Author: Assegid Habtewold

Title: Overcoming 1st Timer Syndrome: 11 Antidotes to Thrive Beyond First-Time Leadership Pitfalls

Genre: Leadership / Management / Self-Help

 

This neatly organized book offers readers a guide on how to handle their first leadership position while encouraging those who still might have “1st Timer Syndrome” along a path to eliminating its effects on their lives and careers.

The author provides clear, concise steps one can take to become a stronger leader right away. Instead of relying on a systematic approach that involves mastering “becoming a leader” first, the author advocates an approach that directs one to take smaller steps that lead to bigger successes, prioritizing the initial aspects of leadership and building a foundation that readers can build upon as they read the rest of the book.

In each chapter, the author presents encouragement to the reader as to why the specific antidote matters, relying on logic and the readers’ own personal experience with leaders who struggled with that particular pitfall to motivate them rather than using any kind of moral or cultural reasoning, which helps the book’s appeal to leaders in a universal way. Similarly, the book introduces readers to concepts like SMART goals, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and various management theories to educate the reader, offering the psychological framework that many leaders use to help them handle the responsibilities of their respective positions.

The author makes it clear that this book will not explore everything a leader needs, and he keeps the focus throughout, steering the pages straight for the particular antidote he’s exploring and only introducing concepts that apply to what is currently being discussed, which helps make the book easy to follow and concise while offering first timers a glimpse at the leadership landscape they can explore by reading more.

The book’s intended audience seems to be on the expansive side, to where those who have only been leaders for a matter of days or weeks might not be able to utilize some of the questions raised in the book the way a more seasoned leader could. In those passages, it might help if specific examples were offered rather than relying on the readers’ own experiences to provide illustrations of the various leadership pitfalls. Those who have been leaders for longer will benefit from the neutral tone of the writing, though, as it easily adapts the focus to the kind of situation the reader is in.

The author relies a bit heavily on bullet points throughout the chapters, and there are moments when the book might be helped by showing readers exactly what some of the templates for tracking projects, goals, and other leadership facets might look like instead of just describing them.

Broad enough to help any leader, in any kind of business, Overcoming 1st Timer Syndrome will appeal to those who want a list of concrete steps to take and questions to ask to help them move forward. The author’s tone is positive and professional, offering persuasive arguments and sound advice while quoting from a variety of other leadership experts, giving readers an introduction to other sources of help at the same time. Those looking for a guide to transitioning into leadership should definitely consider picking up this book.

 

 

 

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