The Managers Dilemma

Why do so many change efforts in our organizations fail? One of a handful of reasons ... unprepared managers. Managers often feel their leaders cook up changes, unleash these changes, then expect managers to do the heavy lifting. That heavy lifting includes both coming to terms with changes personally, then getting their teams on board as well. This is the “Manager’s Dilemma”. Are managers helpless in this kind of situation? Are they set up to fail and disappoint? The answer is no. Even when senior leaders struggle to do their jobs as sponsors of change, there are plenty of things a manager can do to advance the change agenda and perhaps save the day. Steve King unpacks three key roles managers need to play in moments of change: change communicator, change coach, and change advocate .... and provides some simple tools and tactics for getting this job done.

This groundbreaking book provides a framework and set of key concepts enabling leaders to exert their influence over the difficult choices and competing priorities they confront. Compelling stories and vivid case studies help to deliver a serious game plan to any leader who is grappling with burnout caused by the manager's dilemma.

Managerial Dilemmas extends the use of analytical techniques from organisational economics to the spheres of organisational culture and leadership in politics and business.

In the midst of the most severe recession for 80 years there is little need to argue that organizations are beset by dilemmas and paradoxes. Confidence in prevailing business models and in the underlying assumptions underpinning business decisions over many decades has now been shaken. But it is not enough to rail against arrogance and greed. Within their own (flawed) assumptions bankers and corporate leaders were acting rationally. A major reason for the failure to anticipate and warn is that observers of organizations usually tend to view organizations in terms similar to those employed by the people who run them: as rational, sensible and objective, whereas, in fact, they are usually confused and confusing, paradoxical and contradictory entities. Paradox is at the heart of how organizations work (or don’t work) yet the phenomenon has been strangely unstudied. In an age of crisis and uncertainty, dilemmas and paradoxes are especially evident and prevalent. The fascination and the promise of paradox is that there is also a sense that there is a hidden truth entwined within the opposites. This we contend is a challenge for leaders. The ultimate responsibility of leadership is to make sense of these and to handle them in a competent manner. This demands a new mode of leadership. The management of dilemma and paradox it is contended, the essence of leadership today. Paradoxical forces provide a dynamism which, although often experienced as potentially threatening, discomforting and negative can also be exciting, promising and positive. "The assumption that organizations are rational entities is challenged every day in the work environment by a rich reality of asymmetries between conflicting forces, complexity, hidden intentions and paradoxes. Anyone wanting to understand the real forces that govern organizations should read this book. A must read for modern leaders who have the intellectual honesty to lead organisations with open eyes and not with the over simplifications and clichés of the past"--Giovanni Ghisetti, Director Business Transformation, Coca Cola Enterprises Europe "Storey and Salaman’s description of the paradoxes which characterise leadership today is hauntingly accurate. Their intelligent optimism that those dilemmas can be met is as encouraging as it is challenging for those of us who have to do just that. Having read the insights in this book I now understand how their business advice was always so pertinent".--Andy Street, Managing Director of John Lewis

This groundbreaking book provides a framework and set of key concepts enabling leaders to exert their influence over the difficult choices and competing priorities they confront. Compelling stories and vivid case studies help to deliver a serious game plan to any leader who is grappling with burnout caused by the manager's dilemma.

This groundbreaking book provides a framework and set of key concepts enabling leaders to exert their influence over the difficult choices and competing priorities they confront. Compelling stories and vivid case studies help to deliver a serious game plan to any leader who is grappling with burnout caused by the manager's dilemma.

The rhetoric of 'needs' has been used to legitimate all major turns in UK health policy since 1936. This study identifies the ethical, policy and technical issues arising from the concept of needs. In the first part a theory of needs is developed, which takes into account both the philosophical traditions and the practical problems arising in daily health care. In a second part, health systems throughout the world are described and compared, addressing ethical as well as economical questions. Its interdisciplinary approach will make The Need for Healthcare important reading not only for those interested in or employed in the health care sector but also for students of philosophy.

Risky Business tells in plain language the specific behaviors that indicate an employee has the potential to become violent, and it tells managers what to do--and what not to do--to prevent workplace violence. Author Lynne Falkin McClure describes in clear detail the eight major categories of behavioral clues to violence and includes anecdotes from work settings to help managers and others identify potentially violent employees. Most importantly, she emphasizes the precautions and steps managers must take when they see these “clues” in an employee’s behavior and how to create and maintain a work environment that is likely to protect everyone. Including the hiring--appraisal--training process, Risky Business focuses on system-wide, ongoing prevention steps organizations can take to protect everyone in the workplace. The book points out for readers informal organizational ‘policies’that unwittingly encourage potentially dangerous behaviors in employees and then offers alternative ‘policies’that create and maintain a safer environment. Managers, members of personnel, and public relations representatives learn how to deal effectively with the fears of workers and customers should a violent event occur that affects the company’s morale and image. However, readers are certain to gain the skills and foresight necessary to avert disaster before it strikes. Lynne Falkin McClure, PhD, is a management consultant, workshop designer/facilitator, and public speaker in Tempe, Arizona. President of McClure Associates Management Consultants, Inc., since 1980, she specializes in work relationships and conducts inhouse workshops for corporations and government agencies. Through The McClure Institute in Tempe, she offers intensive 5--day courses for executives, directors, and managers, as well as for EAP specialists and mental health professionals, on how to identify and prevent potential workplace violence. Dr. McClure has been a guest on several national shows, including appearances on “Maury Povich,” “Between the Lines” (Associated Press Broadcast News), “Good Day Atlanta,” “Market Talk” (KWHY-TV, America’s first all-financial station), and “Wireless Flash” (San Diego).