First Among Equals - by Patrick J McKenna & David H Maister (Paperback)

About the Book

In this guide to managing in professional environments, two renowned consultants show professional group managers lacking formal authority how to lead colleagues to peak performance. 15 tables.

Book Synopsis

Professional service gurus David Maister and Patrick McKenna have created a practical handbook on how to lead professional colleagues or peers when you lack formal authority. Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge calls it "a timely, easy to read work leavened with action plans and examples."

Whether you have recently been appointed as a group leader or are a battle-scarred veteran, you know that managing professional people is difficult! In this unique handbook, Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister argue that leaders will best enable their people to achieve peak performance not by managing them, not by leading them, but by inspiring them.

The authors show you how to actually add value as a group leader or induce people to accept your guidance, even with intelligent professionals who are often free-agents accustomed to having automony to work on grueling assignments with little supervision. They also give advice on how to handle those oh-so-talented but oh-so-annoying professionals who exhibit attitude problems or are just exceedingly difficult to work with, when you need them but they tend to needle you.

The lessons and learning presented here will give you insights and action tips to help you provoke and inspire your people to their full potential.

Review Quotes

"First Among Equals is a treasure chest of extraordinary value. Open it up and between its covers you'll find an unparalleled source of wisdom from two highly seasoned and extraordinarily credible professionals. McKenna and Maister turn the often elusive and obscure concept of leadership into something tangible and accessible. With rich detail and straight talk, they offer practical lessons, usable tools, and case examples from the real world. This is advice and counsel you can trust, and every manager of professionals (no, every manager in any setting) should take it to heart."
-- Jim Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge and Encouraging the Heart

"This book makes a unique and very useful contribution to the field of leadership and management of professionals. It captures both fundamental principles that are characteristic of the better firms as well as offering dozens of practical specifics."
-- Jon R. Katzenbach, coauthor of The Wisdom of Teams and The Discipline of Teams, and author of Peak Perfomance

"This is a timely, easy-to-read work leavened with action plans and examples."
-- Harvard Business School Working Knowledge for Business Leaders

About the Author

Patrick J. McKenna is a widely recognized expert on managing professional service firms and a partner in Edge International in Edmonton, Canada, a consulting firm serving professional service firms throughout the world. Mr. McKenna is the coauthor of two Canadian Top 10 management bestsellers, Beyond Knowing and Herding Cats.

David H. Maister, one of the world's leading authorities on the management of professional service firms, is the author of several successful books, including Managing the Professional Service Firm, True Professionalism, and Practice What You Preach, and coauthor of The Trusted Advisor.