Understanding and Changing Your Management Style

I am one of those lucky people that had him as an instructor at Harvard years ago. He is one of only three instructors that I admire and recommend to my friends. We used this book's pre-published version as a textbook in a graduate-level course. You will find certain tasks that he asks you to do very time consuming, boring, ordinary. That's what happened in his first 3 classes. He made us to use our previous management experience and knowledge first few classes. Nothing was new and we followed what we were doing for years. That is exactly what he wanted us to do. He made us to make a mistake, -big wrong managerial decision- just as we would do in real life. Every student out of more than 70 made a mistake. All of us had different ideas, unique approaches, different backgrounds, different education, but we all fell on his trap. After our case -managerial decision- he explained our management style, and what would go wrong. He successfully pointed out our personality, type of management style, and our weaknesses. In that one class, I really understood what I studied in undergraduate business that I did not understand in 4 years. Follow the instruction of the book, take your time to fill-out those tests in appendix. Do not quit when you get bored. If your life, the work you do is boring then it is how you should feel when reading first few chapters. Remember that you make your business decisions under same circumstances. That is the way to reach your true personality, and management style, not the one that your subconscious created. After reading his book, you will see that you will look people, and problems differently.

A practical guide to using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator geared toward helping the manager understand and change her own management style. I liked this book and heartily recommend it to anyone who would become a better manager or leader. Several tests are included to aid in understanding one's own values, problem solving preferences, and "practical IQ," as well as how one deals with conflicts and "problem personalities." This book allows an opportunity for managers to alter their behavior for the better. Good managers are made, not born, and Benfari offers good lessons for making them.