpik. Minul aitab see igapäevaselt oma tööd teha ja tunnen, et pärast lugemise alustamist said mitmed asjad paljud selgemaks, millele ma varem kahjuks ei taibanud mõelda.
• 
  Karol Gaida

  This book is loaded with tips and action points. Completing them will help you become a better manager, earn trust of your boss, your direct reports, and help you reach your goals. I personally used some of these already during my latest performance review.
  
  Also, the chapter about mastering financial tools is gold. It walks you through the basic financial statements and budgeting of a company, explaining where all the numbers come from. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to tackle the finances of a team or a startup.
• 
  Tom De Kooning

  Straight to the point book, doesn’t only ponder around ideas and concepts but proposes actual action points. Definitely see myself using this book in the future, as guideline.
• 
  Dimitris

  A book to retain and get back to in every occasion during one's management era, covers almost all aspects need to be covered and very up to date.
• 
  roxi Net

  There are so many resources for new, middle, and veteran managers that it can be overwhelming, but the HBR Manager's Handbook was very interesting to read. It's nice to read that "to succeed, you must compliment the development of your practical skills with inward reflection and an investment in your personal growth" - words that encourage self-reflection and not selfishness. The book breaks down into 5 parts what skills and mind-sets are needed to be an effective leader then how to manage individuals, teams, and the business. Having a "Primer" for strategy was fantastic (in "Managing the Business"). Overall, it's a resource that I know I'll be revisiting as needed.
• 
  Mariyan Tashev

  A big reference. It's more like a textbook.
  Good info though, if you are into long lists of "how-to".
• 
  Karin Künnapas

  This is a really good overview of the essential skills of being a manager with case studies, clear instructions and ideas to follow. I really enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend to a new or even more established managers.
  
  I agree with some other reviews that it doesn't go too much in depth with any of them and I agree. Nevertheless, this is a great overview to start with and has very practical guidelines with how-to's and checklists.
  
  These topics are quite extensive and can (and do have) multiple books written on each of them if you want to go deeper. Also, it really depends on your organization and the setup if all this skills are relevant or not. Some of them were not for me, but
  
  I found some great tips and feel that I will turn back to this book later on in the future again. I also want to read some other HBR business books.
  
  A quick overview of the skills covered:
  * Transition to leadership
  * Building trust and credibility
  * Emotional intelligence
  * Positioning yourself for success
  * Becoming a person of influence
  * Communicating efficiency
  * Personal productivity
  * Self-development
  * Delegating with confidence
  * Giving effective feedback
  * Developing talent
  * Leading teams
  * Fostering creativity
  * Hiring and keeping the best
  * Strategy
  * Mastering financial tools
  * Developing a business case
• 
  Donn Lee

  A very practical book, and one that I would recommend to any one who is starting out on managing people. Then again, even those more experienced but wanting to learn "best practices" would be well-advised to read this.
  
  It's certainly not very "inspirational", in that it's not the kind of book that makes you want to go out and immediately try its ideas (though there were some in which I did just that).
  
  I find it more of a book that you read through once, keep on your shelf, and when a situation arises in which you need to tackle some managerial tasks you pick the book up again to refresh your memory of what exactly it is you should do.
• 
  Helio Jacinto

  My experience reading this book
  
  I have been reading the HBR blog for a while. But having the opportunity of having all knowledge on a book is amazing
  The book covers everything from how to handle your transition from an individual performer to how to develop meaningful proposals.
  There's a lot to take back here and apply with my team
• 
  Midori

  This book is a gem, very well written with scientific evidence. In my opinion it is not only for new and seasoned managers, but also for aspiring employees who are preparing themselves for management roles. Sadly that not so many people read this kind of books.
• 
  Vanessa

  Concise and useful tips for managing people. Good to stay informed as the job market requirements are rapidly changing. Different people have different views on what they see in a good Manager but this book brings them together and creates a universal standard of its own.
• 
  İlhan Aydoğan

  Not only to read when appointed as a manager, but also to read and reference throughout your managerial career.
  
  Thanks to all contributors of this book, I will be able to change my view on managerial skills.
• 
  Cris

  Good book, especially to benchmark what others are doing and assess the skill level
  
  The ending quote is memorable: “Management is the noblest of professions if practiced well; no other occupation helps others better to learn and grow”
• 
  Margo Kaestner

  MBA Required Reading - Leading Effective Organizations
• 
  Duong Tan

  Simply a good practical book for first time managers.
• 
  Vimal Kumar

  lucid, fluid, and informative.
• 
  Ignacio Echegoyen

  Excelente libro, resume muy bien las habilidades que un gerente debe desarrollar.
• 
  Nynke Doesburg

  Very useful, but very specifically on a practical level.
• 
  Rob

  This should be read for all business managers.
• 
  Oleksandr Danylenko

  Densely packed theory of management. Maybe used as a basic framework to approach different domains from HR to building business cases.
• 
  Gregg

  Great compilation of information from the disparate disciplines required to be a good manager.
• 
  Saleh AlTassan

  The book is great on introductory level. Unfortunately it does not give examples and enough details.
• 
  Jack Maguire

  This book gives some insights into what is necessary to be a decent manager. It's not super data driven, which I would have preferred.
• 
  Bjorn Martensson

  A very comprehensive handbook, mainly targeted at new or aspiring managers.
• 
  Annisa Desiani

  A must have book for every managers who want to bring impact to the industries