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Truth About Managing People, The, 2nd Edition
- By Stephen P. Robbins
- Published Sep 20, 2007 by FT Press. Part of the Truth About series.
- Copyright 2008
- Dimensions: 5-7/16x8-1/2
- Pages: 240
- Edition: 2nd
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-13-234603-6
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-234603-0
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Product Author Bios
Stephen P. Robbins (Ph.D., University of Arizona) is professor emeritus of management at San Diego State University and the world’s best-selling textbook author in the areas of both management and organizational behavior. His books are used at more than a thousand U.S. colleges and universities and have been translated into 19 languages.
In Dr. Robbins’ “other life,” he participates in masters’ track competitions. Since turning 50 in 1993, he has set numerous indoor and outdoor age-group world sprint records. He has won more than a dozen indoor and outdoor U.S. championships at 60m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, and won eleven gold medals at World Masters Track Championships. In 2005, Dr. Robbins was elected into the USA Masters’ Track & Field Hall of Fame.
“The premiere writer of management textbooks has sifted through the research to extract the truths every manager should know. This book is an antidote for the unsupported opinions handed out in many popular management books.”
Kenneth W. Thomas, Professor of Management, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, author of Intrinsic Motivation at Work
“A prolific scholar and writer, Robbins cuts through the research and theory to deliver immediately useful and essential insights for the effective management of people.”
Eric G. Stephan, Professor Organizational Leadership & Strategy, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University
You can succeed brilliantly as a leader and overcome the “killer” problems faced by every manager!
• The truth about building winning teams and designing high-productivity jobs
• The truth about why “happy” employees aren’t always more productive
• The (surprising) truth about what behaviors you really want to reward
This book reveals 53 Proven Principles for handling virtually every management challenge
The Truth About Managing People offers real solutions for the make-or-break problems faced by every manager. You'll discover: how to overcome the true obstacles to teamwork; why too much communication can be as dangerous as too little; how to improve your hiring and employee evaluations; how to heal "layoff survivor sickness"; even how to learn charisma. This isn't someone's opinion; it's a definitive, evidence-based guide to effective management: a set of bedrock principles you can rely on throughout your entire management career.
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50 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Management CliffsNotes, By
This review is from: The Truth About Managing People (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
This is an excellent book about "managing people" (I prefer "leading people") with 63 short myth-dispelling "truth" chapters. By the way, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones said, "You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."Here's how this book will change you. It's time for the weekly staff meeting--and your interruptions have been interrupted by interruptions. Your job is to lead, inspire and motivate--and you need something fresh, but quick. This book is your CliffsNotes for all things management. Pick from 63 two-page chapters--and get this--the memorable content is not just opinion--the insights are all research-based. Does Barack Obama (or Sarah Palin) have enough experience to be U.S. president? Eventually, yes/maybe. Author Stephen Robbins writes, "Even in the most complex jobs, real learning typically ends after two years." His research says that "experience, per se, is not a very good... Read more
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
A time when Kindle doesn't shine and it can be to your advantage., By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Truth About Managing People (Kindle Edition)
Bottom Line: "The Truth About Managing People" is an easy and entertaining read that provides invaluable information easily worth much more that what is being charged.Like another reviewer said, 63 short chapters presenting truisms in 10 categories. Each two-page(ish) section provides background and description along with the short "rule" that encapsulates the concept. That's great for the Kindle (in my case iPhone) because there's no flipping back and forth. What's missing from a print addition is a handy summary of those rules to act as a summary and reminder of what you've read. That can be to your advantage if it motivates you to take a few minutes and copy from the book just the rules. By the time you're done you'll be a long way to internalizing this valuable information and improving the way you interact with others. BTW, I feel that honest, effective reviews can take the place of first-hand experiences that are lacking in online shopping. I've... Read more
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Useful and Easy Read on Management, By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Truth About Managing People (Kindle Edition)
Robbins book is a well-written and easy to read look at managing people. The book presents 53 short chapters (not 63), in parts: i) Hiring; ii) Motivation; iii) Leadership; iv) Communication; v) Building Teams; vi) Managing Conflict; vii) Designing Jobs; viii) Performance Evaluation; ix) Coping with Change; x) Managing Behavior. That's a great set of topics of interest to any effective manager/leader.Some of the chapters I thought were quite good: consider past behavior as the best predictor of a person's future behavior; some excellent tips on interviewing; looking first and foremost for a good 'fit' between the potential employee and your organization's culture; a productive worker is a happy worker; specific goals are much better than 'do your best'; many employee's love to participate in setting their own goals - but some really do not; specific feedback is much more helpful than generic praise or criticism; trust is essential to leadership. There was some... Read more |
Online Sample Chapter
Interviewing Job Applicants: Forget Traits; It's Behavior That Counts!
Preface
Sample Pages
Download the sample pages (includes Truth 1)
Table of Contents
Preface vii
Part I The Truth About Hiring
Truth 1 Forget traits; it’s behavior that counts 1
Truth 2 Realistic job previews: what you see is what you get 5
Truth 3 Tips for improving employee interviews 9
Truth 4 Brains matter; or when in doubt, hire smart people 13
Truth 5 Don’t count too much on reference checks 17
Truth 6 When in doubt, hire conscientious people! 21
Truth 7 Hire people who fit your culture: my “good employee” is your stinker! 25
Truth 8 Manage the socialization of new employees 29
Part II The Truth About Motivation
Truth 9 Why many workers aren’t motivated at work today 33
Truth 10 Happy workers aren’t necessarily productive workers! 37
Truth 11 Telling employees to do their best isn’t likely to achieve their best 41
Truth 12 Not everyone wants to participate in setting their goals 45
Truth 13 Professional workers go for the flow 49
Truth 14 When giving feedback: criticize behaviors, not people 53
Truth 15 You get what you reward 57
Truth 16 It’s all relative! 61
Truth 17 Ways to motivate low-skill, low-pay employees 65
Truth 18 There’s more to high employee performance than just motivation 69
Part III The Truth About Leadership
Truth 19 The essence of leadership is trust 73
Truth 20 Experience counts! Wrong! 77
Truth 21 Most people THINK they know what good leaders look like 81
Truth 22 Effective leaders know how to frame issues 85
Truth 23 You get what you expect 89
Truth 24 Charisma can be learned 93
Truth 25 Make others dependent on you 97
Truth 26 Adjust your leadership style for cultural differences, or when in Rome 101
Truth 27 When leadership ISN’T important 105
Part IV The Truth About Communication
Truth 28 Hearing isn’t listening 109
Truth 29 Choose the right communication channel 113
Truth 30 Listen to the grapevine 117
Truth 31 Men and women do communicate differently 121
Truth 32 What you do overpowers what you say 125
Part V The Truth About Building Teams
Truth 33 What we know that makes teams work 129
Truth 34 2 + 2 doesn’t necessarily equal 4 133
Truth 35 One bad apple spoils the barrel 137
Truth 36 We’re not all equal: status matters! 141
Truth 37 Not everyone is team material 145
Part VI The Truth About Managing Conflicts
Truth 38 The case FOR conflict 149
Truth 39 Beware of groupthink 153
Truth 40 How to reduce work-life conflicts 157
Truth 41 Negotiating isn’t about winning and losing 161
Part VII The Truth About Designing Jobs
Truth 42 Not everyone wants a challenging job 165
Truth 43 Four Job-design actions that will make employees more productive 169
Part VIII The Truth About Performance Evaluation
Truth 44 Annual reviews: the best surprise is no surprise! 173
Truth 45 Don’t blame me! The role of self-serving bias 177
Truth 46 The case for 360-degree feedback appraisals: more IS better! 181
Part IX The Truth About Coping with Change
Truth 47 Most people resist any change that doesn’t jingle in their pockets! 185
Truth 48 You CAN teach an old dog new tricks 189
Truth 49 Use participation to reduce resistance to change 193
Part X Some Final Thoughts About Managing Behavior
Truth 50 First impressions do count! 197
Truth 51 People aren’t completely rational: don’t ignore emotions! 201
Truth 52 Employee turnover can be a good thing 205
Truth 53 Beware of the quick fix 209
References 213
About the Author 231
Downloadable Sample Chapter
Book
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