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The Invisible Spotlight: Why Managers Can't Hide
Wasserman and Katz make a compelling argument that all managers work in the heat of an invisible spotlight where their every word and deed are scrutinized by employees. Remarkably, most managers are unaware of this reality. As a result, they underestimate the impact of the passing moments that are at the heart of their management relationships.
The authors tell illuminating stories from their nearly 40 years as consultants about management successes and misadventures in the unseen spotlight. Each story acts like a mirror, reflecting the reader’s own management challenges. The authors’ realistic observations and insights gained as “intimate outsiders” enrich the book’s lessons.
The Invisible Spotlight offers a fresh, practical perspective on building sound management relationships. The messages are intelligent, often provocative, and always no-nonsense. The reader will find it easy to think through ideas and practices central to enlightened management. For
• The management role does not come naturally. Instincts and reflexes alone can be as self-defeating as they are useful. Management requires practice, discipline, and self-reflection.
• If the foundation of the management relationship is solid, the manager is doing something right; if it fails or falters, the manager is doing something wrong. In this sense, managers are architects of the relationships they form with their employees.
• People don't change when they’re comfortable; they change when they’re uncomfortable. Carefully orchestrating moments of discomfort is an integral part of effective and humane management.
• More thought than managers ever imagined goes into the art of recognition and encouragement.
• No paint-by-numbers approach to managing will protect managers from missteps. The challenge is to recognize and recover from them, and it’s one of of the hardest challenges to address with grace.
The Invisible Why Managers Can’t Hide is a hard look at the soft side of management.
The authors tell illuminating stories from their nearly 40 years as consultants about management successes and misadventures in the unseen spotlight. Each story acts like a mirror, reflecting the reader’s own management challenges. The authors’ realistic observations and insights gained as “intimate outsiders” enrich the book’s lessons.
The Invisible Spotlight offers a fresh, practical perspective on building sound management relationships. The messages are intelligent, often provocative, and always no-nonsense. The reader will find it easy to think through ideas and practices central to enlightened management. For
• The management role does not come naturally. Instincts and reflexes alone can be as self-defeating as they are useful. Management requires practice, discipline, and self-reflection.
• If the foundation of the management relationship is solid, the manager is doing something right; if it fails or falters, the manager is doing something wrong. In this sense, managers are architects of the relationships they form with their employees.
• People don't change when they’re comfortable; they change when they’re uncomfortable. Carefully orchestrating moments of discomfort is an integral part of effective and humane management.
• More thought than managers ever imagined goes into the art of recognition and encouragement.
• No paint-by-numbers approach to managing will protect managers from missteps. The challenge is to recognize and recover from them, and it’s one of of the hardest challenges to address with grace.
The Invisible Why Managers Can’t Hide is a hard look at the soft side of management.
- GenresNonfiction
154 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2011
6 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 20, 2023
Pros:
Grammatically correct.
Cons:
Promotion of Toxic Corporatism: This book seems to be a manifesto for promoting unhealthy work cultures steeped in corporatism and managerial manipulations. The guiding principle of being under an invisible spotlight at work only fosters a stressful environment, encouraging employees to potentially overexert themselves without any guarantee of deserved recognition or promotion.
Misleading Guidance: Initially recommended as a tool for career advancement, the book disappointingly serves to manipulate the reader into adopting work habits that might lead to burnout and disillusionment without any tangible benefits. The book tends to foster false hope, tricking individuals into believing that relentless hard work under constant surveillance would lead to career progression, which is not always the case.
Unfulfilling Read: Apart from its grammatical correctness, the book fails to offer any redeeming qualities. Its sole focus on promoting a culture of relentless surveillance at the workplace leaves the reader with a sense of manipulation and disappointment.
One is better off investing their time in a read that provides joy and relaxation, steering clear of this manipulative narrative. It's a hard pass for anyone looking for a genuinely enriching and enjoyable read.
Grammatically correct.
Cons:
Promotion of Toxic Corporatism: This book seems to be a manifesto for promoting unhealthy work cultures steeped in corporatism and managerial manipulations. The guiding principle of being under an invisible spotlight at work only fosters a stressful environment, encouraging employees to potentially overexert themselves without any guarantee of deserved recognition or promotion.
Misleading Guidance: Initially recommended as a tool for career advancement, the book disappointingly serves to manipulate the reader into adopting work habits that might lead to burnout and disillusionment without any tangible benefits. The book tends to foster false hope, tricking individuals into believing that relentless hard work under constant surveillance would lead to career progression, which is not always the case.
Unfulfilling Read: Apart from its grammatical correctness, the book fails to offer any redeeming qualities. Its sole focus on promoting a culture of relentless surveillance at the workplace leaves the reader with a sense of manipulation and disappointment.
One is better off investing their time in a read that provides joy and relaxation, steering clear of this manipulative narrative. It's a hard pass for anyone looking for a genuinely enriching and enjoyable read.
November 8, 2021
This was a very intentional and thoughtful read for me as a manager. I tried to read just two chapters per week during my Professional Development hour every Friday. I'm surprised I didn't come across this book during my Master's program because a lot of what I learned was reinforced in this book. After each Chapter I wrote down takeaways which helped me retain the information and share it with my colleagues. Overall, one of the best self-help books I've read in a while because it taught a lot through stories, not preaching clichés.
February 2, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think it does a great job bringing light to how impactful everything a manager does is to their respectful staff. Although this book contained a lot of relevant and important real life stories, I wish there was a guide or outline for managers to help their identify their own areas improvement. Most managers or leaders in the stories mentioned, only improved due to outside help and guidance once their managing techniques were criticized and brought to their attention.
June 5, 2019
The book mostly talks about how employees look to manager behavior even when the manager is away from the spotlight.
March 18, 2022
Good manager bookclub contender for discussions.
October 24, 2011
In their unusually engaging new book, The Invisible Spotlight: Why Managers Can't Hide, Craig Wasserman and Doug Katz reveal just how closely and constantly every manager's conduct is scrutinized by employees. In a manager's day-to-day words and deeds, employees find guideposts to success. And yet most managers are oblivious to this reality.
According to Katz, “Managing isn’t a matter of implementing ‘breakthrough’ programs or wearing a management ‘style’ the way we wear a tee-shirt. Managing actually happens in fleeting exchanges with employees under an unseen spotlight. Sometimes these moments are dramatic, sometimes prosaic. They always have an impact far greater than most managers realize. These seemingly pedestrian moments can inspire or disenfranchise an employee in profound and lasting ways."
Written in a conversational style free of jargon and arcane theory, the book features stories direct from the trenches about success and misadventure in the invisible spotlight. Each story acts like a mirror, reflecting the reader’s own management challenges. The authors’ goal is to help managers think realistically and intelligently about their own day-to-day conduct as "management relationship architects." They underscore that a deliberate, self-reflective approach separates outstanding managers from the pack.
The Invisible Spotlight is a hard look at the soft side of management written by two keen observers with 40 years of consulting experience under their belts.
According to Katz, “Managing isn’t a matter of implementing ‘breakthrough’ programs or wearing a management ‘style’ the way we wear a tee-shirt. Managing actually happens in fleeting exchanges with employees under an unseen spotlight. Sometimes these moments are dramatic, sometimes prosaic. They always have an impact far greater than most managers realize. These seemingly pedestrian moments can inspire or disenfranchise an employee in profound and lasting ways."
Written in a conversational style free of jargon and arcane theory, the book features stories direct from the trenches about success and misadventure in the invisible spotlight. Each story acts like a mirror, reflecting the reader’s own management challenges. The authors’ goal is to help managers think realistically and intelligently about their own day-to-day conduct as "management relationship architects." They underscore that a deliberate, self-reflective approach separates outstanding managers from the pack.
The Invisible Spotlight is a hard look at the soft side of management written by two keen observers with 40 years of consulting experience under their belts.
September 17, 2011
This is an excellent, well written book on many facets of the management process. Anyone that has managed employees will recognize behaviors that they have either seen or exhibited themselves at some stage in their career. If you haven't managed employees, read it and get a head start on your own management development process. This book will cause you to look at your own management style and it's impact on others. It's short, well designed with excellent and sometime humerous examples of a wide variety of management styles and associated behaviors. This is a must read for anyone that is currently or interested in managing others at some point in their career.
May 19, 2013
Not bad but I had just heard the author all and he used almost very story in his speaking engagement.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews