Nice little book. The idea in the book are trival but good to learn them again. In summary, what makes a good leader or good manager is that, firstly, create a good atmosphere to work. This means to make people in the workplace think positive, feeling good, respect each person, fostering teamwork, socialize the community, give a clear goal and guideline, etc.
Secondly, trust the people and feel confident with them. I can tell that, this is very important. A leader who micromanage will make people feeling bad, and create problems. Never think you are the big brother or you are the master of everything. You need deligation and trust the people after you deligate. Do not manage every detail. Think big.
Finally, be objective and solve problem scientifically. Never be hindered by your emotion. If you cannot find out the real problem, you can never solve it. Put away your ideology or prejudice when you think.
A list in the book is very useful, it said, when an organization has problem, these are the symptoms:
- People having pessimistic thinking/attitude
- Gossip about the ills
- Loss in productivity, because of the low morale
- Challenging authority, i.e. the ineffective leader
- A crowd of resignations
- Other concrete evidence, e.g. unprofessional behavior
and the leader’s solution to the problems are:
- Keep a positive attitude
- Honesty. That is, let people know what’s going on
- Break down the goals into steps
- Don’t cave: Leaders need to be strong, always
- Cut loss. Sack off the problem if it can’t be solved.
Bibliographic data
@book{
title = "10 Minute Guide to Leadership",
edition = "2nd",
author = "Elizabeth O'Leary",
publisher = "Macmillian",
year = "1997",
}