Book Review: The Effective Executive

This week's book review is a classic: management guru Peter Drucker's The Effective Executive.

Don't be put off by the title - as Drucker makes very clear early in the work, his definition of "executive" includes almost anyone with management responsibilities in a knowledge work environment. This work is a distillation of some of the most important messages Drucker has to offer managers. For anyone unfamiliar with Peter Drucker's work, The Effective Executive is an excellent introduction.

The book succinctly summarizes the greatest challenges managers face - often things we are vaguely aware of, but haven't put a name to. Just knowing and being aware of these obstacles to effectiveness is valuable as they can quickly become a whirlpool of activity without any purpose.

Drucker provides a great selection of practical guidance on where effective managers put their energy and time, how they interact with people at every level of the organization, and how they perform their critical responsibilities. In fact, there are so many valuable bits of advice that it is impossible to incorporate all of them after one reading. This is a book that growing leaders and managers can return to at least once a year (if not more often). This is the book equivalent of spending the weekend with a wise and experienced grandparent.

For the price of a paperback, I highly recommend The Effective Executive to any knowledge worker, manager, or leader wanting to acquire practical wisdom on becoming more effective. This one will become a reference you return to time and again.

Happy Reading!

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.