Caplow is the architect of a book on assuming the position of manager over a department. New directors: this is your field book. Caplow details the steps to take after you sit down in the captain’s chair.

Kevin Hawley recommended this book to me a year ago. He said that his mentor showed him the book and said, “This is the only book you really need to run any organization.” That is certainly what the title would seem to indicate. I ordered myself a copy from Amazon.com used for $0.75, and I read it over the course of two days taking about 12 pages of notes in the process.

While not the only book I would recommend a manager ever read, it is certainly a powerful read and contains quite a bit that a manager needs to know before they sit down in the big boy chair and have their name painted on the door.

Inside this book you will find:

• The six basic principles of management
• The five areas of concern for any manager
• What steps to take first (ie - find the checkbook and seize it)
• Your chances of success as a new manager based on who you are following
• How to manage a crisis
• Focus on your own strengths
• Job design and failure

Caplow’s book is short and sweet. He’s not a philosophical thinker, nor does he like to BS a lot. It’s dense, like a Drucker book, but not as difficult to read as he is a superior writer for consumption and less “ivory tower.”

This book is a solid classic. It is an excellent must-read and a first-read for a new manager. If only I had read this before I was given my first management job!

Grab a copy of How to Run any Organization from Amazon.com. When I checked today there were 17 of them for sale for less than $3.00.