Manager Tools (MT) is a weekly podcast that provides free training on how to be a more effective manager and leader. The hosts have an extensive background in coaching managers and executives.

Management is a skill and it can be learned. Typically it is not taught well, if at all; MT teaches it effectively.

If you’re thinking, “but I’m not a manager, I won’t benefit”, then you’d be wrong. Even if you don’t manage other people, you manage your own time and interact into a larger organization. The skills taught by MT are beneficial to anyone who works for a corporation.

These guys have been podcasting since 2005. There is some benefit to going right back to the start, but if you want to catch up there is a subset of casts that are considered “core”.

I’ve found this podcast to be the best source of on-going knowledge about management, leadership, and communication. Each cast is designed to teach specific actions you can take today.

MT was originally recommended to me be a friend at CSIRO. Since then I’ve listened to most of the episodes. It is that good.

From the delightful Jessica Hagy:

Where would you rather be?

Mobilizing Minds takes the ideas from a range of sources, including the Origins of Wealth and the authors own experiences, to create a blueprint for the 21^st century organization.

It adds to the extensive literature on the War for Talent, but with a twist. Rather than compete on talent acquisition, compete using talent utilization; getting the most out of the people you already have.

The journey covers all aspects of the firm, including organization, strategy, resource allocation and basic mindsets.

Through the POI (Portfolio of Initiatives) process, then, the company can grow entrepreneurs. And these will be the individuals who can create new wealth in the 21^st century.

No one company currently embodies all of the ideas in this book (the authors create a fictitious company to discuss), however the ideas are turning up in many of the successful companies of recent times.

For example: Google allocates staff using a talent marketplace, GE and Microsoft manage strong portfolios of initiatives (POI) and several companies are starting to manage using leadership teams (see The Will to Lead for more on this).

If you are looking for a good summary of managing a firm in the 21^st century firm, this is a great book. It is a good blend of theory and practical application that I’ve not found in other books.

People at my company are going to be hearing many of these ideas over the coming months as I believe it possible to realize some of the benefits. Not that it will be easy. Some of the basic metrics for measuring progress, such as profit per employee, can be quite complex to calculate.

From The Secrets of Consulting:

The Second Law of Consulting: No matter how it looks at first, it’s always a people problem.

This was a book I read a few years ago, and this quote has stuck with me as it continues to resonate. Even technology decisions are really people problems.

From McKinsey:

There’s a market for talent, and as long as you’re willing to pay what that marketplace demands, you can attract talented people. The real challenge is making profits off those talented people. That’s where the big opportunity is. The leading companies today are combining talent and technology and organizational design to generate much higher profits per employee than was possible in the past. So the trick becomes, “How do I hire talent that I can profit from?”

…

In any field of human endeavor you ultimately reach a point where you can’t solve the new problems using the old principles. I think we’ve reached that point in the evolution of management. When you go back to the principles upon which our modern companies are built—standardization, specialization, hierarchy, and so on—you realize that those are not bad principles but are inadequate for the challenges that lie ahead.

Great interview with the authors of two recent management books.