Managers Toolkit: The 13 Skills
Managers Need to Succeed (Harvard
Business Essentials)
Concise Advice For Every New Manager
This comprehensive guide is an essential primer for managers who seek to
develop the skills and capabilities that will help them excel in a complex
business world. From hiring and retaining good people to motivating and
developing team members, from understanding key financial statements to
delegating work effectively, and from setting goals for others to managing
your own career, the actionable advice in this guide will help you stay at
the top of your game.
Personal Review: Managers Toolkit: The 13 Skills Managers
Need to Succeed (Harvard Business Essentials)
If you are a new manager fresh from being an individual contributor, this is
the book for you. It takes you through the key skills you will need to
become an effective manager and how to move up the ranks. No, it is not
a Machiavellian approach to leadership, it is a practical guide for the real
world.
The chapters teach you about setting goals for your team with their input.
The idea is to get the team moving, but in a way aligned with the
enterprise. The next two chapters are on the importance of hiring right
(very, very important) and retention. Here the advice in looking for quality
rather than quantity rings very true. Also, even though you do want to be
careful to retain the right talent, you really do NOT want to keep everyone.
Let the slackers go. Encourage them to go!
The chapters on learning to delegate and time management are also good
for the young manager who is likely to want to do everything him or herself
(you know, as they did when they were an individual contributor) and to
take on too many task because they don't want to say no. Of course,
learning to delegate can really help the overbooking problem.

Part II talks about managing teams (and when they are best used),
appraisals & coaching, and handling problem employees. The advice on
how to terminate employees is very good. That is, get familiar and square
will all relevant employment laws, involve HR, and realize that if you miss
anything it is likely to blow up in your face.
The chapters on developing your career (remember mentor), becoming a
leader, and thinking strategically are all important as your career develops.
The book's emphasis on knowing yourself and what it is you really want
rather than what you think others think you should want is very good
advice.
The last four chapters form Part III and are about the basic financial skills
you will need as a manager. The book takes you through the generic
outline of a budgeting process, about understanding the basics of the
balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. This is a
NECESSARY skill. The next chapters on Net Present Value (NPV),
Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Breakeven Analysis, and Operating
Leverage are very good introductions. Also, you will need to understand
the Time Value of Money. It's on your business calculator. Really.
A VERY good and handy guide to basic management.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
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