Ignited

Ignited takes a real-world view of the challenges managers face when attempting to lead with limited time and resources.

Leadership in middle management is a tough challenge, especially for newly appointed managers.

Middle managers face unique obstacles in that their success depends on those they lead, and their subordinates depend heavily on their manager to provide direction and support.

Today’s mid-line leaders no longer live on safe ground. There are fewer hiding places and the increased accountability has leaders squeezed like never before to produce quality results, or face the real possibility of being replaced.

Ignited: Managers! Light Up Your Company and Career for More Power More Purpose and More Success is brilliant in the way that it speaks to managers who are experiencing the pressure in the workplace.

It is a sad reality that approximately 65% of all managers who were recently surveyed feel squeezed, rather than empowered, by their roles. They are more confused about where the lines of authority are within their organizations, and they feel compelled to defend their turf more than ever before.

The book is presented in three sections.  Part I, "Get More Power", provides basic tools for you to improve the thinking and behavior of middle-managers. If you are a seasoned manager, this section will sound familiar and will provide valuable reminders. If you are new to middle-management, this section will be even more valuable as it will help you to overcome your learning curve more quickly, avoiding potentially costly mistakes.

Part II, "Get More Purpose", covers the seven Ignition Points, which provide the keys to unlock your ability to become a valuable agent of change in your organization.  The Ignition Points are the tools you will learn and you'll be encouraged to use these tools to make positive change a reality.

Part III, "Get More Success", is about making a happy and healthy life while also advancing in your career and making a great living. This section helps you to define what balance means to you

Ignited To Do What?

In Ignited, managers are encouraged to take a pro-active approach to adding value to their organization, in an all-out effort to get re-discovered and ensure future advancement in the company.

By taking action to provide solutions to current problems, managers can redefine themselves.

This book guides middle managers to become an expert at the “processes” within their organization. This can be a huge advantage down the road, particularly when an organization is rocked by internal change. 

Thompson states that by taking certain actions middle managers will benefit in several ways:

• It establishes you as being supportive of upper management rather than as a malcontent and potential rebel.
• It gives you a role in establishing the future order – which may mean an opportunity to shape it to your liking.
• It makes you all the more essential to any “new guys” who end up running your operation – after all, who better to interpret and manage the new system than the one who helps to create it?
• It provides you with a positive outlet for the nervous energies inevitably stimulated by a corporate shakeup.
• And it adds value to the company – which is what they pay you for, remember this always!

So when change does happen, and it will, you can use the above best practices to ensure that you will be prepared to survive and continue the process of advancing in your career.  

Ignited For Success

The ignited manager recognized the word Success as a verb, it's a word that should inspire action!

In order to be success in middle-management and prepare yourself for upper management, you must think and act as if you were already in upper management.

In Ignited: Managers! Light Up Your Company and Career for More Power More Purpose and More Success the author provides a valuable exercise called the Manager's Universe.

The Manager’s Universe exercise has many uses, but for starters it assists you in identifying your network of key relationships involved in your routine, day-to-day business life. 

Thompson emphasizes the importance of being honest with yourself by stepping outside yourself to truly self-assess how others might see you.  Only then can you take the proper steps in making any needed adjustments.  In essence, you want to be great at managing perception for your own success. 

The author asks you to think of certain labels people are assigned. Here's just two examples:

• The Whiner - you know this person, it's Pete the Pity Party Guy.  He's always complaining and is the expert about what's wrong, but never makes an effort to initiate a real solution.
• The Politician - always out in front when the boss is around.  He's always searching for ways to jump on the band wagon for upper management. Unfortunately, he doesn't spend nearly as much time developing his skill-set and is perceived as just being out for himself . Furthermore, he's not respected as being competent or trustworthy by his peers. 

The best way to ensure you aren't being perceived negatively by others are two-fold.  First, examine your motives. Are you out for yourself or do you take actions that are consistent with adding value to others? Secondly, ask someone you trust such as a friend or mentor. 

If you're too scared to ask anyone how you are perceived, then you already have your answer and you definitely need to read this book and follow the authors advice. 

Great stories and examples are provided throughout the book. It's worth your time so we hope you'll check it out. 

Author Bio

Vince Thompson, author and principal at Middleshift Consulting, which designs world-class online marketing solutions.

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