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The Connector Manager

The Connector Manager

Why Some Leaders Build Exceptional Talent—and Others Don’t

Summary


The best managers work smarter, not harder


After conducting a unique global study of over 9,000 people, analysts at the world-leading sales research firm Gartner identified four distinct types of manager. Incredibly, they found one type consistently performs far better than the rest, and it wasn’t the one they were expecting.

Connector Managers understand that it’s not enough for managers to just encourage and teach employees themselves, and that providing constant coaching to employees can actually be detrimental to their independent development. Instead, by connecting employees to others in the team or organisation, Connector Managers can help their employees develop a range of skills beyond their own areas of expertise.

Although the four types of managers are more or less evenly distributed, employees with Connector Managers perform significantly better than others. Employees with Always-on Managers who provide constant feedback and coaching perform significantly worse.

Drawing on their ground-breaking data-driven research, as well as in-depth case studies and extensive interviews with thousands of managers, you’ll discover what behaviours define Connector Managers and how you can use them yourself to build brilliant, powerhouse teams.

Reviews

  • A compelling case for why old-school, top-down management simply doesn’t work anymore—any aspiring or seasoned leader can learn something from this book.
    Laszlo Bock, Co-founder and CEO of Humu, Former SVP of People Operations at Google, Author of Work Rules!

About the authors

Jaime Roca

Jaime Roca is a Senior Vice President at Gartner managing the global research and advisory team that serves and advises HR executives.
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Sari Wilde

Sari Wilde is a Research Leader for Gartner's Learning & Development Leadership Council, where she oversees research and products for Learning and Development (L&D) executives.
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