The Connector Manager

Why Some Leaders Build Exceptional Talent - and Others Don't

By: Jaime Roca, Sari Wilde

Narrated by: René Ruiz, Melinda Wade

There are four distinct types of managers. One performs much worse than the rest, and one performs far better. Which type are you?

Based on a first-of-its-kind, wide-ranging global study of over 9,000 people, analysts at the global research and advisory firm Gartner were able to classify all managers into one of four types:

• Teacher managers, who develop employees' skills based on their own expertise and direct their development along a similar track to their own.
• Cheerleader managers, who give positive feedback while taking a general hands-off approach to employee development.
• Always-on managers, who provide constant, frequent feedback and coaching on all aspects of the employee's performance.
• Connector managers, who provide feedback in their area of expertise while connecting employees to others in the team or organization who are better suited to address specific needs.

Although the four types of managers are more or less evenly distributed, the connector manager consistently outperforms the others by a significant margin. Meanwhile, always-on managers tend to see their employees struggle to grow within the organization. Why is that?

Drawing on their groundbreaking data-driven research, as well as in-depth case studies and extensive interviews with managers and employees at companies like IBM, Accenture, and eBay, the authors show what behaviors define a connector manager, and why they are able to build powerhouse teams. They also show why other types of managers fail to be equally effective, and how they can incorporate behaviors of connector managers in order to be more effective at building teams.

©2019 Jaime Roca and Sari Wilde (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A compelling case for why old-school, top-down management simply doesn’t work anymore - any aspiring or seasoned leader can learn something from this book."(Laszlo Bock, co-founder and CEO of Humu, former SVP of People Operations at Google, author of Work Rules!)

"Here’s the bad news, managers: You can’t do it all. But here’s the good news: Jaime Roca and Sari Wilde say you don’t have to. This book shows how to get the most of your people by connecting them - to each other and to new opportunities. If you’re looking to do less and accomplish more, The Connector Manager is your roadmap." (Daniel H. Pink, author of When, To Sell Is Human, and Drive)

"A much-needed reexamination of management - every manager should read this aspirational and actionable book." (Amy C. Edmondson, professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Fearless Organization)

Hardcopy Might Be Better

Overall it was a helpful book but there were a lot of multiple choice questions throughout this book which made it difficult to follow along and know what type of manager you are. It might be easier to understand these parts of the book if someone reads the hard copy.