Managing for Excellence: The Guide to Developing High Performance in Contemporary Organizations

This book is a must read for students pursuing careers in Management, Leadership, or any related field. While the book is written with Middle Managers in mind, the writers have paved the way for self-development as well. Bradford and Cohen articulate the differences between three management styles all the while keeping the contemporary organization in mind. Readers will find themselves engrossed as the authors clearly deliniate between these three styles through description and the provision of a plethora of examples. If you plan on pursuing a career in management do yourself a favor and pick this book up but most importantly read it.

This is a great book for people who've recently been promoted to a middle management position and/or who are struggling to get the most from their team. Unlike most management books, which always seem to be aimed at the CEO, this one targets the 2nd or 3rd level manager, who's trying to motivate a team of 25-60. Although it's based on a pretty simple concept (articulate a clear vision, let employees to share in the mgmt responsibility, and then focus your energies on developing their abilities to do so), it helped me a lot in realizing that by trying to coordinate and stay in control of everything going on in my group, I was actually stifling the creativity and motivation of my employees. By turning over more of the day-to-day responsibility to them, and focusing my energies on the broader vision, we'll all be a lot more successful. This book is loaded with a lot of great examples that helped me see that.