The Harvard Business Review Manager’s Handbook: The 17 Skills Leaders Need to Stand Out

352 Pages·2017·1.702 MB·English

by  Harvard Business Review

Manager’s
Handbook
The 17 Skills
Leaders Need
to Stand Out
H arvard
B usiness
R eview
M anager’s
H andbook

H arvard
B usiness
R eview
M anager’s
H andbook
The 17 Skills
Leaders Need
To Stand Out
Harvard Business Review Press
Boston, Massachusetts
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Copyright 2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The material in this book has been adapted and revised from works listed in the
Sources section and from Harvard Business Essentials Manager’s Toolkit: The 13
Skills Managers Need to Succeed (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing,
2004), subject advisor Christopher Bartlett.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission
of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to permissions@
hbsp.harvard.edu, or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School
Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.
The web addresses referenced in this book were live and correct at the time of the
book’s publication but may be subject to change.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Harvard Business Review Press.
Title: The Harvard Business Review manager’s handbook : the 17 skills leaders
need to stand out.
Description: Boston, Massachusetts : Harvard Business Review Press, [2017]
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016030997| ISBN 9781633691247 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781633692114 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Management —Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Classifi cation: LCC HD38.15 .H375 2017 | DDC 658.4/092—dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016030997
eIBSN: 9781633692299
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American
National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in
Libraries and Archives Z39.48-1992
Contents
Introduction 1
PART ONE
Develop a Leader Mindset
1. The Transition to Leadership 7
Understanding your role as a manager 7
The diff erence between management and leadership 9
Demystifying leadership 10
Handling the emotional challenges of the transition 13
2. Building Trust and Credibility 23
Establishing your character 25
Demonstrating your competence 27
Cultivating authentic leadership 29
Ethics and integrity 32
3. Emotional Intelligence 37
What is emotional intelligence? 39
The power of self-awareness 39
Emotional steadiness and self-control 43
Managing an employee’s emotions 45
Building social awareness on your team 48
vi(cid:2)Contents
4. Positioning Yourself for Success 55
Redefi ning success 55
Understanding your organization’s strategy 57
Planning for strategic alignment 60
PART TWO
Managing Yourself
5. Becoming a Person of Infl uence 67
Positional versus personal power 68
Managing up 71
Partnering with your peers 74
Silo busting and eff ectiveness 76
Promoting your ideas to others 78
6. Communicating Eff ectively 85
Finding your voice as a leader 85
Mastering the written word 87
Persuasive presentations 92
Conducting eff ective meetings 96
7. Personal Productivity 103
Time management essentials 104
Finding focus 107
Stress management 111
Work-life balance 115
8. Self-Development 121
Career purpose 122
Look for opportunities within your organization 124
Feedback from your boss and your team 130
Contents(cid:2)vii
PART THREE
Managing Individuals
9. Delegating with Confi dence 139
Benefi ts of delegation 140
Developing a delegation plan 141
Sharing your delegation plan with your employee 145
Provide support 149
Avoid reverse delegation 151
10. Giving Eff ective Feedback 155
Giving feedback in real time 156
Giving diffi cult feedback 158
Coaching and developing employees 162
Performance reviews 167
11. Developing Talent 175
Employee development as a priority 176
Creating career strategies with your staff 177
Developing high-potential talent 183
Stretch assignments 185
PART FOUR
Managing Teams
12. Leading Teams 193
Team culture and dynamics 194
Managing cross-cultural teams 201
Managing virtual teams 203
Productive confl ict resolution 208
13. Fostering Creativity 217
Plan a creative session 217
Tools for generating ideas 220
viii(cid:2)Contents
Making sure all perspectives are heard 224
Dealing with negativity 227
14. Hiring—and Keeping—the Best 233
Crafting a role 233
Recruiting world-class talent 237
Retaining employees 244
Motivation and engagement 248
PART FIVE
Managing the Business
15. Strategy: A Primer 255
Your role in strategy 256
What is strategy? 256
Developing your strategy 259
Leading change and transitions 263
16. Mastering Financial Tools 275
The basics of fi nancial performance 276
Understanding fi nancial statements 277
Budgeting 290
17. Developing a Business Case 297
Stakeholder perspectives 298
Clarifying the need and value 300
Cost/benefi t analysis 302
Risk identifi cation and mitigation 305
Writing your business case 307
Getting buy-in for your plan 308
Epilogue 313
Sources 315
Index 329
Introduction
You’ve likely become a manager because you were successful as an individ-
ual contributor. You did good work and got it done on time, and developed
technical and professional skills that allowed you to excel. Now you’ve been
asked to play a larger role.
As a manager, you’ll measure success differently—through the achieve-
ments of your team rather than your individual accomplishments. This
calls for a different skill set. When you become a manager, your technical
expertise remains important but no longer defi nes your responsibilities.
Your job is to get results through the creativity, expertise, and energy of
others. For example, your sales skills may have gotten you promoted to the
rank of district sales manager, but your success as a manager will depend
on other capabilities: your ability to gain infl uence in your organization, to
manage the emotional culture of your team, to hire and retain good people,
to motivate and develop the potential of each member of your team, to
think strategically, to make good decisions, to inspire and enable creativity
and innovation, and so much more.
Whether you’re new to management or a seasoned veteran, the HBR
Manager’s Handbook will help you learn the essential skills that all effec-
tive managers must master. This book is for you if you’re ambitious and
want to become more effi cient, more effective, more inspiring. You’re al-
ready a manager, but perhaps you want to be a leader, too—someone who
brings out the best in your employees and drives change within your com-
pany. The HBR Manager’s Handbook will show you how.