Woodrow Sears: 13 books

Plan your work and work your plan! Right? No way! "They" change their minds and specs. Why waste time on plans soon to be obsolete? Besides, imprecise plans let us avoid blame. But without plans, there can't be realistic budgets or schedules, no way to refine estimating and bidding for new...

Culture is the stuff that makes behavior predictable. Like fish being the last to discover water, people often attempt to change work processes and routines without first examining the culture that holds existing patterns in place. Failure happens! Anywhere people congregate, cultures exist and resist...

Mostly, management is about people skills, getting support (and even appreciation!) from those whose work you oversee. An intuitive manager "knows" the right things to say and do -- reflex actions that keep work moving and build rapport by creating success for co-workers. You already know...

No manager succeeds without the support of co-workers, but the culture of many work places casts workers as "sub-ordinates" -- people of a lower class. How can employees support management if they are treated as "less than" by managers? Until they are involved as peers and colleagues,...

Why groups, not teams? Because teams are always rooted in authority, usually competitive, and really hard to keep in productive activity all day every day. Likewise, team building is entertaining more than educational, producing questionable ROI. But working on the work people do, helping them to...

This book was begun 20 years ago, and shaped by interviews with two world-class hoteliers. They are among the finest managers I've ever met. In the intervening years, I've found that their ideas about management and what managers do are fundamental, no matter what your job or industry, and absolutely...

Fat books and academic over-writing suggest that only the college-educated can be managers. NOT! What does it really take to lead a group to great performance? Here's the answer, based on observations of 100s of top managers, doing things that mirror the textbooks, but making it look simple -- and...

Every employee has potential to become more effective and productive. Developing that potential is an organizational choice and challenge. It doesn't have to be expensive, but it should be intentional, the result of a managerial philosophy, and can be the key to retaining the best employees. The author's doctorate is in Human Resource Development, and the approach he offers really works!

If you were lucky, mentors showed up to guide you through life's challenging times. You owe your heroes and need to pass their favors along to others. You're invited to meet 15 exceptional people who shaped my life. Most are no longer with us, so this book is part of my pay-back. I hope it will prompt you to remember the heroes in your life, and to keep those gifts alive by sharing them.

America is confronting the legacy of anger and hatred from the recent past. Citizens see illusions of unlimited futures against the reality that the social order needed to support those possibilities is fracturing. Probably things have always been as they are now revealed to be -- most of us just...

Much can be done in the conduct of routine work to get the most from project management. This book explains what and how. The "system" is a way of thinking and working that leads to excellence. A common-sense strategy for operational improvement, it requires a little bit of headwork and...

No matter what work you do, your value will be enhanced if you can manage projects -- a skill set every employer is looking for. Here are the essential steps in managing projects -- mostly things you already know how to do! What's required? The discipline to attend to a lot of details ... easily done...

This book features a retired USAF Master Sergeant, now a U.S. State Department embassy administrator. He oversees everything necessary for the Embassy to conduct diplomatic, political, and economic missions, working with U.S. and locally-engaged staff. His management style produces award-winning results...