‘Becoming a Top Manager’ provides a personal guide on how to navigate real-world obstacles when transitioning to general management
INSEAD, the leading international business school, is proud to announce the publication of a new book, ‘Becoming a Top Manager: Tools and Lessons in Transitioning to General Management’, co-authored by INSEAD Dean of Executive Education, Michael Pich, INSEAD Co-Director of the Transition to General Management programme, Kevin Kaiser, and leading business author I.J. Schecter.
Becoming a Top Manager uses a mix of practical strategies and first-hand experiences to successfully guide functional and specialist managers in their transition to general management. “With businesses becoming increasingly susceptible to volatile market conditions and market interconnectedness across Asia, the need for effective general management is more important than ever before,” says professor Kaiser. Over the last four years, there has been a staggering 81% increase in general managers reporting to CEOs*, highlighting the importance of competency at the general management level.
“The demand for capable general managers continues to rise,” says Schecter. “The goal of the book is to help functional managers, or those with specific spikes of expertise, to successfully meet the key challenge of this transition: preparing to lead across functions, markets and employees.”
When shifting from functional management to general management, individuals need to change their focus from short-term performance indicators to long-term organisational goals. Part of this transformation includes redirecting and unlearning their previous management approaches and styles. By following the stories of three managers in transition, ‘Becoming a Top Manager’ highlights the tools and skills executives must acquire across three critical areas: managing the business, managing others and managing themselves.
Showcasing the stories and views of a wide range of participants from INSEAD’s Transition to General Management programme, Becoming a Top Manager blends concrete advice with reports of personal experiences spanning industries and geographies. The flagship four-week course furnishes new or soon-to-be general managers with the skills and knowledge needed for successful transitioning. By integrating many of the views from the course’s 3,800 alumni from 105 countries, the authors take readers on a personal journey on how to apply classroom lessons to real-life situations. Becoming a Top Manager not only acts as a guide on how to navigate the typical obstacles associated with the transition to general management, but it also shares with transitioning individuals perspectives and insights from others going through, or having gone through, similar passages.
“The move to general management can often be difficult and overwhelming, and if not managed well, can place a business at a distinct disadvantage,” advises professor Pich. “Through programmes such as Transition to General Management, we hope to equip individuals and organisations with the means to respond effectively to the rapidly changing global business environment.”
More information on INSEAD's Transition to General Management
*Increase in general managers: https://trainingmag.com/what-happened-to-all-the-general-managers/
About Dean of Executive Education Michael Pich
Michael Pich is Dean of Executive Education at INSEAD. Prior to his appointment as Dean, he was a Senior Affiliate Professor in Operations Management, and Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise. He received his PhD in Operations Research from the School of Engineering at Stanford University, his MS in Forestry from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, and his BS in Natural Resource Management from the University of Idaho. Professor Pich is an experienced director of executive education programs addressing the needs of executives transitioning from a functional to a general management position. He is also an experienced director of company specific programs targeting the leadership pipeline of both large global and small local organizations.
Professor Pich’s research, teaching and consulting activities have spanned the globe, taking him to Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Europe, SE Asia and North America. He has worked with a number of corporations in the areas of innovation, project management, operations, and change management. He has been a programme director for several executive education programmes at INSEAD, including the International Executive Programme, the Transition to General Management Programme, and Management Acceleration Programme, in addition to numerous company-specific programmes for leading global and local businesses. Previous clients include adidas, GE Capital, Alcatel-Lucent, IBM, The BOC Group, SingTel/Optus, OCBC, Bank Mandiri, Danamon, PermataBank, Hana Financial, and Pertamina. His teaching and research interests include the management of innovation, learning in organizations, project and process management, and entrepreneurship. Professor Pich specialises in the use of business simulations in corporate education.
About Professor Kevin Kaiser
Kevin Kaiser joined the finance faculty at INSEAD in 1992, where he is currently Professor of Management Practice and Director of the Transition to General Management programme. Kevin is also Director of the ABN Amro Managing for Value Research Fund at INSEAD, and is active in conducting and sharing research and insight into how managers can better orient themselves and their organizations around value creation for long-term success. Kevin’s research has appeared in academic and practitioner journals and newspapers, and his recently released book, The Blue Line Imperative, co-authored with David Young, presents the core insights around managing for value, along with practical ideas to help managers make it happen.
Kevin teaches extensively in the executive and MBA programmes at INSEAD and is an eight-time recipient of the MBA award for Best Teacher for Electives, Fontainebleau campus, and a three-time recipient of the EMBA award for Best Teacher for Electives. In 2013, Kevin was short-listed as one of the four finalists for the Economist Intelligence Unit’s world-wide Business Professor of the Year competition. Kevin directs several executive education programs, including Transition to General Management, Advanced Valuation, and several company specific programmes for a variety of corporate clients. He also teaches at various institutes and for private clients throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Kevin was Visiting Adjunct Professor of Finance at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (1995-96, summer 2005, and summer 2006).
In the classroom, Kevin combines deep knowledge of academic theory with first-hand practical knowledge. Kevin worked in the Corporate Finance and Strategy practice of McKinsey & Co., based in Amsterdam and Paris from 1997-1999, and was a principal in bfinance.com, a venture capital-financed marketplace for business finance which began in 1999 and continues to prosper and grow.
About I.J. Schecter
I.J. Schecter is a bestselling author, award-winning essayist, sought-after private consultant to senior leaders across industries, and founder and CEO of The Schecter Group, a full-service communications strategy and advisory firm helping companies shape their voices, craft their messages and tell their stories.
