The Truth About Managers

Book Review: The Truth About Managing People by Stephen P. Robbins

If we are to judge by books about management, what managers truly need is a course in time management. Apparently the average manager does not have the time to read more than a two-page distillation of how to hire the right people or how to discipline an employee. One-minute management techniques yield exactly the results you would expect - a quick and dirty "fix" that isn't going to be able to bear the test of time.

Or is it that managers simply don't have the attention span necessary to absorb more information than that at a time?

The tone of books on management really hasn't changed over the last two decades, and The Truth About Managing People follows tried and true tracks. Not tried and true management methods, but tried and true methods of selling books on management. Short, pithy summaries of common management pitfalls and the "true" way of dealing with them.

I have been managing people for the last three decades, and the first and only truth I have learned for certain is that formulaic methods of dealing with your employees and your organization will yield mediocre results, uninspired employees, and low job satisfaction. But in the right organization it will get you made a vice president.