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The Hands-off Manager: How to Mentor People and Allow Them to Be Successful
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Sales rank 219,057
Customers rating (based on 13 reviews)
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The #1 reason cited in exit interviews for an employee quitting is "my manager." Most managers and executives not only aren't aware of this obvious problem, but probably wouldn't know what to do about it if they did. Today's employees do not respond to the old hands-on, militaristic management styles. They are highly independent, individual professionals with their own fully developed ideas. Leaders and managers who try to micro-manage them will inevitably confront wide-spread disgruntlement, absenteeism, and turnover...and increase their own and their employees' stress levels. In The Hands-Off Manager, Chandler and Black offer a new vision for all managers. With stories, examples, and vibrant activities for the reader to practice, this book shows any manager--new or seasoned--how to coach and mentor employees rather than hover over their shoulders and goad them into action. In this system, each employee's strengths are honored and honed in a climate of partnership and mutual goal-setting. Chandler, whose 100 Ways to Motivate Others is a best-selling favorite with small and large businesses alike, has called The Hands-Off Manager "my most original work to date" because it finally solves the age-old problem of getting the best performance out of people without frustrating yourself and them. The Hands-Off Manager and its breakthrough content will take its place beside In Search of Excellence, The One Minute Manager, and Who Moved My Cheese? as an instant classic that will forever change the way we lead and manage.
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| Publisher | Career Press | | Release date | 03/2007 | | Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours | | Edition | Hardcover |
| | List price | $19.99 | | Our price | $13.59 (you save 32.02%) | | Used price | from $9.5 |
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The "bible" for employee empowerment
If you do any kind of research regarding the top reason why people quit their jobs, survey after survey confirms that employees tend to flee from their bosses rather than leave an organization. Simply stated, managers are doing a poor job of retaining their best-and-brightest. This organizational epidemic builds unnecessary hiring and training costs into the business as well as cripples productivity due to the ongoing personnel vacuum it creates. Unfortunately, most micro-managers don't realize that they're driving their best resources out the door. In The Hands-Off Manager, authors Steve Chandler and Duane Black propose that one of the best solutions to stem rampant employee exodus is to foster a sense of collaboration and partnership amongst the members of your immediate work group. Soundview recommends this read because it strives to meet both the needs of the manager and employee while elevating and developing the worker's unique attributes. This skill will need to become a core competency for any organization that wants to be a success as the babyboomers begin to exist the workforce and skilled, qualified employees become increasingly scarce.
 An empowering guide to happier managing
Steve Chandler and Duane Black present an approach to management that promises to lower your stress level, increase your happiness and allow everyone in your organization to be more creative and productive. The idea is that old-style, hands-on micromanagement does not engage today's workers. The book tries to persuade readers through emotional appeals, which can be illuminating but sometimes appear strained. The book includes interesting quotes from all kinds of people, including Peter Drucker, Deepak Chopra, Napoleon Hill (whom the authors criticize), Voltaire and others. We say the authors' core ideas are persuasive, but the style might lean a little too much on intangible insights for some readers. However, this is a great book if you are a stressed-out manager who wants to find a new approach. Read this, calm down and stop micromanaging.
Good points, a bit too soft & sweet in presentation.
Managing the folks in today's workforce is very different than it was a few decades back. They usually don't take well to rigidity, conformity, or being told anything. Steve Chandler and Duane Black believe there is a great way to manage them and to improve their life and yours. They call it hands-off managing. That is, you don't try to control them by turning and pushing them (metaphorically) in a specific direction. What they believe is that you should spend more time helping your employees understand who they are as people and why they can use their work to help them express that unique self they have to contribute. Sounds a bit squishy? Yeah, me too. However, there really is a solid core behind the kind of soft metaphors they use to express it.
Much of the book is focused on getting you to treat yourself this way. The idea is to lower your stress levels by not forcing yourself to be a certain way, don't worry so much about overcoming and willing things into existence. Rather, relax and find your own core and your true gifts and then you will be ready to lead others this way. Several times they say (probably too many times) that the best gift you can give another is the gift of them self.
The book is full of anecdotes from their own coaching experiences to illustrate their points. They also use quotes from the likes of Deepak Chopra (this always raises my concerns about the point being made), Napoleon Hill (whom they also bash for using the work think), Voltaire (!), and many others. They also make some really odd comments. One being that DeNiro was channeling a dead boxer in "Raging Bull". Hmmm. Jake LaMotta was not only alive when the film was made (he was born in 1921), he is alive in 2007.
While I quite enjoy their point about the new work force, not trying to force things so much, focusing only on the present and the one most important task, I found the packaging of the ideas a tad saccharine. It is up to you whether you will find it appealing.
It works in more scenarios than just the business world.
I have experienced this type of success when leading volunteer groups but haven't been able to define the formula until reading this book. When people volunteer, you can't fire them. If you lose them you have to do all the work yourself! You have to figure out a way to use what they have to offer. The principles in this book work!
Low-Stress, Humanistic Management That Works
The Hands-Off Manager's chapter headings include uncomplicated titles such as "Using the Power of Neutral" (Chapter 3) and "Letting Go of Judgment" (Chapter 11), but this book is far from simplistic. I began reading with the thought that I would skim the book in an hour or two. I soon found that there are truths here that deserve a slow, careful read.
The book's writers, consultant and author Steve Chandler and construction executive Duane Black, have outlined a plan for transforming a company's culture from one of judgment and criticism to one of leading employees to contribute more than any goal or KPI will motivate them to achieve. The book makes a logical, persuasive case for managing people in a way that gets them thinking about how they can contribute to the success of the company, and in doing so, make work fun and rewarding. It teaches managers how to create constructive relationships with their employees, and in doing so, significantly reduce their own stress levels.
In my work as a corporate trainer, I began incorporating principles from the book into several training courses a few months ago. The effect the book has on each group of managers is the same. They recognize the truths contained in the book, see how applying them will reduce stress and make them more effective leaders, and ask for more training based on the principles in the book.
Read this book with thought and care, and you'll change the way you think about management and leadership.
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