I make it a habit to reach out and interview managers of efficient sales teams as I work to fine-tune the content I plan to deliver to my audiences. These leaders have a wealth of success (and horror) stories to share from their time as managers in the energy industry, and students learn a lot about how successful sales professionals are also reliant on effective management. While the leaders I interview each have unique stories and perspectives, they all have one thing in common: they work hard and smart to help their teams succeed.
Achieving success and becoming a great leader for one’s team takes more than a simple desire to be successful. If you are a new manager or if you hope to better your own management style for your employees, I highly recommend reading The 27 Challenges Managers Face: Step-by-Step Solutions to (Nearly) All of Your Management Problems by Bruce Tulgan. This book delves into common issues leaders come across, such as employee interdependency, resource constraints, and undermanaging, while demonstrating various solutions to assist. Furthermore, the book emphasizes that excellent management requires time, focus, follow-up, and overall effort.
Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:
"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."
