Hi Charley
Good to hear from you.
Yes, I am very, very busy, though I had expected things to slow down. Use of
the word 'hope' in 'I hope you're as busy as I am. :-)' is not really the
best way to put it for an old man who is supposed to be retired. Still, this
little poem tells it as I see it:
Retirement?
The deadline demons still assail,
And keep me on a leash that's short
Escape keys tempt to no avail,
I'm not yet ready to abort.
So life is full, and I am blessed,
Though struggling with my tasks,
And this brief verse of thankfulness
Its depth of meaning masks.
Adapted from Henry R. Hecht
It turns out that promoting my book is more work than writing it, because the
publisher is doing a lousy job.
I hope you'll get control of the alligators soon, so you can drain the swamp -
if that is what you want.
With respect to papers from the conference being published, unfortunately I
cannot guarantee it, though the chances are good. This conference will be
published by a different journal than the first one, where all papers are
being published, and I have not yet had contact with the editor. Will do my
best to get them all published.
Finally, as long as I have you on the line, so to speak, I hope you don't mind
if I plug the book a little - but then you don't have to read what follows -
except if you know someone who would be interested in the 'Free-with-purchase'
offer at the end, please pass it on.
Thanks
Look forward to hearing from you. It would be nice if you decided to join the
internet converence.
Regards,
Erwin
High Quality Leadership: Practical Guidelines
To Becoming a More Effective Manager
by Erwin Rausch and John B. Washbush
This reader-friendly book brings practical, useful ideas to managers who would
like to be more effective leaders, to leaders who want to be more effective
managers, and to educators and management development professionals with
similar goals for their learners. It:
- Emphasizes the importance of the distinction between functional and
management/ leadership aspects of decisions. Functional decision
considerations are defined as those which are based on, and may be unique to,
the type of work (accounting, engineering, marketing, etc.) and the type of
organization (manufacturing, trade, health care, government, etc.).
Management/leadership decision considerations are defined as those that are
common to (transferable between) all management positions regardless of the
type of work or the type of organization. For many reasons the latter are
often given less weight in decisions and plans. Still, BOTH considerations
must be applied in every decision for fully successful outcomes.
- Provides three simple questions (the basic integrated, non-prescriptive
guidelines) based on this distinction, for Control (neither top-down nor
bottom-up, but appropriate for the situation), organizational and individual
Competence, and satisfying Climate, with great depth of meaning, which
managers/leaders should ask before implementing any decision. They can be
applied immediately, as explained in the first chapter. They are expanded in
later chapters to encompass more and more meaning. The questions can:
- enhance the quality of management/leadership decisions
- lead to higher managerial competence
- provide foundation for development of guidelines to fit the individual's
style.
- Provides a more detailed, and a comprehensive, sets of guidelines after the
basic ones. All guidelines, the basic, the more detailed, and the
comprehensive, apply to all managers, in all functions, in all public and
private organizations, at all management levels. They also apply to managers
who work without a staff because their decisions, too, impact on stakeholders.
Finally, they apply to avocations, and to many aspects of family decisions.
- Explains the widely used, comprehensive model on which the guidelines are
based.
Each chapter is built around real-life, realistic cases with which every
reader can identify, making the book very reader-friendly, despite the broad
scope and seriousness of its content. The cases are supported by practical,
down-to-earth analyses and conclusions. 'Additional Insights' offer thoughts
on all skills needed for effective leadership and management.
- - - - -
ISBN: 0-87389-395-6; Hardcover, 292 pages; price: $29.00
Publisher: ASQ Quality Press; also distributed by
Didactic Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 457, Cranford, NJ 07016;
Tel:908-789-2194; Fax:908-789-00338; e-mail:
didacticra@aol.com The guidelines
suggested in this paper and used in the research are built on a very sound,
comprehensive and integrated, conceptual model, the 3Cs model (Control,
Competence and Climate). It is not the only model that can serve as
foundation for a progressive set of guidelines for leadership/management
decisions. It appears to be the most comprehensive and coordinated one that
is currently available.
At this simplest level, the questions have proven their value in more than
one hundred management development seminars and consulting assignments.
Managers were asked to think of decisions they had made recently or that they
were about to implement. They were then asked to review those decisions in
light of the three questions. Almost without exception, they made some
change, or wished they had made a change in their approach to the opportunity
or challenge.
****
There are some negative connotations associated with the word 'Control' in
certain environments which deserve clarification here. They usually concern
the use of the word to mean tight control by higher levels in an
organizations, including what sometimes is referred to as 'snoopervision', or
bottom-up control where managers are believed to relinquish their
responsibilities. The meaning of the word 'Control', as used here, is
appropriate control, with high degree of participation, and with most decision
authority at the lowest level where adequate information and competence is
available.
There is also a need to clarify the use of the word 'Climate', in relation to
the word 'culture'. 'Climate' is used here as defined - the extent to which
the organization's management considers the satisfaction of stakeholders in
its decisions. The word 'culture' is used in a broader sense, not specific to
any one decision, and it represents all aspects of an organization's
environment - the way the organization resolves the requirement to balance its
characteristics and needs with those of the stakeholders.
FREE-WITH-PURCHASE OFFER
Send to Didactic Systems, P.O. Box 457, Cranford, NJ 07016; Tel: 908-789-2194;
Fax: 908-789-0038; e-mail:
didacticra@aol.com.
- a purchase order, or
- proof of payment to the publisher or a bookseller,
for High Quality Leadership: Practical Guidelines to Becoming a More Effective
Manager
Receive FREE: a Facilitator's Guide, hard copy for 11 transparencies,
participant handouts, and an 800 number Help line. This offer expires on
9/30/98.