On the Zubra.ru website we continue to publish reviews by community members of books published by business literature publishing houses. This time we bring to your attention Anna Ivanova’s review of the book by Isaac Adizes “ Ideal leader”, published in 2009 by Alpina Publishers.
The subtitle of the book, “Why you can’t become one and what follows from this,” immediately intrigues the reader. And it’s true! We buy business books, go for business trainings, we study at business schools to get answers to the questions “how to become an ideal leader”, “where to get ideal employees", "how to create an ideal business." But isn't anyone wasn't disappointed at least once in the responses received? The pursuit of perfection is wonderful, but perfection, alas, is unattainable in any area human activity.
Isaac Adizes is one of the world's leading consultants, working with major companies. He is the author of many books on management. How does this book differ from dozens of other books written by Adizes based on his scientific and consulting experience, as well as from popular management books by other authors?
Let's try to figure this out.
The main idea of the book is expressed in the already mentioned subtitle - ideal leaders do not exist.
This banal statement, which, nevertheless, many are trying to challenge, Adizes reinforces with an interesting methodology with the help of which the problem of non-ideality can be solved effectively.
in the long term Management theme teams have long been popular among authors of management theories. You can recall the work of Belbin, who wrote a lot about the need to distribute roles within a team. But Adizes proposed a new role model for the team, linking it with his theory life cycles organizations.
So, according to Adizes, the four functions of management are something like “vitamins”. Their balanced the combination allows the organization to be healthy, but if any of them is missing, then diseases arise - bad management, which in turn leads to a reduction in market share, a decrease in profits, staff turnover, etc.
If one, two or three functions are performed successfully, and the rest barely reach the required level, then a certain management style is manifested. When a manager successfully performs function I (integration), then a leadership style arises (which one is specific is discussed in the book).
If only one function is performed more or less satisfactorily, and the rest do not even reach the minimum requirements, then a certain style of mismanagement arises, the variety of which depends on which specific functions are not being implemented.
Adizes is a management practitioner, his theory of management functions is based not on psychology, which distinguishes it from many recently published books on leadership styles and behavioral models, but on his experience in solving practical problems in numerous companies for which he worked as a consultant.
The book has 14 chapters. It takes a very long time, and it is not necessary, to tell the contents of each chapter. But what is valuable is that each chapter begins with the formulation of the problem and the formulation of the question that it should answer. From each answer obtained in the chapter, it follows new question or problem, which are discussed in the next chapter. So, for example, chapter 7 "Constructive conflict" poses the problem: How to curb conflict and direct it into a constructive channel Adizes believes that conflict is inevitable and, moreover, is a sign of effective management. But conflict is not always desirable, it can be constructive and destructive functional and dysfunctional. After learning how a complementary team can implement its (PAEI) functions to ensure that conflict is constructive and Adizes summarizes that the leader of a team (company, country, family, etc.) must create an atmosphere of trust and respect. To do this, it needs four factors: the right people, the right process, the right structure and shared visions and values. Thus, Chapter 8 is about “Proper Structuring of Responsibilities”, Chapter 9 is about “Style Fit to the Task”, Chapter 10 is about “ Correct process: dialogue" (how to deal with team members whose style is different from yours), Chapter 11 is devoted to meetings in which
different styles
, and chapter 12 is called “Right People and Community of Vision and Values.”
If the problem you have encountered in your practice is not reflected in one chapter, then the next one is probably devoted to it. This structure of the book guarantees not only the practicality of the proposed recommendations, but also that no significant issue will be left unattended, and all areas of the functioning of the complementary team will be comprehensively considered. I cannot help but note that the book is written in easy, accessible language, non-rolling at the same time for cheap popularization. Quite complex (and new!) formulas and explanations are presented so convincingly that they can be used immediately after reading. Since Adizes' ideas are applicable to management as such, they can be useful not only in managing companies, but also in managing any groups or relationships that are subject to change -
from intergovernmental
organizations to the “cell of society”. The Adizes approach is value-free and therefore applicable to all cultures, industries and companies. The scale of the organization also does not matter. The tools offered in the book are universal. It's hard to say who this book
may NOT be useful. Business school students, experienced managers, and consultants can learn a lot from this book, both individual valuable ideas and holistic tools. In addition to being a management manual, the book “The Ideal Leader” can also become a self-improvement guide for any manager. Instead of straining yourself, developing those "Ideal Leader":
Book format: PDF
Description of the book
According to Dr. Adizes, the management of any organization must perform four functions: producing results, administration, entrepreneurship and integration. In order to implement them simultaneously, a leader must have numerous, sometimes mutually exclusive, qualities. Adizes concludes: management is too complex a process for one person to cope with. The ideal manager simply does not exist in nature.
How to be? For a company to be effective in the short and long term, it must be led by a management team consisting of people with complementary management styles. On what basis do you select employees for such a team? How can they properly build communication so that even inevitable conflicts can be used to make quality decisions? Management guru Itzhak Kalderon Adizes answers these and many other questions.
The book is addressed to managers, employees of recruitment agencies and anyone interested in organizational management issues.
The goal of successful management is to make the organization effective and
effective in the short and long term.
I believe that to ensure an appropriate level of management of the organization
production must perform four functions: (P)producing results - producing
establishing the results for which the organization exists and which
determine its effectiveness, (A)dministering - administration, ensuring
baking productivity, (E)ntrepreneuring - entrepreneurship,
with the help of which change management takes place, and (I)integrating -
integration, that is, combining elements of an organization to ensure
its viability in the long term.
These four functions are something like “vitamins.” All
they are necessary for the health of the organization, and this amount is sufficient
in order to manage it successfully. If at least one of them is missing,
melts, the company is threatened by disease - poor management. Its symptoms are
decline in market share, decline in profits, slow response to changes
changes in market conditions, staff turnover, etc.
If one, two or three functions complete successfully and the rest
barely reach an acceptable level, there is a manifestation of a certain
lenient management style. When, among others, the manager has successfully completed
takes function I (“integration”), a leadership style emerges. (Next it will be
it's clear why this happens.)
If one function is performed satisfactorily and the other three
do not meet even the minimum requirements necessary to fulfill
task, there is a certain style of mismanagement,
the variety of which depends on which functions remain
unrealized.
I became convinced that people who could perform all four functions
tions at the same time does not exist in nature. To a normal person By
strength to cope with one or two. Rarely do we meet those who are capable
perform three functions. A manager can successfully handle every
of the four functions separately when solving specific problems, but
no one can do all four at the same time in every situation.
The main idea of this book is that the ideal leader, manager
leader or leader - that is, capable of accomplishing everything alone
functions necessary for the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization
tions in the short and long term - there simply is not and will not be
Maybe. Talking about what a leader should do (based on
needs of the organization), modern literature in management not
takes into account that those who are able to implement these recommendations are not
exists in nature. All the books and textbooks that try to make
us impeccable managers, leaders or executives, proceed from the mistake
barrel idea of the achievability of the ideal. This book explains why
they are mistaken. We all go down the wrong path and waste
millions of dollars for education and training of managers based on
untenable ideas.
Classics of management theory, including Harold Kunz, William H. New
man and even Peter Drucker, as well as today's management gurus
cops Stephen Covey and Tom Peters describe managers as if everyone
they use uniform style guide that you can easily
train everyone. This overlooks the fact that different people
have different approaches to organization, planning and control. Successful
management is seen as a model, a template. All works are dedicated
what should happen. However, in reality there are many ways
a variety of management styles - both successful and incorrect.
Number of combinations of strong and weaknesses leader endlessly.
If you do not take wishful thinking, you will inevitably find
that each person has a unique set of strengths and
shortcomings. In this book I propose an alternative approach to management
mentu. It is distinguished by realism and determines what they can give to each other
people and what they are capable of despite their inherent limitations.
I would like to point out one more feature of this book. IN last years appears
There are more and more theories regarding leadership styles. Written on this topic
behavioral models, considering them in psychological aspect. I don't
psychologist. I am a management specialist. I'm interested in how different people
make decisions, exchange information, select personnel and
create incentives for his activities, and I am looking for ways that can help
they can do their jobs more effectively for the benefit of the organization. My
the book does not rely on psychological theories, interviews or controlled
experiments. The presented material is the result of my more than 30-year
work in the field of consulting. During this time I visited 48 countries and had
dealing with a variety of companies - from tiny ones, where they worked just
one and a half dozen people, up to very impressive, with the number of per-
recruited up to 100 thousand employees.
I would like to talk about the book “The Ideal Leader”, written by Adizes Isaac. It will be of interest to representatives of HR organizations and people interested in company management. The author emphasizes that management is a versatile process, and it cannot be carried out by one person, since perfect people does not exist. I learned that in order to run an effective business, you need to use team leadership. Managers must fully complement each other.
At the very beginning of his book, Adizes suggests thinking about the fact that a person’s very desire for perfection is wonderful, but achieving it in full is impossible, and this applies to any field of activity. There are many differences in the work presented by the author when compared with books where similar topics are raised.
In all fourteen chapters of the book “The Ideal Leader,” the problem is clearly outlined and methods for solving it are defined, and as the answer is received, the next question is formulated. I did not find a solution to a certain problem in one of the chapters, but the next one is dedicated to it; this structure of the book guarantees the practicality of the advice offered. All types of activities of an effective team are discussed in detail, leaving no issue unanswered.
In his book “The Ideal Leader,” Adizes Isaac refused to make any judgments about values, therefore, what is said in his work has practical use in various fields of activity, it helps any manager to improve himself, and is also very necessary for the leadership of all kinds of business schools.
Adizes Yitzchak presents it intelligibly, with his characteristic systematic approach to revealing the topic; the narration is conducted in such a way that everything becomes clear to me.
According to the author, the head of an enterprise must know so much and understand so many things that directly relate to running a business that one should get the impression that he is an ideal person. He must look into the future and envision concepts for the development of the enterprise based on general directions that exist in management. You need to take a leading position, clearly respond to all kinds of changes, take part in resolving conflicts, and start forming your own effective team.
The book “The Ideal Leader” argues that you should not idealize leadership too much, think that you can run a business alone, and also take into account the future.
