The Connector Manager: Why Some Leaders Build Exceptional Talent - and Others Don't

“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!

“Here’s the bad news, managers: You can’t do it all. But here’s the good news: Jaime Roca and Sari Wilde say you don’t have to. This book shows how to get the most of your people by connecting them — to each other and to new opportunities. If you’re looking to do less and accomplish more, The Connector Manager is your roadmap.”
- DANIEL H. PINK, author of When, To Sell Is Human, and Drive

“A much-needed reexamination of management – every manager should read this aspirational and actionable book.”
- AMY C. EDMONDSON, Professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Fearless Organization

"A great boss recognizes that he's not the expert on everything, and that his team's skills and talents are often greater than his own. How can he harness and grow those talents for maximum effectiveness? The Connector Manager offers a compelling answer." 
- SYDNEY FINKELSTEIN, Steven Roth Professor of Management at Dartmouth College, author of Superbosses and Why Smart Executives Fail

“Everybody knows that the best managers are the ones who deliver ‘always-on’ feedback. But what if everybody is wrong? In The Connector Manager, Roca and Wilde deliver a death blow to the conventional management wisdom, arguing with convincing quantitative and qualitative data that always-on feedback isn’t just an unproductive management approach, but a counterproductive one. This is a head-snapping and hugely engaging book that will make even the most seasoned leaders and management gurus question what they preach.”
- MATT DIXON, Chief Product & Research Officer at Tethr, coauthor of The Challenger Sale, The Challenger Customer and The Effortless Experience

"In today’s complex world, connections are more critical than ever. The Connector Manager uses data, insight, and stories to create a compelling case for why the best leaders leverage critical connections to build their teams. This book is a great resource to enable a high-performing team.”
- MICHAEL ARENA, former Chief Talent Officer at GM, author of Adaptive Space

"The Connector Manager is a rare "Ah ha" book. You'll be privy to the surprising practices of a small pool of managers who are exceptional talent developers. What's more important is that you will learn the steps to becoming one yourself...and with remarkable efficiency in your busy day.  
- JAY A. CONGER, coauthor of The High Potential's Advantage 


“The Connector Manager teaches leaders how to use the power of connections for development. It’s a fantastic read that is both aspirational and actionable for leaders today.”
- ROB CROSS, Edward A. Madden Professor of Global Leadership at Babson College, author of The Hidden Power of Social Networks

"We teach our students that management can be a noble profession, and The Connector Manager provides a road map to that ambition. By describing the ways that that such managers can have an outsize impact on their employees, their teams, and their entire organizations, the authors are really showing us how great managers can change the world."
- DEREK VAN BEVER, Senior Lecturer and Director at The Forum for Growth & Innovation, Harvard Business School |

Introduction
 
 
It’s 3:21 on a Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco. Marta Romero walks back to her office from one of her many meetings— exhausted. She has nine minutes before her next meeting with one of her direct reports, Jon Goldberg, who has been having trouble with one of his projects. He is working on launching a new development application. Romero takes a deep breath and exhales— she has been out of the weeds of development for a while and doesn’t have the new technical knowledge to help him. She glances at her list of things to do for that day, which are increasing in number as the day progresses, and clicks control + alt + delete to wake up her computer. Thirty- two emails are waiting for her. Romero feels the tension of managing her own workload while simultaneously trying to coach her staff as they navigate all of their projects— many that require skills and knowledge she doesn’t have. She pauses for a minute and considers whether to push the meeting with Goldberg . . . again. She already rescheduled it ear­lier this month.

On any given day around the globe the plight of today’s man­agers mirrors Romero’s. Urgent tasks take precedence over an ever-expanding list of expectations and demands. To‑do items, including coaching responsibilities, become “as if” wish lists— and the world spins madly on. Something has to give, but what?

In many instances, like Romero’s, the coaching and feedback interactions managers would like to have fall by the wayside. Be­yond constant time constraints, many managers simply lack con­fidence in their ability to provide the right guidance across the increasing breadth and depth of employee activities. The result is that managers put off coaching, prioritizing so many other ur­gent activities, or just “wing it” when asked to help in areas wh