Becoming a Can-Do Leader: A Guide for the Busy Manager

Manage without giving up the work you love and discover the leader within.

Conventional management thinking says that to manage effectively you must delegate. It implies that managers fall into a dangerous trap when they continue to perform tasks they love from a previous role. And it says that to not let go is to give in to a controlling tendency that robs staff of development opportunities. But not everyone agrees.

Today's increasingly knowledge-driven, cost-competitive work world is changing the way management gets done. More and more, people in management roles are becoming can-do leaders who must continue to practice their specialty while managing and developing the skills of others. But this group has had few guidelines to follow until now.

In Becoming a Can-Do Leader, executive coaches Frank Satterthwaite and Jamie Millard say it's time that management thinking catches up with reality. Their extensive experience training and coaching player-managers at all levels has shown that successful managers both delegate and do.

Whether you're trying to survive your first promotion or coaching executives who yearn to keep up with their field, essential guidelines for can-do leadership are inside this book. You'll find workplace examples that ring true, as well as unique strategies and tools that both help you identify your values and provide insight into your natural leadership style.

Don't let your knowledge and skills decline by stepping completely out of the professional picture. It's time to get productively and selectively involved in the work, enabling you to manage more effectively and keep up with important advances in your field all while developing and leading your team to success.

Discover how to work strategically with staff while continuing to grow expertise in your profession. That's can-do leadership.

About the Author

Frank Satterthwaite is a professor of organizational leadership and past director of the MBA program at the Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School at Johnson & Wales University. He is co-author of the forthcoming Becoming a Can-Do Leader (ATD Press) and senior author of The Career Portfolio Workbook: Using the Newest Tool in Your Job-Hunting Arsenal to Impress Employers and Land a Great Job (McGraw-Hill, 2003), a book that was selected as an “Editor's Choice” at the Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com. His articles have appeared in numerous national magazines, including Esquire, and he has appeared on nationally broadcast radio and TV programs in both the United States and Canada.

Satterthwaite has a management consulting and executive coaching practice in which he helps managers become can-do leaders. He studied psychology at Princeton University and received his master's degree in urban studies and his PhD in organizational behavior from Yale University., and currently resides in Cranston, RI.

Jamie Millard is the executive partner and co-founder of Lexington Leadership Partners LLC, a consulting and leadership development firm focused on helping executives and leaders embody the can-do spirit and lead with action, personal accountability and passion for success. He is co-author of the forthcoming Becoming a Can-Do Leader (ATD Press).

Millard has been actively involved across the globe in developing leaders for more than 25 years as a business leader, executive coach, group facilitator, trainer, presenter, and leadership consultant. He formerly led the National Organization Change Management Practice at CSC Consulting. Prior to that he was a partner at Harbridge House, where he led the Continuous Improvement and Project Management practices.

Millard holds a BS degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from the University of Rhode Island. Jamie is a member of the Global Learning Resource Network with Duke Corporate Education and is an Executive-in-Residence at Northeastern University. He lives in East Greenwich, RI.