cover image Ignited: Managers Light Up Your Company and Career for More Power, More Purpose, More Success

Ignited: Managers Light Up Your Company and Career for More Power, More Purpose, More Success

Vince Thompson, . . Prentice Hall/FT, $25.99 (293pp) ISBN 978-0-13-149248-6

A former middle manager turned consultant, Thompson depicts the realm between upper management and the workforce as rife with turf battles, firestorms and ongoing struggles to keep the troops from revolting. Fighting the notion that the 5.4-million middle managers at 30,000 U.S. companies are in a vast career wasteland, he offers specific and practical solutions for good management. As corporate fulcrums, managers are in a position to exert more power than they think, he argues. He also examines the root causes of situations known to endanger career progress and zap spirits, such as communications gaps between new bosses and long-term managers, or the anxiety associated with headquarters' sudden infatuation with outsourcing. He then offers tools for successfully defusing such situations and even finding opportunity in them. The remainder of the text examines the skills required to achieve change. Using a combination of personal insights and short case studies, often quoting real people talking about their experiences at well-known companies, he brings an energy and enthusiasm that makes maintaining the middle ground seem both compelling and personally challenging, if not noble. (Mar.)