Managing People Is Like Herding Cats

Cats of course, won't be herded. And the most successful organizations in the 21st Century won't be managed -- they'll be led. The answer to America's current leadership crisis is leaders (not managers) who recognize that "the only capital that really counts is human capital" And whether readers are looking for a leader or looking to be a better one, Warren knows what it takes. In answer to the leadership crisis, Bennis offers insight into developing leaders and their competencies, by explaining ten traits of dynamic leaders, and how these leaders constantly reinvent themselves. The 21st century will require leaders who can inspire and orchestrate change rather than impose it or simply react to it. The section on "Leading Change" will, in itself, make this a must-have book.

This self-help guide is for programmers who need to improve their management and leadership skills.

This collection spells out the dilemmas facing our leaderless society, details the qualities that successful leaders must have, and explores the challenges that today's leaders must face as they move toward change. The frustrated managers who try command and order and try to herd cats will fail. Cats won't allow themselves to be herded. They may, however, be coaxed, cajoled, persuaded, adored, and gently led.

Herding Professional Cats offers advice and insights to leaders in the professions who find themselves facing the classic ‘cats’ dilemma – how to manage intelligent, opinionated, independent and frequently difficult people without losing the competitive edge a professionalised workforce can bring.

It is well known that in their professional lives most academics and researchers will - like cats - seek to exercise as much independence as possible.In Herding Cats, Geoff Garrett and Graeme Davies combine their top-level experience of leading/managing international academic and research institutions with wisdom gleaned from 50 senior colleagues around the world. They deal with common leadership and management themes, like making tough strategic choices, leading change effectively, dealing with bureaucracy, allocating resources, managing budgets and ensuring effective implementation.Garrett, Davies and their friends paint a picture of the culture of a typical 'cats' environment - replete with remarkable intellects, passion, arguments, politics and prejudice, and where trying to push people to a destination is usually doomed to failure. Herding Cats guides leaders and aspiring leaders in academic and research institutions through the process of learning to accept and embrace the qualities of their 'cats' so they can tempt them to an outcome with agility and success.

A practical handbook for every manager charged with leading teams to creative brilliance, from the author of The Accidental Creative and Die Empty. Doing the work and leading the work are very different things. When you make the transition from maker to manager, you give ownership of projects to your team even though you could do them yourself better and faster. You're juggling expectations from your manager, who wants consistent, predictable output from an inherently unpredictable creative process. And you're managing the pushback from your team of brilliant, headstrong, and possibly overqualified creatives. Leading talented, creative people requires a different skill set than the one many management books offer. As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry knows firsthand what prevents creative leaders from guiding their teams to success, and in Herding Tigers he provides a bold new blueprint to help you be the leader your team needs. Learn to lead by influence instead of control. Discover how to create a stable culture that empowers your team to take bold creative risks. And learn how to fight to protect the time, energy, and resources they need to do their best work. Full of stories and practical advice, Herding Tigers will give you the confidence and the skills to foster an environment where clients, management, and employees have a product they can be proud of and a process that works.

There is a phrase associated with managing technical teams - that it can be like herding cats. With more than 20 years experience in management across different industries, Ger Mulcahy has created a reference to try and reduce the pain associated with the management of individuals, teams and groups. Divided into sections titled Know, Manage, Be and Become, the book provides advice to managers at all stages on how to get the best out of themselves and their teams.