The New Manager's Tool Kit: 21 Things You Need to Know to Hit the Ground Running Book

[N.B. My wife and I are the co-authors of this book. Offered here is my self-assessment. It is honest, but certainly not "objective.":]

The title might seem to portray it as just another how-to book for first-time managers. It is a how-to book applicable to new managers … and so much more. It is also a why-to book of unusual scope and perspective.

The New Manager's Tool Kit addresses not only classic supervisory challenges (e.g., coaching, mentoring and motivating employees, optimizing performance, teamwork, and two-way communication), but also:

Interpersonal skills (e.g., attitude, assertion, dealing with 'difficult' people, and managing stress and anger) ... and

Issues especially relevant today (e.g., job burnout, work/life balance, rapid change, employee retention, diversity, generations, disabilities, harassment, and workplace violence).

As such, the title can be interpreted as: a new tool kit...for all managers. As Peter Schwartz has observed in his customer review, it is "useful at every level of an organization."

Our book provides a fresh approach to employee management in today's diverse, globally competitive, 24/7 world - informed by new paradigms and recent studies. The essence of each topic is encapsulated via pithy secrets, acronyms, riddles, and metaphors … expounded using case studies, scenarios, and real-world examples … and validated by its impact on the bottom-line and/or the reader's own experience. Only then do we offer the how-to's, tips, activities, and applications.

The underlying theme (explicitly stated in the introduction and throughout the book) is: respect, for self and others. The vision pursued is: organizational success in perfect accord with individual fulfillment.