Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
The Leader Lab summary
Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger
Core Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster
21 mins
Table of Contents
The Leader Lab
Summary of 6 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 6
Anyone can become a great manager quickly by focusing on specific techniques and skills.
Let’s say you’re an average manager – not the best, but not the worst either. One morning, you call in sick. You tell your team you won’t be in. When they get the notification, how do you think they feel? What are they thinking?
Well, we hate to break it to you, but . . . they’re probably relieved. According to a study, 88 percent of people are relieved when their manager is off for the day. Most people just don’t think much of their boss.
Poor management has a cost – an estimated $7 trillion a year across the world, due to inefficiency and staff turnover. It also takes a toll on employees’ mental and even physical health.
Maybe that’s something you’ve experienced firsthand with your own manager. If you’ve ever had a bad manager, you know how it feels – that sense of dread when you arrive at the office.
Put simply, management matters. We need better managers.
The authors, Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger, are experts on management and leadership. Through their organization LifeLabs Learning, they’ve trained thousands of leaders at companies across the world. And through painstaking research, they’ve identified some key behaviors and skills – the tell-tale signs of a good manager.
These aren’t necessarily innate qualities. They’re things that anyone can learn and develop. And while it’s true that you can learn on the job, why wait? Start now. By the end of this Blink, you’ll have picked up some simple, practical tips for improving your management style.
We can’t cover all of the skills and behaviors in the book, but we’ll focus on the most important ones. They’re easy to learn, and you can start using them right away.
In order to make the most of this crash course, we recommend a bit of self-reflection along the way. With every example or scenario, ask yourself, Do I do this? or, How could I do this differently? After all, becoming a better manager is an active process. So listen actively.
Also, for even faster learning, share what you learn with someone else. There’s a phenomenon known as the protégé effect – we learn faster when we’re teaching. So in between chapters, you could pause, and share your newfound wisdom with your manager or a coworker. You can even tell your cat.
Now, get ready to read and learn – you and your cat.
Want to see all full key ideas from The Leader Lab?
Key ideas in The Leader Lab
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is The Leader Lab about?
The Leader Lab (2021) is a handbook for anyone who wants to improve their management skills fast. Through extensive research, and training more than 200,000 managers, the authors have identified the core behaviors and skills that all great managers share. They offer simple, practical tips, and methods that can be applied for rapid results.
Who should read The Leader Lab?
- New managers lacking in confidence
- Leaders keen to improve their skills
- Anyone who wants to communicate more effectively in the workplace
Categories with The Leader Lab
Books like The Leader Lab
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
28 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers