Senior managers usually move up through the organisation on the basis of command and control management; once in the executive ranks they must develop a more collaborative approach and adopt the principles of emotional intelligence (EQ). This title offers a detailed examination of stakeholder relationship management.
Building, and managing, relationships with senior (upwards) stakeholders is essential for success. Advising Upwards makes a detailed examination of stakeholder relationship management, starting with a discussion of the personal changes that senior managers must make as they move into executive roles in the organisation, and recognising that through targeted and purposeful communication the team must ensure that their senior stakeholders understand how best to support their work. Case studies and stories from experts illustrate practical, structured approaches that enable the teams to develop robust relationships with senior stakeholders that will result in their 'being heard' and 'being extraordinary'.
'This is a well-crafted book that will be of great interest to practitioners, students and researchers. It is particularly salient for PM practitioners because they are the front-line people who have to deal with stakeholders including their sponsors. Students, at all levels, will gain a lot from this book, particularly those that are at the junior or middle level because the content of the book is so crucial to all kinds of post graduate degrees. It is intelligently written, well referenced in theoretical as well as practical terms, with a coherent theme of managing the sponsor and project owner. The choice of sections, 'Advancing the Fundamentals', 'The Effects of Culture' and 'Being Extraordinary' is a clever and valuable way to structure the book. Researchers will also find this a very good reference. I certainly will be recommending this as a high quality book for my Masters and Doctoral students and all of these are also practicing project managers and I feel that there is great value for them from that perspective. The authors of contributing chapters provide impressive and coherent content. I feel it strikes the right balance between being a book for practitioners as well as sound advancement of an important area. It should be broadly appealing to project managers, general management practitioners and technical specialists.' Derek H.T. Walker, RMIT University, and editor of The International Journal of Managing Projects in Business 'This book offers a wide range of thoughtful insights into the much under-rated skill of managing up. All too often, supply side problems are caused on the stakeholders' side and not necessarily by the suppliers. Understanding true stakeholder needs is the key to unlocking real business value.' Jonathan Dutton, FCIPS, Managing Director ,The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply Australasia (CIPSA)
