True Professionalism: The Courage to Care about Your People, Your Clients and Your Career: Amazon.co.uk: David H. Maister: Books

Review

Donald GroningerExecutive Vice President and General Counsel, Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.Provides a common sense blueprint for professional success, emphasizing the simple but often neglected principles that make for a fulfilling and productive career. Anyone who wants to be thought of as a professional will benefit from reading this book, Maister's insights apply to people at all levels of organizations and in a wide variety of industries and professions.

Product Description

Are technically competent professionals who work long, hard hours "true" professionals, seeking superior quality in their work and striving to provide the best service possible to their clients? Or are they "cruisers" adhering to standards, but performing below their full potential, lacking the inspiration for the extra level of intensity that creates superb work?
Professional firms are forever trying to get their people to act like professionals -- to do the right things. Though their various incentives may create employee compliance, these don't often encourage excellence. Taking issue with such methods, David Maister, the world's premier consultant to professional service firms, vigorously challenges professionals to examine this essential, yet under-addressed question: What is true professionalism? Essentially, Maister argues, it is a personal commitment to self-betterment and a professional dedication to provide the best and most efficient service to clients. In clear, pragmatic terms, he convincingly advocates the "power of principles" -- the most effective tools management can use to inspire excellence in individual performance. His core principles spring from good, sound logic: Believe passionately in what you do, never compromise your standards and values, and care about your clients. Do all of these because they are the ethical things to do and because they are the primary road to commercial success.
In this candid treasury of practical wisdom, Maister expounds some eternal truths about the individual professional, the firm, and the client. He explains how to achieve true professionalism at both the micro and macro levels by answering many key but toughquestions, including these: How do you develop a personal career strategy? How does a firm track the profitability of individual assignments? Can and should you guarantee your client's satisfaction? Looking first at the individual, Maister dares those good corporate citizens who "do their duty" to discover what they truly love to do, and then to align their real-world actions with their true values -- and he tells them why a continual investment must be made in getting better. Turning to the firm, he focuses on what he calls its "instability" and offers advice on how to invest in skill-building. He explains why extra time invested in supervising reaps large financial benefits, and why excellence in client satisfaction should be an enforced standard. A brief example of the clear thinking and sound advice to be found in this handbook: Stress on maximizing billable hours may seem profitable, but instead it encourages employees to be inefficient, it loses the customer's trust and confidence, and eventually it hurts the firm's reputation and profit margin.
The bottom line, according to the author? Act like a true professional and the money will follow.

Customer Reviews

5 star

4 star

3 star

2 star

1 star

6 reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Insightful & simple - but too hard to use. 12 Mar 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

You're a consultant, lawyer, accountant or some other professional in a practice which needs to sell to survive.

This book gives good, simple, guidelines to succeed. Follow them and you'll do well.

Don't worry that your competition will do the same because many of the recommendations will get lost in the "Too Hard" basket. For example, Maister's treatment of unchargeable time is simple and cuts right to the chase: how is non-chargeable time measured? What is the RoI of this time? Is there a schedule or a programme for what is essential investment in the future?

The logic is impeccable, but it will lead to little action precisely because unchargeable time by definition doesn't contribute to the bottom line immediately.

It is a book which seeks out many of the sloppy, unimaginative practices prevalent in professional firms and provides practical remedies. It is a book that will be much recommended but too hard to use, and the reason why is best illustrated by Maister's recommendation on guarantees:

"Guarantee your work to the complete satisfaction of the client. If the client is not completely satisfied, accept that portion of the fee that reflects the client's level of satisfaction".

This stuff is just too scary. To trust clients and staff that much is asking a lot. To force a firm to live up to its marketing claims is, for most, a risk not worth taking.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

A MUST for any professional in the service industry. 9 Aug 1999

Mr. Maister has written the "the bible" for the service industry. His concepts and views are on the money. True Professionalism is not a quick fix or trend, but a collection of timeless business advice.

This book is a must for any consultant and/or business leader in the service industry.

An inspiring publication, a must for any professional 21 Aug 1998

As a marketing professional in the service industry, i found this book inspiring in it's simplicity and inspiring in it's content. It challenges the old fashioned attitude of profesionals and details real ways to help achieve what, whether we know it or not, we all want from our professional life. David Maister uses some very useful and catchy phrasing to illustrate his points throughout the book and these in themselves have proved very useful in reminding me of what is important. I have since ordered more copies and have gifted copies to my fellow partners and managers. I now look forward to receiving my copy of 'Managing the Professional Service firm' also by David Maister ordered from Amazon.