Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Lazy Manager: Exceed Company Goals the Easy Way and Win Back Your Personal Time
    The Lazy Manager: Exceed Company Goals the Easy Way and Win Back Your Personal Time
    The Lazy Manager: Exceed Company Goals the Easy Way and Win Back Your Personal Time
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    The Lazy Manager: Exceed Company Goals the Easy Way and Win Back Your Personal Time

    By Bruce Bell

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Lazy Manager in a concise format tells the story of a retail manager who must turn around a store beset by terrible morale and the lowest productivity figures in its chain. Confronting these challenges reveals incredibly simple ways that any manager can use to work smarter, not harder and deliver breakthrough results in the workplace while achieving a balanced lifestyle.

    In a seamless and fast paced narrative sure to be appreciated universally by time starved executives, the book provides crucial lessons in effortless management performance, including how to manage a new team, how to delegate, how to recruit, succession planning and much more. The Lazy Manager is designed for new and experienced managers alike and it will connect with managers of every educational background, from high school graduates to Ivy Leaguers. Its principles and techniques are highly relevant within every industry and every type of organization, including start-ups, non-profits, government agencies and international corporations.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateOct 30, 2008
    ISBN9780595619528
    The Lazy Manager: Exceed Company Goals the Easy Way and Win Back Your Personal Time
    Author

    Bruce Bell

    Bruce Bell has been the popular monthly local history columnist for The Bulletin, Canada’s largest-circulation community newspaper, since 1999. In 2002 he was named by the City of Toronto the Official Historian of St. Lawrence Hall and St. Lawrence Market. In November 2003 Bruce was asked by the Ontario Heritage Foundation to host the 200th anniversary celebrations of St. Lawrence Market. In May 2004 Bruce was appointed Official Historian of Toronto’s King Edward Hotel as part of the famed hotel’s centennial celebrations. In October 2004 Bruce was appointed Honourary Historian of the Hockey Hall of Fame Heritage Building. In June 2006 Bruce was appointed Curator in Residence for the spectacular Dominion Bank Building, now One King West (built in 1914). In October 2006 Bruce was bestowed the title Honourary Historian of the 51 Division Heritage Building by Toronto Police Services for his work as a historian in 51 Division. Bruce sits on the board of the Town of York Historical Society and is the author of two books Amazing Tales of St. Lawrence Neighbourhood and the just published TORONTO: A Pictorial Celebration. Bruce is also the official tour guide of historic St. Lawrence Market where visitors from around the globe are constantly entertained by his amusing, fact-packed renditions of the Market’s and the area’s history. In April 2007 as part of the Fairmont Hotel & Resorts 100th-year birthday celebrations, Bruce was named Honourary Historian of the famed Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Bruce’s History Project, a plaque program marking historical sites with large bronze markers, to date includes Toronto’s First Jail, The Great Fire of 1849, the Hangings of the Rebellion of 1837 leaders Lount and Matthews and the Birthplace of Canadian Statesman Robert Baldwin. Bruce’s mission is to tell Toronto’s history through his tours, writings and lectures, including his sold-out shows at Toronto’s famed Winter Garden Theatre, in an informative and entertaining way. Visit Bruce’s website www.brucebelltours.ca to book a tour or to make a reservation for one of his upcoming events.

    Read more from Bruce Bell

    Related to The Lazy Manager

    Related ebooks

    Business For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Lazy Manager

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Lazy Manager - Bruce Bell

      Copyright © 2008 by Bruce Bell

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      ISBN: 978-0-595-51581-3 (pbk)

      ISBN: 978-0-595-61952-8 (ebk)

      iUniverse Rev. Date 12/2/2008

      Contents

      Preface

      1

      Getting to Know You

      2

      Creating a Better Atmosphere

      3

      Open Communication

      4

      They Can’t Work for You until

      You Work for Them

      5

      Attitude Is Everything!

      6

      Who Knows More? Empower Your Team

      7

      Successors—You Need Them

      8

      Develop and Delegate

      9

      Planning

      10

      Holding Team Members Accountable

      11

      Breaking Policies

      12

      Have Some Fun

      All the characters and examples throughout the book have been fictionalized. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

      Preface

      Are you feeling the stress of being a manager? Are you having trouble meeting your company’s goals? Are you spending fifty to sixty hours a week at work? Managing people effectively can be a difficult job, but it doesn’t have to be. I have spent fifteen years coaching and developing management teams, taking on problem stores and turning them into top performers. During this time, I have often witnessed managers that are so focused on the end results they forget to first build the foundation that is necessary for their team to be successful. When there is no foundation, the same problems keep reoccurring—morale issues, turnover, and employees not meeting standards. These issues take your time away from focusing on the big picture and achieving the end results.

      I have always been a results-driven person; at the same time, many of my friends and colleagues have commented how lazy I am. Being both results-driven and somewhat lazy, I always look for the best and easiest method to reach my goals. This is why I wrote The Lazy Manager. It is a book to help you work smarter and not harder and will help you improve the communication and morale within your team. This book was written in a narrative format to show you examples of how one leader can have an incredibly positive impact on an entire team. With the convenient chapter summaries, it will be a great reference tool to keep in your office.

      The business world continues to get more competitive and this is putting more pressure on managers to perform at a high level. This book will help you to take control of your time so that you can focus on the important areas of your business instead of getting caught up in recurring day-to-day problems.

      Managing people is an awesome responsibility. Every day, you have the opportunity to influence your team in a positive way. As a manager, it is possible to have less stress, achieve better results, and work fewer hours. The Lazy Manager will show you how.

      1 

      Getting to Know You

      Five years ago, I started working for a fast-growing retail company that offered a lot of opportunity. At the time, the company had fewer than a hundred stores and was planning for the growth of four hundred plus more stores over the next twenty years. It was a unique environment because it had a production facility almost like a factory as part of each retail outlet. Each store also had eight to ten supervisors who oversaw the hourly employees in their respective departments. This required the managers of each location to have a wide range of skills as they oversaw all the production and retail aspects of the store as well as the management team. With the planned growth of the company and the diversity of the management positions, I thought this was a great opportunity for me to start my career.

      For the first two years, I really enjoyed my job. I started at an entry-level position as an assistant retail supervisor and quickly found out I had a lot to learn about the business and supervising people. I was lucky to have started with a manager like Linda who cared about my training as well as my future growth with the company. Linda made time for me each week while I was learning, and as I gained more experience, she continued to give me more responsibilities. From the moment I started, Linda made me aware of all the growth opportunities within the company. I remember Linda telling me, Sean, if you bring a positive attitude to work each day, and a willingness to learn, we can teach you the business and help you to be successful. Linda was true to her word. She gave me regular feedback and suggestions to help me improve in my current position. I worked hard to learn as much as I could, and with Linda’s guidance, it took only ten months to get promoted to retail supervisor where I had three assistant supervisors working under me and twenty sales clerks.

      My second year still involved a lot of learning. It was one thing to oversee the hourly employees and give them direction, but now I was the leader of the entire department and responsible for its success or failure. Again Linda was there to reassure me and give me guidance. After just three months, I was off and running the department on my own. Occasionally, I received direction from Linda, but I usually made the decisions for the department myself and I felt a real sense of ownership. The decisions I made and how I interacted with my assistant supervisors and staff had a real impact on the store.

      I really enjoyed those first two years with the company, but then things changed. There was a posting for an assistant manager position at a store location closer to my home, so I applied for it and got it. This was a promotion for me and now I was only one step away from my goal of becoming a manager and being

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1