The 27 Challenges Managers Face

The 27 Challenges Managers Face

by Bruce Tulgan
Released September 2014
Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
ISBN: 9781118725597

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Book description

For more than twenty years, management expert Bruce Tulgan has been asking, “What are the most difficult challenges you face when it comes to managing people?”

Regardless of industry or job title, managers cite the same core issues—27 recurring challenges: the superstar whom the manager is afraid of losing, the slacker whom the manager cannot figure out how to motivate, the one with an attitude problem, and the two who cannot get along, to name just a few.

It turns out that when things are going wrong in a management relationship, the common denominator is almost always unstructured, low substance, hit-or-miss communication.

The real problem is that most managers are “managing on autopilot” without even realizing it—until something goes wrong. And if you are managing on autopilot, then something almost always does.

The 27 Challenges Managers Face shows exactly how to break the vicious cycle and gain control of management relationships. No matter what the issue, Tulgan shows that the fundamentals are all you need. The very best managers hold ongoing one-on-one conversations that make expectations clear, track performance, offer feedback, and hold people accountable.

For every workplace problem—even the most awkward and difficult—The 27 Challenges Managers Face shows how to tailor conversations to solve situations familiar to every manager. Tulgan offers clear approaches for turning around bad attitudes, reducing friction and conflict, improving low performers, retaining top performers, and even addressing your own personal burnout.

The 27 Challenges Managers Face is an indispensable resource for managers at all levels, one anyone managing anyone will want to keep on hand. One challenge at a time, you’ll see how the most effective managers use the fundamentals of management to proactively resolve (nearly) any problem a manager could face. 

Table of contents

  1. A Note on How to Use This Book
  2. Chapter One: The Fundamentals Are All You Need
    1. The Undermanagement Epidemic: Revisited
    2. Why Managing People Is Hard
    3. How Most Managers Spend Most of Their Management Time
    4. Formal Reviews Are Not Enough
    5. The Inevitable Challenges Every Manager Must Face with Surprising Regularity
    6. How to Make Those Routine Conversations Much, Much Better: High Structure, High Substance
    7. The People List
    8. There’s No Such Thing as Advanced Management
  3. Chapter Two: The Challenges of Being the “New” Manager
    1. Start Strong!
    2. Management Challenge #1: When Going from Peer to Leader
    3. Management Challenge #2: When Coming from the Outside to Take Over Leadership of an Existing Team
    4. Management Challenge #3: When Bringing Together an Entirely New Team
    5. Management Challenge #4: When You Are Welcoming a New Member to Your Existing Team
  4. Chapter Three: The Challenges of Teaching Self-Management
    1. Teaching Good Self-Management Is a Leadership Coup
    2. Management Challenge #5: When Employees Have a Hard Time Managing Time
    3. Management Challenge #6: When an Employee Needs Help with Interpersonal Communication
    4. Management Challenge #7: When an Employee Needs to Get Organized
    5. Management Challenge #8: When an Employee Needs to Get Better at Problem Solving
  5. Chapter Four: The Challenges of Managing Performance
    1. Performance Management 101
    2. How Can You Hold Employees Accountable Without Rewards and Consequences?
    3. Management Challenge #9: When You Have an Employee Who Needs to Increase Productivity
    4. Management Challenge #10: When You Have an Employee Who Needs to Improve Quality
    5. Management Challenge #11: When You Need an Employee to Start “Going the Extra Mile”
    6. Management Challenge #12: When Your Employees Are Doing “Creative” Work
    7. Management Challenge #13: When the Employee You Are Managing Knows More About the Work Than You Do
  6. Chapter Five: The Challenges of Managing Attitudes
    1. Feelings Are on the Inside; Attitude Is What You Do on the Outside
    2. Attitude Is Expressed in Communication Practices
    3. Yes, You Can Require Great Attitudes at Work
    4. There Are No Bad Employees. Only Bad Behavior
    5. Management Challenge #14: When an Employee Needs an Attitude Adjustment
    6. The Six Attitudes Most Commonly in Need of Adjustment
    7. Management Challenge #15: When There Is Conflict Between and Among Individuals on Your Team
    8. Management Challenge #16: When an Employee Has Personal Issues at Home
  7. Chapter Six: The Challenges of Managing Superstars
    1. Management Challenge #17: When There Is a Superstar You Need to Keep Engaged
    2. Management Challenge #18: When You Have a Superstar You Really Want to Retain
    3. Management Challenge #19: When You Have a Superstar You Are Going to Lose For Sure: How to Lose That Superstar Very Well
    4. Management Challenge #20: When You Need to Move a Superstar to the Next Level to Develop as a New Leader
  8. Chapter Seven: The Challenges of Managing Despite Forces Outside Your Control
    1. Management Challenge #21: When Managing in an Environment of Constant Change and Uncertainty
    2. Management Challenge #22: When Managing Under Resource Constraints
    3. Management Challenge #23: When Managing Through Interdependency
    4. Management Challenge #24: When Managing Around Logistical Hurdles
    5. Management Challenge #25: When Managing Across Differences in Language and Culture
  9. Chapter Eight: The Challenges of Management Renewal
    1. Management Challenge #26: When You Need to Renew Your Management Relationship with a Disengaged Employee
    2. Management Challenge #27: When You Need to Renew Your Own Commitment to Being a Strong, Highly Engaged Manager
    3. Seven Ways to Prepare Before You Reboot Your Management Style
  10. Epilogue
  11. Acknowledgments
  12. About the Author
  13. More from Wiley
  14. Index
  15. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: The 27 Challenges Managers Face
  • Author(s): Bruce Tulgan
  • Release date: September 2014
  • Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
  • ISBN: 9781118725597