NEW BOOK
“Managing to Stay Out of Court,” by Jathan Janove, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $22.95
What you’ll learn: Most managers take a “let HR sort things out approach” when “it” hits the fan. By then, it’s too late, because HR can do only some damage control, at best.
Janove has a frontline, manager-level approach intended to prevent problems from cropping up. His “eight sins and virtues” not only help managers avoid legal complications but also improve overall manager-staff communication and offer managers a lesson in leadership. The sins (don’t’s) and virtues (the do’s) are illustrated through real work-life stories, which drive home Janove’s points.
–Jim Pawlak, BizBooks
NEW BOOK
“Coaching and Mentoring–How to Develop Top Talent and Achieve Stronger Performance,” by Richard Luecke, Harvard Business School Press, $19.95
What you’ll learn: The major lesson of this book, in the Harvard Business Essentials line, is that coaching and mentoring are vastly different.
That is apparent in a number of areas. For example, in setting goals, coaching focuses on weakness and should be used when there are performance and skill-set problems. Mentoring builds on strength. It guides and prepares employees for greater challenges.
In initiating change, coaches direct the process by creating a plan and keeping a report card. Mentors develop leaders, not plans, suggesting what is to be done and why. They help set goals that the employee is responsible for reaching.
–Jim Pawlak, BizBooks
