Stop Over-Complicating Things: A Simple Guide to Upping Your Management Game

Take Russ Laraway's new book, "When They Win, You Win" and the first sentence will certainly catch your eye: "Managers fail everywhere, and no one helps.

With that framework in mind, when we sat down with Laraway to learn more about the lessons in his book, his next sentence was all also unexpected: "I think the world has conspired to confuse the average manager and I believe we don't need another person's opinion on what it takes to be a good manager," he says. he.

So if managers are consistently in trouble and we no longer need opinions on what managers should do, why write a book ? "Instead of just more opinions, we need a simpler approach to leadership that measurably and predictably delivers more engaged employees and better business results," Laraway says.

And that's what Laraway set out to do - weaving together tons of existing management studies from top notch sources like Gallup , his own primary research, as well as thoughtful stories from his own decades-long career.

You might recognize Laraway's name in the digital pages of The Review and on our In Depth podcast airwaves. He previously shared advice on the crucial conversations managers need to have to develop their people and the essentials of employee engagement.

But for those unfamiliar with Laraway, here is his bona fide management: As a former military leader, he oversaw 175 Marines in as company commander. before turning to technology. He spent seven years at Google, during which he won the company's Great Manager Award. He also spent four years at Twitter before teaming up with Kim Scott of Radical Candor fame to found Candor, Inc., a software and content company to help businesses make authentic, meaningful feedback the lifeblood. of their cultures. He then took on his first C-Suite role as Chief People Officer at Qualtrics, before taking on his current role as CPO of Goodwater Capital.