Sunday, February 09, 2014

The Professional Woman’s Guide to Managing Men Book Review and Giveaway

I first became acquainted with Anna Runyan, when she included my post 50 Books Every Young Woman Should Read in a Monday motivation roundup on her website ClassyCareerGirl.com. Since then I’ve participated in her networking challenge and watched her evolve into a successful leadership coach and now an author. It is only fitting that I would become part of the launch team for her new book The Professional Woman's Guide to Managing Men.

What is this book about?
Anna Runyan spent seven years working with and managing men as a consultant for the U.S. Navy.

She writes:
“I have managed men who were shocked to have a woman in charge, which wasn’t always easy. It took me a while to figure out how to best work with and manage men. There were many times that I had no idea what to do and tried many different things to see what worked. I treated men I managed in the same way I thought a man would treat them. That didn’t work. Then, I treated them how I treated other women. That didn’t work either. It wasn’t until I started to just be myself and lean on my own female leadership strengths that I began to successfully start gaining trust and respect from the men I managed.”
The Professional Woman's Guide to Managing Men is a compilation of what Anna has learned about managing men. It is written as a “how-to” guidebook and includes specific action steps you can take while reading.

The book is divided into five chapters:

Focus on you first
How to be a confident female manager
How to help the men on your team thrive
What not to do when managing men
Handling common management situations

Each chapter concludes with a self-evaluation.

My thoughts:
Anna Runyan has written a comprehensive, useful, well-written guide to working with and managing men. I’ve worked with men in male-dominated industries for over 20+ years. Many of the lessons Anna includes in this book I learned the hard way. In addition, I acquired several new insights and techniques from the book. For example, who knew having a sense of humor is an important factor in managing men. I even discovered a couple of new strategies to better manage my female staff. 

Bottom line:
I recommend reading this book if you are already in a career managing men, preparing yourself to work with men or work in a male-dominated industry. This book which warrants further discussion is a strong contender for a future Savvy Reader Book Club selection. 

Want to read it?
I have one eBook copy to give away. Simply share on Facebook, Twitter, G+ or Instagram and then post here on the blog that you did so. Feel free in include your biggest gripe of problem managing or working with men. Each share and comment gets you an entry. I’ll draw the name of the winner one week from today!

Please Note, I am an Amazon Affiliate

22 comments:

  1. That sounds like a great book! If I was still in a leadership position, I'd be up for reading it.

    These days, I'm home with my kids which brings a completely different set of management challenges!

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  2. It always surprises me when are men don't know how to deal with women in charge. I grew up with my mom being the breadwinner so I always expect it!

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  3. This is an excellent idea for a book - many people do not understand men and women would produce better results when managed using different management techniques.
    Rhondda
    #SITSBlogging

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  4. That sounds really interesting. I don't manage men, but I work with a lot of men in a male-dominated career (law), so I think I could really benefit from reading it. #SITS

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  5. This is a fun topic for a book and I bet informative too. :)

    #SITSBlogging

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  6. Love the sound of this book. I would definitely enjoy reading this kind of book. At the present moment, I'm a stay-at-home mom, however, next year I plan to reenter the workforce and this could be a useful tool for me. SITSBlogging

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  7. great blog! glad i found you! #SITSBlogging

    http://www.modernsuburbanites.blogspot.com

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  8. This sounds like an interesting book. I would to see how a man reacts to the advice and suggestions in it, LOL.

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  9. Although I'm no longer in the corporate world I believe that nuggets of wisdom can be found in many places. I'll add this title to my list. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll find a few indispensable tips. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  10. Wish I had this year ago when I was at work, great read. (Stopping in from SITS)

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  11. Sounds like a great book, definitely checking it out. Thanks for the review!! Loved it.

    #SITSblogging

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  12. I could have used this book a few years ago. I worked in a male-dominated industry, and this book would have been very helpful in dealing with a few guys who didn't think I should be in the position I held. Will put it on the list for the future. Always great to have a resource for that whole Mars/Venus thing.

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  13. I will definitely be picking this up....looks like a great read, and oh so true on many fronts. I spent many years managing men, knowing that they felt threatened by my position. Shaunna@Tempting Thyme

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  14. It makes me sad that this book even had to be written. What a sexist world. Not sure I'd want to be in charge in a situation where I felt I could never win. :(

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  15. I will absolutely need to get my hands on this golden little nugget of wisdom. The men in my office "rule the roost" so to speak. Thankfully, I have a few female mentors to blaze the path ahead of me. I'm lucky!

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  16. I'm a stay at home mom, but I think I manage my husband very well ;)

    Nice tips, thanks for sharing

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  17. This is a great post and I definitely want to read this book. I work in personal finance which historically has been a man's profession. I feel like I have to work twice as hard to prove myself and that sucks.

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  18. This is very interesting--my mom works as a manager in a male-dominated industry and she certainly has told plenty of stories about the complications that has involved!

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  19. I definitely can see how this book would be of benefit to women who are having issues managing men. Men and women do think and react to situations totally different.
    Thank you for the book review. Visiting from #SITSbloggin

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  20. Stefanie,
    My Grandma ran our family farm after my Grandpa died, so I expect it too. I was actually pretty shocked the first time I heard about the glass ceiling - from a female engineer at an engineering firm I worked at in the 90's.

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  21. Rhonnda,
    It was pretty enlightening. Men prefer conversations that get to the point - I love to chit-chat. Since reading the book, I've changed my ways.

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