Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions reviews

What our readers thought of the book

• Leading Teams: Genuine help is here!
  They say that leadership is like ski-ing; it can’t be learned from reading a book. However, whilst there are no shortcuts around practice and experience, there is absolutely no doubt that the authors of this book genuinely want to help you learn and progress with a series of easily read steps on classic obstacles.
  My sense is that the ideal user of this book is someone who is starting to take on greater leadership responsibility and is self aware enough to know that they can learn from tried and tested experiences of others rather than approach every challenge as a unique, new problem. It also works as a go-to reference when you might feel stuck too with a particular dilemma. I could also see anyone involved with a virtual team really benefitting too. The chapters on ‘Encouraging long term thinking’ and ‘Change’ are particularly good.
  This book cannot guarantee you won’t make some mistakes along the way, but it’s proven wisdom and obvious desire to help you, will mean you can approach the privilege of leading people with a strong sense of knowing how great outcomes are within your reach. You and your teams are likely to be smiling more by trusting the positive intent on each page.
• Strong team leadership guidebook!
  Gives a great breakdown of 10 commonly faced problems and plenty of solutions for them, so you can read this and recognise situations at your work and have guidance in dealing with them effectively. Looking forward to the next publication from Mandy.
• Brilliant!
  A brilliant book full of practical examples – I love the layout which can be read cover to cover or works really well for dipping in when you need ideas and support around a specific problem or scenario. I highly recommend this to both new and experienced Leaders – the best book I have read on Leadership and employee engagement
• Reading this on point guide to building and sustaining successful teams felt like taking in an exhilarating breath of fresh air! Getting the best out of people in highly challenging circumstances is tough. There’s no denying it! How can leaders build trust, boost morale and overcome conflict in an ever changing workplace? At last, here’s a helpful guide that leaders can use to solve specific team challenges. Easy to read and well structured this book is packed with useful tools and techniques. The self assessment questions at the beginning of each chapter really get you thinking – perhaps more honestly than you ever have before – and the reflection questions at the end of each chapter keep you on the right track! Less theory based, this book favours the practical approach to being a great leader. I love the fact that it’s written by experienced leaders who have successfully implemented the solutions they describe. All leaders who want to get the best out of their teams will enjoy reading this book!
• Leading Teams – the secret sauce for your business!
  I would say that this is required reading for anybody that is part of a team or leading a team. If your team has challenges then I can wholeheartedly recommend this as an excellent book to really drive change in your team that resonates and is sustainable.. Mandy and Elisabet write from great experience in helping to transform change by making behavioural changes that stick. I have seen this powerful dynamic first hand within the board of a large software business. The narrative is very easy to follow and to understand so you can translate it to a situation that you have in your business. I would urge you to try the self assessments within each challenge and then explore how to apply the ideas to your business. They really work and you will be glad that you did. Excellent reading and a fantastic investment. Get into the heart of your challenge and make the changes.
• This book does what it says on the cover: it takes ten challenges that a team leader could face and provides practical advice solutions to overcome each one. It is a very practical and easy-to-read book. Every chapter is laid out in the same way, making it easy to dip into and find an answer to a particular problem quickly, so it should be a useful addition to a team leader’s library of management books and, what’s more important, one that will be consulted and reread often.
  The ten challenges start with how to build trust, move through overcoming conflicts and tension, sharing information, creating engagement and creating openness. It moves on to how to encourage long-term thinking, creating a well-perceived team that delivers and getting the team to manage change effectively. It ends with getting a team to work together as one and getting everyone going in the same direction.
  Each chapter starts with a list of desired outcomes that will help the reader to tackle the challenge followed by a self-assessment of the situation now. Then an example problem is described and explored, examining the reasons and causes behind it. A number of solutions are then described, explaining what actions could be done to address the problem. This goes together with a description of desirable behaviours of the team leader and the team, since the action solutions will only go so far by themselves.
  The insightful part of each chapter brings in neuroscience: “What we think affects how we feel and how we feel affects how we think.” A list of negative thoughts and feelings is provided together with a counter-list of powerful thoughts and feelings. The advice here is to actively replace the counterproductive negative thoughts and feelings with productive positive ones.
  This is then summarised and a list of reflective questions provided to assist the post-implementation self-assessment to embed the changes.
  The book is rounded off with a toolkit for running a two day team workshop to accelerate effective team-working, and a short list of references (which are not numbered so cannot be readily linked to the references in the text. This is a minor irritation, not a major problem as the list is short).
  Because of its systematic approach this book achieves what it sets out to do, to provide a “go to” resource for team leaders when they encounter a problem. The advice is clear and practical, although achieving success will require determination and real positive action. To quote the authors; “…to achieve real, lasting success, pay particular attention to behaviours.” They recognise that achieving success will not come easily. But the prize is that by implementing these solutions “you are acquiring transferable team skills which you can take with you to future teams…”
  The clarity and honesty in this book may just have made achieving such changes just a little bit easier.
• This book highlights the importance of cohesiveness within the team in order to drive and sustain success. The difference in this book, is that Mandy & Elisabet don’t just address the effectiveness of the way we use our skills, techniques and resources but also the relational practices. Sometimes this can be side-lined & overlooked. It serves as a reminder of how we work as individuals, and how we work as a team has an impact on the whole organisation and the bottom line.
  The book is easy to read, well structured & the solutions are incredibly helpful regardless of your level of experience. The toolkit on how to run a team workshop will be of value to all leaders.
  I particularly like the stress on the importance of people working together, pulling together and supporting each other.
  The approach of how to turn negative thoughts and feelings into powerful thoughts and feelings is truly impactful.
  Overall, very inspiring & a book one that every leader should read.
• I work in the NHS and found this a hugely useful tool to support me leading a big team in challenging times. The book helps you to focus on the stuff that really matters in order that every day really counts and all of your effort gets your team moving in the right direction. It’s accessible, fun to read and positive.
• Leading Teams is a step by step approach for building great teams. Many business business books solely use theory or academic research with some well worn anecdotes. Mandy and Elisabet wrote this book based on their experience as business managers and as coaches to business leaders like me. I have used their process with several different teams, all successfully. Whether you are leading a small team or a major organization, this process works. Buy this book now. Read it. Try it. It works.
• Leading Teams 10 Challenges 10 Solutions is enjoyable to read thanks to a clear structure easy to follow and a mix of powerful practical advices and short stories that we can all relate to. Whether as a leader or a member of a team, everyone can learn from the various scenarios, understand how situations develop and benefit from the authors extensive experience in helping shaping teams.
  A must read for any new team leader at the start of their journey and a reference to go back to whenever we want to improve our team performance. I loved Elisabet and Mandy’s first book The Team Formula and absolutely also recommend this one!
• Leading Teams is your step by step guide for every leader that is taking on a new team, cultural transformations, and every day aspects that occur. This book is written off of real life experiences with outcomes that have changed many organizations. I have had the experience of working with Mandy and Elizabet and seeing these challenges overcome by the exact solutions. I would buy the book and put it to work immediatly as the results will change your teams forever!
• Mandy and Elisabet have done it again! They have found a way to articulate the challenge of managing teams in a simple and understandable way. They once again get to the heart of how a team’s behavior drive the productivity of the team – good and bad. This book helps the leader guide the team to their highest level and is done in an easy to understand way. Thank you Mandy and Elisabet for another excellent tool I can use to help my team.