First Among Equals

by David H. Maister, Patrick McKenna

Competently managing a group of peers is unquestionably among the most difficult of workplace tasks, but key steps that produce success are laid out so clearly by consultants Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister in First Among Equals that even those who completely lack experience should find the process feasible and effective. McKenna and Maister focus on leading teams of professionals--often composed of people who don't feel like they are part of a team or in need of leadership--by transforming the way managers assume responsibility and direct members. "Success in helping your group succeed is mostly about you. Not them," they write. Their book starts by explaining how to prepare for the job ahead, for example, by meeting informally with participants and displaying sincere interest in things that matter to them. It then explores coaching the individuals involved (offering methods for gaining acceptance, building rapport, assisting underperformers and dealing with prima donnas) and guiding the collective group (by developing rules, building trust, invigorating meetings, and resolving conflicts). Finally, it proposes measures for continued success, such as integrating new hires and gauging performance. Dozens of self-assessment questionnaires and diagnostic tests help make this an exceptionally practical guidebook on a critical but oft-neglected topic. --Howard Rothman

Genres: Business, Leadership, Management, Nonfiction, Economics

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2002

About the author

David H. Maister is a renowned management thinker, author, and former Harvard Business School professor, widely regarded as a leading authority on professional service firms. Educated in mathematics, economics, statistics, operations research, and business, he began his career in academia, teaching and researching logistics, transportation, and operations management in Canada and at Harvard. He later left academic life to work full time as a consultant, advising professional organizations around the world. Maister is best known for influential books such as Managing the Professional Service Firm and The Trusted Advisor, co written with Charles H. Green and Robert M. Galford, which reshaped thinking around trust, leadership, and client relationships. Named among the world’s top business thinkers, his work consistently emphasizes passion, people, and principles as the true drivers of success. Maister argues that sustained performance depends on energizing people, living stated values, and mastering relationships, viewing human motivation and accountability as the only lasting competitive advantage in business and professional life.

Reviews

[Ksenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much focused on EI. Practical. Easy to navigate. Slightly boring to read. Good to refer to when needed. Not going into depth. Boils down to « pay attention to people, praise them, don’t take them for robots ».

Not groundbreaking for me.

[Sarah M. Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was super practical and clear on strategies to managing highly capable and professional individuals. I appreciated how straight forward and applicable each chapter is for the nitty-gritty day-in and day-out of working with people. I found the farther I got into it the more likely I was to start to skim, though. I can see chapters that would prove very beneficial to revisit when different scenarios take place in a workplace, and the way the book is structured, it provides quick access to tactics for addressing a specifically challenging situation.

[Tõnis Kasekamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

“First Among Equals” is about being a leader of a professional group. Compared to other books I’ve read this year, “First Among Equals” was a slow grind and I’m not sure if I would have completed it if it wasn’t mandatory as a reading assignement. It was a difficult book to read as almost every paragraph made me reflect on my own decisions and style as leader of my team, which was exhausting to do after a workday. Nevertheless, it is a decent book with quality advice on leading professionals.

[Sergo Sanakoev · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Влияние лидера на то, чего можно ожидать от его людей, можно охарактеризовать как «фактор аквариума». Рыбы вырастают большими или остаются маленькими в зависимости от размера аквариума, в котором они живут. Люди в вашей группе вырастут или останутся маленькими в соответствии с той атмосферой, которую вы создадите."

[Carie Gall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives some practical strategies on how to approach team management even when you don't have any formal role over the team.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't manage anyone in my job, but I have a feeling that if I did, I would re-read this book closely and refer to it often.

A couple months back, frustrated by some management issues, I picked it up at the career center at work on a whim. I figured I'd flip through it, find the same old trite respect-your-colleagues suggestions, and return it within a day or two. To my surprise, I eventually made my way through the whole thing, a couple chapters at a time while at work. I even took notes on the darn thing -- that's how you can tell it had some application to my life!

The main things it got me thinking about were 1) what a good manager is/does, particularly when working with a team of "professionals" and 2) what you can do to be a good team member and leader, even if your manager is an incompetent sack of potato skins. I'm sure it's pretty basic stuff, but to someone with relatively little experience, it had plenty of useful suggestions and ideas for improving collaboration and morale and all those good things companies like. Woo.

Worth a read if you're new to managing and want to improve, have managed for a while and want a quick self-evaluation of how you're doing, or if you don't manage anyone but want to assure yourself that you could do a better job than your lazy troll-faced manager, just by reading a book. (You totally could.)

[Bolong Chew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't take this book as gospel.

Apart from the fact that I don't think it is very well-structured (are principles for coaching the individual vs. coaching the team really that different?), and it isn't uncommon to see recurring content going through different chapters, it is written mainly still with a heavy emphasis on top-down management.

I sometimes cringe at some suggested phrases the book adds, for example:
"I understand that you have been feeling rather burned out lately. I think we all go through periods where we need some new stimulus to redirect our focus. The unfortunate reality is that you are accomplishing less and I am concerned for you. Do you have some ideas on how we could help you refocus and what specific first steps you could take to get back on track?"

I cannot imagine how an employee under stress, plagued by personal issues or low morale, would be able to easily provide some ideas on how to refocus. And I cannot also imagine how a manager scratching her head furiously over how to manage workflow and meet deadlines in the team would be able to say "the unfortunate reality is that you are accomplishing less..." without coming across like a b****.

Only reading this because the unfortunate reality is that it is a prescribed textbook for my course in University.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially I struggled to pinpoint why this book seemed so off point and then it dawned on me, the premise of this book is still very much command and control. There's still this idea that professionals have to be coaxed to perform within a project group or team versus pursuing their individual interests. People are still presented as resources to be managed so that their value can be extracted. If you can move past this paradigm, there are salient points that transfer into any environment. Mainly, winning permission to coach, engaging in active listening, building relationships one at a time, and abandoning the cookie cutter approach in favor of dealing with people based on their personality and styles. Though these behaviors are presented as necessary for successful group amongst professionals, they're really just necessary for effective team work in general.

It's been 4 1/2 years since I've stepped away from the professional practice management. However, I continue to serve these professionals on a consulting basis and I would not use this book as a reference source for any of the leadership development that I do with them.

[Abdul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is directed and written for managers of small-mediun professional teams. As I am working in consulting, we are a group of peers who frequently manage projects or got managed by other project managers.

Managing professional, independent colleagues is no easy task, you need to know you mandate, their personality types and working behaviours... plus many other things that this book discusses.

The interesting personality type table I came across in this book shows 4 different personality types which need different ways of managing:

1- amiable (high response, low assertive)
2- expressive (high response, high assertive)
3- analytical (low response, low assertive)
4- driver ( low response, high assertive)

[V · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit boring book. I read it as encyclopedia of questions, each leader should answer. It contains all aspects leading teams, resolving conflicts and managing the performance. It doesn't contain answers, it contain questions which will help to prioritize actions, make them consistent and result-oriented

[Araminta Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Probably the single biggest source of failure in making professional groups work is not giving the group leader the time to do the job" (14).

"Because professionals jealously guard their autonomy, reserving the right to work as they see fit, professional groups have a greater than average tendency to become ill-disciplined" (137).

[Pinkeerach · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of good info in this book, though I found myself skimming over chunks of it at a time. It's definitely more of a reference type book once you've been through it one time. I'll definitely be going through this with my teams in the future.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it once very quickly when I first bought it. One of several / many books in "my cue" that I reference often and continue to plod through.

[Andy Gremett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concepts and some material for thought.
Checklists and topics for discussion seem to be good.
Towards the end the book gets somewhat repetitive.

[Rene Schlegel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good and easy to understand primer, especially for new and first time group leaders

[Vairavel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read if you manage teams.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

As seen in FYI: For Your Improvement.