No one will learn how to become a manager by reading this book; there’s too much to understand if you’re really going to do it well. But you will get a basic understanding of what you don’t know and what you need to be thinking about. And that’s a very good start.

As Belker says, his goal is to give readers “some insight into the techniques of managing people that will make the job more meaningful and understandable.” All of the 35 chapters are short and conversational, befitting their status as introductory insights. Entire books have been written about many, if not all, of the topics Belker introduces. But that’s one of the values of this book — you’re not loaded down with 35 large tomes you need to wade through before you can be effective in your new position. And there are enough nuggets contained in Belker’s short chapters that you can put things into practice to improve your managerial behavior as soon as you put the book down.

A pervasive theme running through the various topics is that the attitude the manager brings to his or her work will likely have more impact on success than any other single thing. While events beyond our control have an impact on our lives, he says, we control how and what we think, and that controls how we react to those external events.

Having been an executive with an insurance company for more than 30 years, and having presented management seminars across the country, Belker knows that in too many organizations managers are promoted using the “sink or swim” technique. They may get the promotion because they have done the technical work so well, know absolutely nothing about managing people, and be given no training or assistance. And yet the effective management of people is crucial to the success of any organization.

Belker stresses that a manager’s technical abilities are not nearly as important as his or her “people skills.” A significant goal of a manager is to help employees have confidence in themselves and in their opinion of their manager as someone who is competent and fair. While confidence in the manager’s technical ability to understand and perform the work of the people being supervised is important, the manager’s ability to understand and effectively deal with people is even more important.

Belker talks about different management styles and clearly favors a humanistic approach that is concerned with the feelings of the people being managed. He says that autocratic managers think in terms of being a “boss” rather than a “team leader” and suggests that one of the greatest strengths of a team leader is the ability to get the job done without having to reach back and use the power of the position.

For those who may have learned management by working for an unreasonable boss, Belker has some sound advice: “Say ‘let it end with me’” and break the cycle, recognizing that the function of management is to foster the concept among employees that the only group that exists is “we,” and there is no “we and they.”

The book is divided into four sections dealing with when someone is first appointed manager, when the honeymoon is over and employees no longer are willing to give the new manager a break, the manager as administrator and counselor, and tips to help managers prepare and improve themselves.

The notion of good communication skills is seen in many of the chapters, and Belker has some good advice for all of us, not just managers. Many new managers are wary about their ability to communicate, he says, but the best thing to do is to listen. If you spend more time listening than talking, those who report to you won’t think you come across as a know-it-all, and you can better learn what’s going on in your area of responsibility.

The author gives a lot of quick tips and hints for everything from using the telephone to performance appraisal to training to how to remember your personal errands when your mind is cluttered with work things.

But it’s his overall approach that is appealing and may best be shown in an anecdote from the Introduction. “Many experienced managers have moved away from the basics,” Belker writes. “While they understand the principles, their management style is contradictory. The late football coach Vince Lombardi got back to basics by holding a football in his hands and declaring to his players, ‘Gentlemen, this is a football.’ Perhaps, when it comes to management, we could paraphrase it and say, ‘Executives, this is a human being.’ ”