First Among Equals: How to Manage
a Group of Professionals by David H.
Maister
Some Great Material That I Can Share & Use As A Refresher
Competently managing a group of peers is unquestionably among the
most difficult of workplace tasks, but key steps that produce success are
laid out so clearly by consultants Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister
in First Among Equals that even those who completely lack experience
should find the process feasible and effective. McKenna and Maister focus
on leading teams of professionals--often composed of people who dont
feel like they are part of a team or in need of leadership--by transforming
the way managers assume responsibility and direct members. Success in
helping your group succeed is mostly about you. Not them, they write.
Their book starts by explaining how to prepare for the job ahead, for
example, by meeting informally with participants and displaying sincere
interest in things that matter to them. It then explores coaching the
individuals involved (offering methods for gaining acceptance, building

rapport, assisting underperformers and dealing with prima donnas) and
guiding the collective group (by developing rules, building trust,
invigorating meetings, and resolving conflicts). Finally, it proposes
measures for continued success, such as integrating new hires and
gauging performance. Dozens of self-assessment questionnaires and
diagnostic tests help make this an exceptionally practical guidebook on a
critical but oft-neglected topic. --Howard Rothman
Personal Review: First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group
of Professionals by David H. Maister
Gripe no. 1 : I hope its not going to become a common occurrence in
business books, but there were 7 pages of 35 advance reviews (but 5 of
them were only 2 lines which said little). Let me decide for myself if the
book is any good - show me the product. Also, I work in IT, but there didn't
seem to be a single reviewer with an IT background?The book looks at the
leader/manager/coach of a disparate group of professionals, assuming a
mix of seniors & juniors.I think the book isn't just for the
leader/manager/coach - because in many such groups today, there can be
rotation (time-based or task-based) where any of the group of
professionals might be called upon to perform the leadership / coaching /
mentoring role. So the book should be read by all members of the team.
Also the leader is human - they might not be 'doing it right as per the book',
and it could be useful for the others (they are all equals after all) to be
informed to provide that guidance/correction.The Sections are laid out
well : getting ready; coaching the individual; coaching the team; building for
the future. It classes individuals into 4 styles : amiable, analytical, driver,
expressive (I tend more towards the expressive), and how to work with
each. I also like the way it addressed underperforming members, how to
correct the problem rather than try to rationalise it out of
existence.Because professionals jealously guard their autonomy, reserving
the right to work as they see fit, professional groups have a greater-than-
average tendency to become ill-disciplined - and thus a whole chapter is
dedicate to how to run a meeting of such individuals. I work in such a
group, where there are 20 of us, probably 50:50 seniors & juniors (though
we don't refer to ourselves in those terms). Gripe no. 2 : However, one
thing missing explicitly from the book is if there are any strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities & threats from a geographically disparate or
culturally diverse group? My group is spread across 2 continents, 5
different timezones, with only 2 hours in the day when our extended
workday (8am-6pm) coincides. We comprise at least 5 different
nationalities & religions, and it seems many more political viewpoints. But
time and time again, this material seemed to assume that this was a
relatively homogeneous group, everyone was coming together physically
in the same room, or at least, didn't even consider that people might be in
the same geographical locations but be on the phone, and thus unable to
see each others body language. My group only get together in the same
room twice a year. We've evolved techniques over the 7 years we've been
together to accommodate this, but I would have appreciated it more if this
modern reality had been addressed? I also liked the discussion on the

maximum size of the group, and one correspondents rule of thumb that the
group is too big if he can't tell you the name of everyone's
spouse/significant other & what that person does for a living (assuming its
OK culturally to ask for that information - in some cultures it's a no-
no).There's an excellent wrap-up where the dozens of checklist (don't let
the apparent volume put you off - it's not that bad) are summarised and
classified, and you are reminded in which chapters they are to be
found.Overall I think my group is doing quite well 80% of what is in the
book, with maybe 10% that we wouldn't agree with, leaving us 10% that we
could improve upon. I'm going to recommend it to everyone else.
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