Managers and Leaders Who Can: How you survive and succeed in the new economy

INTRODUCTION

I was talking recently to a manager who faced the challenge of reducing the headcount in his division by more than half. He was charged with making difficult decisions, in an extremely short timescale, about who should stay and who should go, and how the depleted team should be re-organised.

At the same time, the same manager was being presented with ever more ambitious growth targets for his division and was grappling with the dilemma of how to achieve better results with significantly fewer people and a dramatically reduced budget.

Sadly, this scenario is not uncommon. Times are tough and the role of leaders and managers has never been more challenging. This book has been written in recognition of the fact that, more than ever before, managers need to reinforce their confidence and competence by accessing practical help and advice to negotiate their way through the turbulent, fast-moving business climate.

Technological change, growing consumer power and an unprecedented level of global competition means the pace of change has accelerated to an alarming degree. Managers now have to run simply to stay still and have no time to even catch their breath before the next wave of change comes crashing in.

We need to recognise that today’s managers are also operating in uncharted territory. The rules have changed and many of the old certainties no longer exist. The established truth about good behaviour being rewarded and bad behaviour being punished, for example, seems ...