Myths of Management

Dispel the Misconceptions and Become an Influential Manager

Stefan Stern, Cary Cooper

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781398607743
• Edition: 2
• eBook ISBN:
  9781398607750
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

Is it really true that working longer hours makes you more successful? Are millennials self-obsessed and frightened of hard graft? Do you really need to hide your emotions in order to gain respect as a manager? Does higher pay really always lead to higher performance?

The world of management is blighted by fads, fiction and falsehoods. In Myths of Management, Cary Cooper and Stefan Stern take you on an entertaining journey through the most famous myths surrounding the much-written about topic of management. They debunk false assumptions, inject truth into over-simplifications and tackle damaging habits head-on.

Whether cheesy, naïve or even destructive, management myths could be holding you back and stifling your team's potential. Myths of Management is the guide you need to become an enlightened manager.

About the Business Myths series...

The Business Myths series tackles the falsehoods that pervade the business world. From leadership and management to social media, strategy and the workplace, these accessible books overturn out-of-date assumptions, skewer stereotypes and put oft-repeated slogans to the test. Entertaining and rigorously researched, these books will equip you with the insight and no-nonsense wisdom you need to succeed.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• MYTH 1 There is one right way to lead or manage
• MYTH 2 It’s tough at the top
• MYTH 3 Long hours will lead to success
• MYTH 4 Consistency is everything: it’s important not to show vulnerability or doubt
• MYTH 5 It’s lonely at the top
• MYTH 6 You need to be the smartest person in the room
• MYTH 7 Hierarchy is finished
• MYTH 8 Only hire people who will fit in
• MYTH 9 Leadership is more important than management
• MYTH 10 You have to pay top dollar to get the right person (and keep it confidential)
• MYTH 11 Annual appraisals help you manage performance
• MYTH 12 Information must be controlled and limited
• MYTH 13 We have woken up to the problems caused by prejudice
• MYTH 14 Your first 100 days in a new job are make or break
• MYTH 15 You have to know everything that is going on
• MYTH 16 Heroic leaders can transform entire organizations on their own
• MYTH 17 The boss with the best strategy wins
• MYTH 18 Psychology and feelings don’t matter
• MYTH 19 The robots are coming to take your job
• MYTH 20 Conformity leads to success
• MYTH 21 Keep your distance if you want respect
• MYTH 22 Date of birth is destiny
• MYTH 23 People are motivated by money
• MYTH 24 Fear works and ‘engagement’ is unnecessary
• MYTH 25 The business case will always prove persuasive
• MYTH 26 There’s nothing wrong with the business, there’s just a few rotten apples
• MYTH 27 All the power resides at the top
• MYTH 28 People will learn if you explain things to them clearly
• MYTH 29 You must keep up with all the new management ideas and give them a try
• MYTH 30 You’ve got to talk like a real, serious, grown-up business person. Learn the jargon
• MYTH 31 You can’t manage people if you can’t see them
• MYTH 32 Who needs employees anyway? Get with the gig economy
• MYTH 33 People hate change
• MYTH 34 Big data will fix everything
• Index