Kenneth Blanchard’s classic treatise on the concept of managing more than just the company’s bottom line is often overlooked these days, but this is a must-read for those who supervise the work of others and is a short, easy read for anyone.

Blanchard is the master of the parable style of writing fictional stories which make a management point. In this book, originally written in 1982, the author talks to managers about using some basic business skills very minimally to do more than most other managers do: something.

In this book you will read about:

• Goals and how to stay focused on them
• A model of feedback called “One Minute Praising”
• Catching people doing things right
• Focusing on Behavior

In this small book, Blanchard manages to cover some basic approaches to much of what Drucker says is the responsibility of a manager: setting objectives, measuring performance, giving feedback on performance to employees, and managing to strengths.

The One Minute Manager is an excellent first-read. It’s an easy book to chew up in about an hour, but the lessons inside need to be studied, not just read, to take hold. It is one thing to read about one minute praisings and reprimands. It is yet another thing entirely, and probably what makes the huge difference between great managers and those that just read about managing, to memorize the steps he recommends and then use them, despite discomfort and feelings of vulnerability and foolishness, in the attempt to reach out to and better manage your people.

A must-read and a great introduction to the concept of feedback.

Buy a copy of The One Minute Manager from Amazon.com today!