The New Supervisor's Handbook

Book excerpt: Congratulations on your promotion! Most of us are promoted however, because we are technically proficient at our core skills, not because we are born leaders. That technical proficiency, plus perhaps a positive attitude and the willingness to accept responsibly, got us noticed, but none of those abilities automatically make you a born supervisor, leader or manager. I'm certainly not a natural born leader. Most of what is covered in this book was learned the hard way - through trial and error. I think I can safely say that I still continue to make new and inventive mistakes, but because I continue to learn from them, I have many lessons to share. I have also been fortunate to have great mentors, attend some excellent training and have learned much from some terrific books. This book is designed as a quick and easy read to provide the best of my practical tips to help you: - Communicate more effectively with your team - Manage meetings in a way that is more productive and takes less time - Motivate staff to want to achieve - Write effective and succinct reports - Understand the mumbo-jumbo language of management systems - Make better decisions faster In a nutshell, this book is designed to reduce your stress, allow you to spend more time with family, improve your sense of job satisfaction and lead you inevitably towards your next promotion. What I have compiled is a book is based on decades of hands-on leadership and management experience. It is quite simply a compendium of... "the things that I wished I had known BEFORE I was first promoted to a leadership role." Leadership is one of the hardest but most rewarding things you will ever do. For me at least, supporting and helping others to grow, is probably the most rewarding thing that I have done in my career. It is my hope that this book will save you at least a little pain on your own leadership journey, but more importantly, that it will help you to achieve your goals and to develop as a leader. Best of luck to you with your journey of self-discovery.