Wait, I'm the Boss?!?: The Essential Guide for New Managers to Succeed from Day One

by Peter Economy

Your management mentor in book! This is the go-to guide on making good decisions, helping teams work together, dealing with people problems, and achieving goals when you're newly in charge or looking to brush up on your leadership skills.

Wait, I'm the Boss?!? is chock-full of useful information, tips, and checklists that can be used by anyone who aspires to become a skilled manager. While it’s written with the new manager in mind, it can also serve as a useful refresher for any manager, no matter how experienced he or she may be. With this book in their hands, new managers will always know where they are going—no matter where they are. This much-needed, helpful guide explores the fundamental skills that every new manager needs to understand, practice, and master. These fundamental skills include:


Building teams and teamworkCreating a fun and effective organizational culture
Rewarding and motivating employees
Leading organizational change
Learning how to hire great employees
Coaching and mentoring
Delegation
Communicating effectively
Dealing with layoffs and terminations
Whether you’re in your first management position, are an experienced leader, or are hoping for a promotion, Wait, I'm the Boss?!? will be the mentor you need.

Genres: Nonfiction, Management, Leadership, Business, Reference

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2020

About the author

Peter Economy is a Wall Street Journal best-selling business author, ghostwriter, developmental editor, and publishing consultant with more than 125 books to his credit (and more than 3 million copies sold).

Peter’s latest book is Wait, I’m Working With Who?!? published by Career Press. He also helped create Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results; Everything I Learned About Life I Learned in Dance Class; The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness (a Wall Street Journal bestseller); Managing For Dummies; User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product; The Management Bible; Peter Isler’s Little Blue Book of Sailing Secrets; and many more.

He is the Leadership Guy on Inc.com and for more than a decade served as Associate Editor for Leader to Leader magazine—published by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum in New York City. Peter taught MGT 453: Creativity and Innovation as a lecturer at San Diego State University, is on the National Advisory Council of The Art of Science Learning, and is a founding member of the board of SPORTS for Exceptional Athletes.

A graduate of Stanford University (with majors in Economics and Human Biology), Peter has worked closely with some of the nation’s top business, leadership, and technology thinkers, including Jim Collins, Frances Hesselbein, Barry O’Reilly, Peter Senge, Kellie McElhaney, Jeff Patton, Marshall Goldsmith, Marty Cagan, Lolly Daskal, Guy Kawasaki, Emma Seppala, William Taylor, Jim Kilts, Jean Lipman-Blumen, Stephen Orban, Ken Blanchard, and many others.

Reviews

[Stacey Miner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book a lot. Borrowed it from the library. Now I want to own a copy. Very enlightening and informative. Think this is one I’ll want to reread at least once every year to help the lessons sink in deeper.

[Micah Solomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a new — or even an experienced manager — Peter Economy’s latest book tells you exactly what you need to know to take your management and leadership skills from good to great. Whether it’s setting goals, building high-performing teams, delegating, being a better coach, motivating today’s employees, dealing with employee problems, and much, much more, it’s all here. The icing on the cake is that is specifically written for managers who work in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous business environment. Highly recommended!

[Carly Really Very Normal · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book has lots of good advice for management, most of its points are pretty surface value. Not all of it applied to me as a library branch manager, but you can't expect it to. While seeming pretty progressive in a lot of ways (regarding inclusion and diversity, recognizing praise and uplifting staff as part of creating an uplifting workplace, and bottom-up management) Peter Economy still falls into the "employees don't want money, they want rewards" and "a fun and progressive work culture is what people are looking for-you can pay people less if you offer that" mindset that is so frustrating. Yes, a transparent, inclusive, uplifting, positive work environment with a company that meets your moral and ethical standards is absolutely imperative to cultivating satisfaction in the workplace; that said, people get jobs because they have bills to pay, and their labor must be appropriately paid.

Because the book is so progressive in some other ways, and I did get some good info from it, I bumped it from three to four stars. The idea that employees would prefer to get recognized once a year at a company party instead of better wages and benefits keeps it from being something I would recommend.

[Kimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough examples. Too vague. Also basic stuff. This is for brand new baby managers who have never even heard of what a manager is.

[RWAR_Rani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A practical guide for new managers learning to lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose. It emphasizes that effective leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it's about setting direction, building trust, and creating an environment where your team can thrive.

Core Leadership Principles:

-Purpose + Performance: Employees need to know why their work matters and what good looks like. Set clear goals, give regular feedback, and define success.

-Thoughtful Decision-Making: Take your time. Be selective with assignments and choose to focus on the “right” things—not just the urgent ones.

-Delegation Done Right: 1. Clearly communicate what needs to be done 2. Explain why it matters 3. Set standards and expectations 4. Grant authority and provide support 5. Create checkpoints and follow-ups 6. Get a commitment from the employee

-Create a Learning Organization: Support skill development, establish procedures, and focus on high-impact growth areas.

The best leaders consistently communicate openly and often, ensuring their teams are informed, aligned, and heard. They foster a culture of trust and psychological safety, where people feel comfortable sharing ideas, taking risks, and admitting mistakes without fear. Strong leaders also recognize and reward good performance, reinforcing the behaviors they want to see more of. They lead with optimism, confidence, and integrity, setting a tone that encourages resilience and accountability. Most importantly, they empower their teams by removing obstacles, providing support, and modeling the behavior and standards they expect from others.

Effective teamwork and mentorship begin with the mindset that your team works with you, not for you. As a leader, it’s important to understand what each person on your team values and to create an environment that supports their individual goals. This includes offering opportunities for growth, providing insight into how the organization functions, and leading by example in both behavior and communication. By doing so, you foster trust, engagement, and long-term development.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the record, this cover art is egregious. Alas...

Light, easy, digestible read. I've led teams before, but this is my first time as a true people manager (in charge of growth, salaries, broad-scope planning, resourcing, careers, budgets, goals, etc.) I work in tech and lead our hybrid creative team. I picked up this book off of a shelf to send a photo to my own manager as a joke because the cover sentiment matched my energy around my own promotion. When I flipped a few pages, I liked the ease and sense of humor the author has, and bought it.

It's for sure a starter book and not that deep, but I feel like that's an appropriate stepping stone if you're a first-time people manager and doing some self-started reading.

[Mikala Charron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book very inconsistent. It is supposed to be for new managers, but a lot of the tips and prompts felt like they were for people starting new businesses or people who were becoming CEOs and would be making all of the company decisions. Other times it would have very helpful situations for someone who would be managing for the first time. And then it had “how to deal with millennials”. How about a section, “how millennials should deal with managers stuck in there ways, etc.”. I hate the term millennial, but this book was for like 40/50 year olds becoming managers. Not a 30 year old. With it written in 2020, you think it would be more helpful for me.

[Christa (haines) Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has a lot of common sense suggestions that really help a new manager. The book is very accessible and easy to read, with practical ideas on being a better manager. I really liked finding a resource that brings so much relevant information in a single place.

In terms of the content, I really appreciated the ways to handle toxic employees.

It's also amazing how out of date some of the content is after two and a half years of the pandemic. I'm also not sure I agree with the continued use of the compliment sandwich, but then the author suggested it's not appropriate in all situations, recognizing that variations are also valid.

[Brittney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is short, but still somehow felt like a waste of time. It felt like a bunch of bullet point lists that didn't go into enough detail to tell a new manager how to do anything practical. It isn't enough to tell a new manager to "inspire and motivate" employees, they need to know how, and this book rarely provides practical help or examples. Weirdly the glossary covered a lot of terms the book doesn't cover, especially financial terms. I just really didn't find this book helpful in preparing me to manage people.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good starter book for brand new managers, which is kind of what the subtitle implies. However, a lot of the info is vague or doesn’t go into enough detail to be helpful on some of the tougher topics. Very few examples of situations you might be in. EDI should be addressed more if another edition is published.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of great information, but I think would be better suited to someone who works in an office setting.

[Christa Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a mixed bag. Lots of good advice but some that might need rethinking in and era of BLM and other equity struggles.

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very basic advice for first time managers. If you are a seasoned manager I don’t recommend this book, it’s too basic.

It’s not a bad book and the advice it’s good, it’s just that is way too basic.

[Nicholle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learning, learning, always be learning.
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2021 Extreme Book Nerd Challenge - Book by an author with a last name 5+ letters long

[Prudence]

Ended up stopping this. I’m a brand new supervisor and was looking for some basic, practical information and this felt too heady.

[Kelly Bianco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hood to revisit and reinvigorate!

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 maybe. Nothing felt totally off-base but VERY basic and surface level, and definitely brought out my Insufferable IO Psychologist side for most topics