The New Supervisor

How to Thrive in Your First Year as a Manager

Perseus Books, 1998

15 min read

10 take-aways

Audio & text

What's inside?

Congratulations, you’re a manager! Now you’re the one in charge of making everything work. The fun is just beginning.

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Recommendation

Martin M. Broadwell and Carol Broadwell Dietrich expertly guide you through learning how to be the boss. They cover adjusting to your new role, acquiring the skills you’ll need and coping with becoming a supervisor - from planning and organizing to directing and controlling. There may be just too much about stress and not quite enough about daily processes and follow through, but the information is solid across all subjects. The authors get right to the point, never sacrificing warmth, context or detail. Each section ends with thought-provoking group or individual exercises to reinforce what you’ve just read. getAbstract.com recommends this book to people who are taking their first supervisory positions, to those aiming for that goal and to anyone who has to train either of them.

Summary

The New Boss

After months of anticipation, that corner office (or at least, that corner cubicle) is yours. For the first time, you are in charge. Now kick back and enjoy. At last, you can take it easy. Right? Not so fast, pal. Actually, the hard part is just beginning, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t going to like it.

Being a first-time supervisor means entering new terrain. You may have a briefcase full of professional skills. You can make a computer do back-flips or build wonderful widgets, but if your promotion is at all typical, it is probable that you’ve never actually been trained to manage other people. In most cases, you got your new job by being great at your old job - but now you have to help other people do your old job competently as you shoulder managerial responsibilities. You cannot make those widgets for them - that would be simple, since you already know how. Instead, you must make sure they do it, on budget, on time and at the right quality level. Your job is to plan, manage, train and direct them, and then praise their achievements.

Remember hanging around the doughnut stand criticizing the boss? Now you’re the target of those chats. This ...

About the Authors

Martin Broadwell is president of the Center for Management Services, Inc., and the former Director of Engineering Training at Bell Telephone Company. He has taught management training and ran the executive management institute at the University of Michigan for 27 years. He is also the author of The Supervisor as an Instructor: A Guide for Classroom Training, The Supervisor and On-The-Job Training and The Practice of Supervising: Making Experience Pay. Carol Broadwell Dietrich is president of Training Systems International. She has nearly 20 years experience in management, and supervisory training. The authors have updated this book several times since its initial publication in 1970.

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M. A. 8 years ago

very good insight
E. P. 9 years ago

A good summary on leadership
T. H. 9 years ago

Yes I think it has a lot of great information and what to expect.

Martin M. Broadwell and Carol Broadwell Dietrich