Managing is a perilous business: how to 'let go' yet stay in touch, how to balance short-term tactics with longer-term strategy, how to motivate people to do more with less, how to 'walk the talk' when you don't feel like it, how simultaneously to be an inspirational leader and an effective manager - the dilemmas are endless. Peter Honey has spent more than 35 years advising managers, from a wide cross-section of functions and organisations, and draws on his experiences in this entertaining, insightful book. The whole of management life is revealed in 50 short stories, some sad, some funny - all based on real managers and real events. You'll find control-freaks, autocrats, egotists, bullies, perfectionists, ditherers and eccentrics as well as a few managers simply striving to do their best in difficult circumstances. Peter Honey bravely offers each flawed manager practical advice in a bid to improve their performance and make life more tolerable for their colleagues. The result is a realistic, engaging and ultimately effective book from which any manager, at whatever level, can learn a great deal.

Contents: Part 1: Stories about directors and senior managers 1. A manager who wanted solutions, not problems 2. A manager who preferred defernece to consultation 3. A manager who was convinced thta his interventions made a difference 4. A manager who enjoyed victimising graduates 5. A manager surrounded by sycophants 6. A manager who loved to ask questions 7. A manager who loved to keep things simple 8. A manager who succumbed to a staff attitude survey 9. A manager with a reputation for being calm and unruffled 10. A manager who showed his frustration in an unusual way 11. A manager who was democratic to a fault 12. A manager who was wedded to short-termism 13. A manager who lapsed into long silences 14. A manager who was desperate to keep in touch 15. A manager who couldn't admit he waas still learning 16. A manager who strove to give a student a really interesting week of work experience 17. A manager who was hooked on initiatives 18. A head teacher who hardly ever put a foot wrong 19. A manager with Jekyll and Hyde characteristics 20. A amanger who was a know-all adn went to great lengths to win every argument 21. A manager who lacked social skills 22. A manager who became the victim of unintended consequences 23. A manager who failed to walk his talk 24. A manager who loved to wander around 25. A manager who couldn't resist relying on his predecessor's advice Part 2: Stories about middle and junior managers 26. A manager who insisted words could only be used if preceise definitions had been agreed 27. A manager who sampled 360 degree feedback and promptly went into denial 28. A manager who thought brainstorming was the answer to just about everything 29. A manager who couldn't resist tinkering with written reports 30. A story about two managers vying for promotion 31. A manager who found it convenient to disappear for long periods 32. A manager who preferred resistance by inertia 33. A maanger who was reluctant to go home 34. An insecure manager clinging on for survival 35. A manager with unquenchable enthusiasm 36. A manager who was punished for exposing dishonesty 37. A manager who thought he was accident prone 38. A manager who prided himself on his time management 39. A manager who liked to slip away unnoticed 40. A manager who oozed cliches 41. A maanager who encountered fierce resistance 42. A manager who stuck to his story 43. A manager with a low tolerance for ambiguity 44. A manager who got budget dumping down to fine art 45. A manager who recommended ways to improve staff motivation 46. A manager thought he had overslept 47. A manager who was too big for his boots 48. A manager prone to being caught out 49. A manager who reverted to type 50. A manager whowas prone to tantrums