Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership
I just finished reading the one minute manager. It is a very short book. It is about 130 pages long with many of the pages being quotes. It can easily be read in 2-3 hours if you are a fast reader. Which means that it is great for a trip or flight. The book is about an entrepreneur who has picked up the skill “management”. The book's narrative is from the entrepreneurs perspective. Most of the book is about her conversations and meetings with the "One minute manager".
The books central focus is on people management. How to empower your employees so that they are self sufficient. The book takes you through different experience/confidence levels that employees are on, depending on their tasks. The book's mantra is to match a specific leadership style to a development level of an employee. Where at lower levels the employee will need more direction. At higher levels he or she needs more support and coaching. Then at the top become mostly self driven. Ken Blanchard also gives us many examples of leadership styles and development levels. The book also discuss one on one conversations and smart goals.
Overall I think this is a good book on people management. It uses some very simple examples and situations. It is not very detailed when it comes to examples. But that is both good and bad. It's great because it keeps the book short and on topic. But it also leaves you thinking that there is more to it. For a book of 130 pages it holds a lot of value and inspiration. The book contains many examples and great quotes which are great for "getting the message". I believe this book can be read by managers of all levels. I definitely enjoyed it - even though I am mostly a developer.