Publisher Description

The American Management Association, the preeminent provider of business education worldwide, trains the majority of the Fortune 500 companies in competitive business skills. Covering everything from management and leadership to project management and strategy, AMA Business Boot Camp assembles the association's must-have tools and tips for managers and leaders, including guidance on how to motivate, increase morale, enhance productivity, manage organizational change, improve communication, increase influence, select corporate strategies, conduct effective performance reviews, avoid the pitfalls of intraorganizational politics, and much more. In light of increased globalization and the introduction of ever-advancing technologies, the core principles of effective business leadership are more essential to your professional success now than ever. New and seasoned business professionals alike must constantly sharpen their skills and stay attuned to the latest industry changes if they want to continue casting a strategic vision and inspiring others toward success. This book will help you face those challenges--and uncover new business opportunities along the way.

Back Cover

The preeminent provider of business education worldwide, the American Management Association trains over 100,000 managers and executives a year through its renowned management education seminar programs and conferences. Now, for the first time, the fundamental skills taught by this elite leadership and management institution have been collected in one easy-to-digest volume. Giving you an overview of exactly what the AMA considers to be the most important and powerful competencies for today's serious business professional, AMA Business Boot Camp supplies you with the building blocks of knowledge you need to succeed as a manager and leader. You'll learn how to: communicate with purpose * motivate your people, increase morale, and enhance productivity * coach to boost performance * improve your ability to influence others * manage organizational change * plan and execute projects * think strategically * manage staff changes * conduct effective performance reviews * screen, evaluate, and select corporate strategies * understand your organization's operational vision . . . and make that vision a reality * leverage your own leadership style * build power and influence . . . and use them wisely. Filled with easy-to-apply techniques and tangible strategies, the book contains action tips to solidify learning, as well as valuable tools such as a coaching planning worksheet, a project management planning template, and a self-assessment to help determine your comfort level with delegation. Throughout your career in business, you will have to navigate the waters of organizational politics. You will have to build relationships with difficult people. You will need to keep a tight focus on your mission, inspire and direct different groups of people, sell your projects to others, and come up with great ideas to save the day. As an aspiring (or growing) manager and leader, you are the lifeblood of your organization, keeping your people focused on the activities that drive results, and forging objectives that inspire everyone around you. AMA Business Boot Camp helps you cultivate the initiative, managerial expertise, and leadership know-how that will allow you reach any desired outcome, make any vision tangible, and propel your career in the world of business into the stratosphere.

Flap

Tracing its roots back to 1913, the American Management Association has provided thousands of companies with the training their people need. From small shops to most of the Fortune 500 firms, the AMA supplies a wide range of competitive business skills--everything from management and leadership to project management and strategy. In order to keep pace and survive in today's workplace, you need to manage effectively, think critically, solve problems, innovate, collaborate, and communicate more powerfully at every level within your organization...in short, to master the essential competencies that make up AMA's curriculum. Based on the collective wisdom of the world's preeminent corporate training organization, AMA Business Boot Camp assembles the most critical, "must-have" proficiencies you need to meet all business challenges head-on. This authortative guidebook serves as a comprehensive introduction or refresher to the wide variety of capabilities displayed by the most exceptional managers and leaders. From motivational techniques to strategic thinking, communication to hiring and firing, this book covers the core business fundamentals you must develop to thrive in any organization, including: Critical thinking and problem-solving skills vital to your ability to make decisions and take action as appropriate. Methods of effective communication that will allow you to synthesize and transmit your ideas, both in written and oral formats. Collaboration and team-building strategies that enable you to work effectively with others, including those from diverse groups and with opposing points of view. Creativity and innovation techniques that will help you "see what's not there" and make great things happen. When you have the proper leadership and management training, the sky is the limit for you and your company. By acquiring the critical abilities you need to thrive in any workplace setting, you enable yourself to lead successful teams, achieve astounding success with every project, have a positive effect on colleagues above and below you, and enhance the productivity and value of your organization. Collecting in one handy volume the most powerful wisdom offered by the most respected provider of leadership education for the past century, AMA Business Boot Camp provides you with a clear path that will take you to new heights of career success. EDWARD T. REILLY is the President and Chief Executive Officer of American Management Association, International. Prior to joining AMA, he was President and CEO of Big Flower Holdings, Inc. (now Vertis, Inc.), a leading provider of integrated marketing and advertising services. Previously, he spent over 25 years with the broadcast and book publishing groups of The McGraw-Hill Companies, where he ultimately served as President of The McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Company.

Author Biography

EDWARD T. REILLY Editor of AMA BUSINESS BOOT CAMP Edward T. Reilly has been the 17th President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Management Association, International since June 2001. AMA (amanet.org) is the world's leading not-for-profit, membership-based management development, research and publishing organization. Each year, AMA directly interacts with over 100,000 managers and executives in the United States and around the world, through its renowned management education seminar programs and conferences. It publishes many newsletters, research papers and a quarterly management journal. Through its publishing arm, AMACOM, it publishes over 70 books per year. AMA produces hundreds of webcasts and podcasts that reach over a quarter million managers around the world each year. AMA is the parent company of Management Centre Europe (MCE.be), a leading pan-European business management education institution for middle and senior executives. Management Centre Europe has been located in Brussels for 40 years. AMA also maintains operations in Canada, Mexico, Japan and China, with affiliated organizations in Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea and Australia. AMA's organizations are distinguished by the quality of their faculty of global business practitioners, the practical action-oriented focus of their learning programs, and the dynamic, interactive nature of their courses. To further expand AMA's vast footprint, Ed served as editor of AMA BUSINESS BOOT CAMP: Management and Leadership Fundamentals That Will See You Successfully Through Your Career (AMACOM 2013). "It is my hope that this book will be an introduction to the principles of effective, efficient management and leadership for some of the people we don't yet touch," Ed states, "and that the collective skills they begin to develop through the exposure to these ideas will help them and their organizations." Ed previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Big Flower Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of integrated marketing and advertising services. Under his four-year leadership, revenues at Big Flower Holdings increased from approximately $1 billion to nearly $1.9 billion. The NYSE-listed Company broadened its services and made numerous acquisitions, specializing in newspaper insert advertising, individualized direct mail, digital asset management and application software for the broadcasting and advertising agency industries. In December of 1999, the Company was sold to a group of private equity investors. Prior to joining Big Flower Holdings, Ed spent over 25 years with the book publishing and broadcast groups of The McGraw-Hill Companies, holding the following positions: Editor in Chief of the Accounting, Computing and Data Processing Department of Gregg Community College Division; Chief Financial Officer of the California Test Bureau; General Manager of the Instructo Corporation; Group Vice President for Europe, Africa and The Middle East; Group Vice President for McGraw-Hill Training Systems; the Executive Vice President of the McGraw-Hill International Book Company. In 1987, Ed became the President of The McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Company and during that time, also served as Chairman of the Board of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), and Chairman of the Board of the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV) when the technology platform for digital broadcasting and high definition television was developed and approved by the FCC. He served as a Board member of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and is a past Chairman of The Advertising Council, the world leader in public service advertising. Currently, Ed serves on the following Boards: USO Metropolitan New York; Immediate Past Chairman of the USO World Headquarters Board of Governors; Co-Chairman of the USO Operation Enduring Care Campaign; Member of the North American Advisory Board of the UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business in Dublin; Fellow of the International Academy of Management; Member of the United States Advisory Board of IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain; International Counselor of the Institute of International Education and Fellow and past Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts in the U.S.. Ed holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from St. Francis College, New York, and attended the Stanford Executive Program. He resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Susan.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface xi A Guide to Using This Book xiii SECTION 1: ESSENTIAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS 1 CHAPTER 1: BASIC MANAGEMENT 3 The Roles of Manager 3 Creating the Right Environment 6 The Nature of Decision Making 7 Characteristics of a Healthy Workplace 7 Effective Communication: Honing the Key Skill 8 The Content of Business Communication 9 Communication Process 10 Questioning Styles 12 Elements of Communication 14 Purposeful Communication—The Skill in Service 17 Using Communication to Manage Up 17 Communicating Organizational Goals 18 Running Effective Meetings 18 CHAPTER 2: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 25 The Process of Managing 25 Tools of Managing 31 Fundamentals of Motivation 32 Herzberg's Model 33 Countering Workplace Dissatisfaction 36 Uncovering Employees' Motivators 39 Delegation for Growth and Development 40 Two-Way Benefits of Delegating 40 The Process of Delegating 42 When to Delegate—and When Not To 44 Coaching to Boost Performance 45 Occasions for Coaching 46 The Process of Coaching 47 The Mechanics of Coaching 47 CHAPTER 3: MANGING STAFF CHANGES 53 Dealing with Change 53 Reasons for Hiring 55 Right Fit 55 Fluctuating Economy 57 Variable Skill Levels 59 Loyalty and Commitment 59 Outsourcing 60 Personnel Expectations 61 The Hiring Process—Recruiting 64 The Hiring Process—Interviewing 72 General Competency 74 Job-Specific Competency 76 Interview Format 85 Active Listening 87 Selection Guidelines 88 CHAPTER 4: MANAGING PROJECTS 91 The Triple Constraints 92 The Project Team 94 Project Flow 94 Differentiating Operations from Projects 96 Initiating a Project 97 Planning a Project 109 Executing a Project 123 Completing a Project 130 Case Study 1: Moderate Complexity Project 132 Case Study 2: High-Risk Project 133 Section I Action Items 137 SECTION II: SENIOR MANAGEMENT SKILLS 139 CHAPTER 5: STRATEGIC THINKING 141 Why Managers Need to Think Strategically 141 A Strategic Frame of Reference 143 Elements of the Strategic Frame of Reference 145 Understanding the Operational Mission 149 The Anatomy of a Strategic Vision 153 Understanding Customer Sensitivities 153 Creating a Strategic Advantage 155 Making the Vision a Reality 159 CHAPTER 6: LEADERSHIP 163 Leadership Self-Assessment 164 Behavior of a Leader 167 Measures of Success 174 Leveraging Your Leadership Style 176 Leadership Image 181 Building Power and Influence 184 Assessment #1: Your Power Potential 185 Assessment #2: Your Power Profile 187 Assessment #3: Group Leadership Qualities 188 Influence 190 Enlightened Office Politics 192 Motivating Difficult People 202 The Staller 202 The Emotional Hothead 202 The Complainer 202 The Backstabber 203 Ms. or Mr. Perfect 203 Section II Action Items 208 Appendix A: Self-Assessment on Comfort Level with Delegation 211 Appendix B: Coaching Planning Worksheet 213 Appendix C: Project Management Planning Template 215 Glossary 219 Index 223

Review

..".'crash course' in management and leadership... great book if you just got promoted to a Management position or even if you are in a Senior Management position." --Inspire and Action
..".a great way for you to get 90 years' worth of AMA experience in 236 pages of common sense and sage advice." --Life Insurance Selling
..".for all leaders, not just new leaders. Even the most experienced veteran of the corner office can benefit from a review of the basics." --Soundview
..".highly successful attempt to produce a brief yet thorough summary of the most important principles of leadership and management...written in clear, nontechnical language." --Choice
..".marks the first time that a book on fundamental management has been assembled by the AMA in a single book. Concise and easily understood..." --Inland Empire Business Journal
..".reader's digest of fundamental management and leadership skills...complete set of solid management principles and practices every aspiring and newly promoted manager should embody." --Strategy Driven Professional
..".serves as a both a crash course and comprehensive checklist of the task and responsibilities ...to achieve excellence and move organizations forward." --Small Business Digest
..".substantial value to individual executives at all levels and in all areas of the given organization..." --Blogging on Business
..".will be especially helpful to new administrators seeking a foundation of basic administrative skills to succeed in education administration." --The School Administrator
"Newbies--and veterans--should attend this 'boot camp'... book that readers will refer to as they meet challenges in the course of learning on the job." --ABA Banking Journal
"This book covers everything you need to know to hit the ground running as a new manager." --A Girl's Guide to Project Management
One of the Top Leadership Books of 2013 Eric Jacobson On Management and Leadership.com

Long Description

The American Management Association, the preeminent provider of business education worldwide, trains the majority of the Fortune 500 companies in competitive business skills. Covering everything from management and leadership to project management and strategy, AMA Business Boot Camp assembles the association's must-have tools and tips for managers and leaders, including guidance on how to motivate, increase morale, enhance productivity, manage organizational change, improve communication, increase influence, select corporate strategies, conduct effective performance reviews, avoid the pitfalls of intraorganizational politics, and much more. In light of increased globalization and the introduction of ever-advancing technologies, the core principles of effective business leadership are more essential to your professional success now than ever. New and seasoned business professionals alike must constantly sharpen their skills and stay attuned to the latest industry changes if they want to continue casting a strategic vision and inspiring others toward success. This book will help you face those challenges--and uncover new business opportunities along the way.

Review Quote

"…will be especially helpful to new administrators seeking a foundation of basic administrative skills to succeed in education administration." --The School Administrator

Excerpt from Book

Preface For the past ninety years, the American Management Association has been devoted to the development of managers and leaders throughout their careers. During that time, literally millions of managers and leaders around the world have benefited from AMA's carefully developed seminars, workshops, and books produced by the outstanding faculty and authors who come together to form the backbone of AMA's ability to help people grow in their professional skills. AMA currently teaches over 160 different seminar topics, covering much of the management landscape. We provide hundreds of webinars, webcasts, podcasts, newsletters, and of course books, which add to the richness of the information available to help managers develop their skills and become more effective. We customize hundreds of individual pro-grams for companies around the world, which ties our insight, experience, and content directly to their business circumstances and helps the entire enterprise move toward a more efficient, effective performance. This is an important time in the evolution of the business community in the U. S. and around the world. Economic challenges brought about by the financial collapse in 2008 have caused a great deal of disruption that will have a lasting effect for many years to come. Now, more than ever, we need to relearn and revisit the basics and finetune our skills. We face circumstances that require virtually flawless execution, and we hope you will look to AMA and all of its resources as the perfect place to help you revitalize your own skills and those of your organization. It is my hope that this book will be an introduction to the principles of effective, efficient management and leadership for some of the people we don't yet touch and that the collective skills they begin to develop through the exposure to these ideas will help them and their organizations. It is our intention to help people become more effective in contributing to the economic engine, which is so essential to our society, prosperity, and security. For many people, this may be their first exposure to the principles included in this book. For others, it will serve as a comprehensive checklist of the many tasks we must master and execute in the process of becoming successful managers and leaders. In any case, I hope people will refer back to these pages frequently, as it has been my experience that we all need to be consciously mindful of the many principles of leading and managing people and processes we use on a daily basis in order to be effective. To paraphrase Peter Drucker, management is neither an art nor a science, but rather a practice. As with all of our work at AMA, it is my hope that this book will be a helpful tool in the development and refinement of your career. Edward T. Reilly President and CEO American Management Association ' Excerpted from AMA BUSINESS BOOT CAMP, Edited by Edward T. Reilly. Copyright 2013 by American Management Association. Published by AMACOM Books, a division of American Management Association, New York, NY. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Description for Bookstore

Professionals today, whether they are new or seasoned, need a solid foundation of essential skills in order to keep pace with the speed of change. The American Management Association, the preeminent provider of business education worldwide, trains the majority of the Fortune 500 companies in competitive business skills. Now, for the first time, AMA has assembled the most critical, "must-have" skills for managers and leaders in one handy volume. AMA Business Boot Camp paves the way for readers to: Motivate, increase morale, and enhance productivity Manage organizational change Improve their ability to communicate and influence others Screen, evaluate, and select corporate strategies Conduct effective performance reviews Protect themselves against the pitfalls of intra-organizational politics And much more Covering everything from management and leadership to project management and strategy, this one-of-kind reference serves as a crash course in the fundamentals required for lasting success.

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