The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work

by Peter Block

This is one of the most useful and clearly written books on the leading edge of management that I have read.
--Warren Bennis

Peter Block, the author of the classic Flawless Consulting, is a true visionary. And here he turns his sights on management. Managers and other employees who feel powerless to control their own destinies, who feel stifled by bureaucracy, who feel sapped of creativity--will feel invigorated by Block's legAndary insight.Offers practical advice to help your


* Empower themselves to help shape the organization
* Develop positive political skills in their dealings with all levels of employees
* Take responsibility for their own actions
* Negotiate with their allies and adversaries
* Face failure courageously...and much more!


Block presents ways to treat all members of the organization as entrepreneurs so that employees feel that their units are their own businesses and that they, and they alone, are in the process of creating an organization of their own choosing. Managers and other employees who pick up The Empowered Manager won't just be reading about management. They'll be harvesting timeless tips from a master of business thinking. And they'll be uncovering a road map that leads to enhanced effectiveness and job satisfaction.

This is a liberating book that cuts through our rationalizations and self-deceptions to help us think about both work and life from a new perspective.
--Geoff Bellman, author of The Consultant's Calling

Help your managers become more confident, contributing members of your organization with guidance from a famed consultant. This guide is a perfect addition to your management and leadership development programs.

Winner of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Book Award

Genres: Leadership, Business, Management, Nonfiction, Psychology, Politics

252 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Udaykiran Joshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!! Must read! I have started listening it again. The concepts mentioned in the book are very powerful and will play a huge role in the way to build a great organization!

Clearly talks about What's Entrepreneurial mindset, patriarchal set up and how it is a hindrance for building empowered culture where each of the employees can consider themselves as the owners of the company and strive for excellence in whatever they do. Peter was able to beautifully explain why people hesitate to take up accountability and resort to the patriarchal approach and how it's not worth pursuing that route!

Politics is perceived as Bad thing in general and Peter bursts the myths around it and clearly explains the difference between positive and negative political skills! You think you don't use manipulation at work?! Read this one to figure out what's manipulation and what all subtle ways in which everyone use it.

The other important aspect of building strong positive political skills is to identify and how to deal with different types of people around you. Based on the degree of Trust and Agreement, the author categorizes them in to 5 types! Allies, Opponents, Bed fellows, Fence sitters and Adversaries! He also talks about and categorize people into different types of profiles and there characteristics.

Overall a must read for everyone (especially if you are a middle manager) who would like to learn about organizational politics and to know it's only you who is responsible for building the culture you would like to be part of!

Don't miss it!

[VENKATRAMAN C K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I red this in the early nineties. It was from a different publisher then. Well written and it impacts the reader. An young MBA must read.

[Ilaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Block makes you understand what empowerment is in an organisation, and how each of us can be the advocate for it starting from today. It is an act of courage, ownership, and selfless care for the organisation.

His book addresses middle managers, therefore professionals who have reports but also report to their bosses.

Block emboldens courage, advocacy, interdependence and yet ownership of one's actions, entrepreneurial spirit as opposed to bureaucratic and patriarchal one.

He does not give you actionable "tools", which is something that many business books sell. The same goes for business cases and instances in real life: they probably do not represent more than 40% of the book's contents. As a result, do not read the book if you expect powerful anecdotes or stories. Read it for the message you expect it to deliver to you.

The book delivers a powerful narrative that accompanies each paragraph, from the beginning to the end. Because of this, it might seem that the book carries lots of redundancies and repetition, and my guess is that this is intentional, in order to let the main message permeate.

[I Read, Therefore I Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Block is an organization development consultant and founder of Designed Learning (a consulting training services provider). In this fascinating book he examines the characteristics of patriarchal organisations and negative politics and how they disempower and demotivate employees and explains how to use more entrepreneurial ways of working so that workers have more control of their work and take more responsibility.

[Emma Llama · Rating 3 out of 5]

what I found insightful was the sharp critique of bureaucratic mindsets and the clear explanation of why many managers end up feeling disempowered. however, the advice on becoming more entrepreneurial felt familiar and somewhat basic, especially if you’ve already been exposed to modern leadership ideas. useful concepts were shared, but it wasn’t a transformative read for me.

[Saravana Sastha Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended by a respected mentor in my PwC days. Finally got to read it and it's a timeless gem for anyone in corporate career.

[Andleeb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good. I liked the agreement/trust grid. It helped me outline where key stakeholders are in my projects and how to better influence, or cut my losses, with them.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a much more helpful book than I expected. Nice framing and practical tools. I had a library copy so couldn’t underline but wanted to.

[Aigul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will definitely reread

[Donn Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did not do it for me at all. I wasn’t clear who the audience was, and I think the audience he’s writing for tends to be more “old school”.

[Reuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful information but also a bit faddish. Empowerment is the current buzzword of management and leadership books in the 1990s.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know a group of people that should read this book.

[Julene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in 1993.