The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Citation

Walz, J.T. (2006), "The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 235-236. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730610657749

Oh, no, not another handbook on management! Not another “One‐minute MBA,” or “Twelve Steps to Managerial Success?” This was my first response when I picked up the The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership, edited by Neil Thomas. How could John Adair, one of the world's foremost authors and lecturers on leadership and management, allow his name to be associated with a handbook that at first glance would appear pithy at best? As I began reading, however, I soon found all my fears being laid to rest. Amongst the plethora of books on leadership and management, one often finds a list of do's and don'ts without the “how to's.” This is not the case with this handbook. Neil Thomas has done an outstanding job assimilating and synthesizing the vast amount of leadership and management wisdom that John Adair has espoused over the years into a handbook that should be on everyone's desk.

Within the relatively short 223 pages, Thomas has organized Adair's work into two parts. Part 1 addresses managing self and in particular time management, which I daresay, is at the core of disciplining oneself in management practice. It cuts through the typical hogwash about the need for time management and goes right to providing practical tools to manage one's time more strategically rather than effectively. Strategic time management considers achieving goals through moment‐to‐moment control of every facet of internal and external immediacy, whereas, effective time management often considers managing external activity but with little regard to impulses that cause time to get away from us. Adair makes this distinction. Without a focus on strategic time management, lost time gains ground as rules are dropped to the wayside. Gaining control of internal impulses and relegating all activity to smart goal achievement is the foci of Adair's treatment of time management. The reader must consider not only proactive responses such as managing meetings and organizing schedules, but also how to manage those things that are often out of one's control such as incoming phone calls and other interruptions. Adair espouses a decision rubric that he calls the “The Adair urgency/importance matrix,” often referred to as the Four‐D matrix. This matrix presses the manager to consider whether tasks should be dropped, delayed, delegated, or done. These tasks are grouped into a quadrant‐type matrix with these headings, which helps organize the day's activities. The rest of part one is devoted to decision making, problem solving, creativity and innovation. Each chapter also includes a six‐month follow‐up in order to ascertain whether management practices have been institutionalized into daily practice or whether the manager has fallen back into old, counterproductive habits. Part 1 concludes with a chapter of thought‐provoking quotes from men like Benjamin Franklin, Tom Peters, Napoleon, and Clement Attlee.

Part 2 focuses on managing others through teambuilding, motivating, communicating and presenting. If you've never read any of Adair's previous works, you will be introduced to his 50/50 Rule. This rule states, that 50 percent of motivation comes from within a person, and 50 percent comes from his or her environment, especially from leadership encountered therein. With this in mind, the burden of motivation is equally shared between the leader and follower. Leadership, however, is the focus of this book and, therefore, Adair, draws on Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor and others, to provide the theoretical framework for his management applications; all of which, appear to be sound.

I want to mention again the excellent job that Neil Thomas did in organizing Adair's work. He has prepared a handbook that is an easy read with practical, no‐nonsense applications. Most readers will find something of immediate value for their workplace and also, quick reminders and management thermometers to continue to develop as an effective leader and manager.