This week’s Resource Recommendation is Mondays at 3: A Story for Managers Learning to Lead by Greg Giesen.
I’ve spent a good bit of my last two years thinking about the challenges new leaders face. I co-designed and have been delivering the Bud to Boss Workshops, co-wrote From Bud to Boss and have been coaching and consulting with new leaders a good bit during that time.
That might explain the mixed reactions I had when I picked up Mondays at 3. I was hopeful the book would be good, and I wondered if it would be worth my time. I started reading it one evening . . . early the next morning I finished it – I read it in one sitting.
The book, written by a successful management consultant, is a fictional story of Jason O’Brien who is, to the surprise of everyone including himself, promoted to be the manager of his former peers. The book covers the trials and tribulations of his first few months on the job.
I’ve read many business novel or parables over the years, and while I like many and have reviewed a number of them here, I am often disappointed and have become a bit cynical of the genre overall. The source of my cynicism is the formulaic nature that many of these books fall prey to.
Mondays at 3 is longer than most of these books, and generally avoids the source of my cynicism. This is a book that, in story form, talks about some of the specific challenges a new leader faces, including: attitude challenges, disciplinary issues, lack of training, lack of confidence and much more. The book handles these challenges in a thoughtful and thought-provoking way, and engages readers to help them learn from the experiences of its fictional lead character.
The title, while it makes sense in light of the storyline of the book, doesn’t do the content of the book justice. This is a well written book by a wise consultant, coach and leader. If you are a new leader, or support new leaders, I recommend this book wholeheartedly.
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