Hazel: An Emerging Leader

Hazel Rae Nilsen is 24 years old and has been handed her first management job at AtlasAir Custom Fans, a struggling factory where the problems are stacking up faster than she can name them. She has no leadership training, no real plan, and a workforce that isn't sure she belongs in charge. She’s not sure, either.
When the company's new General Manager arrives to turn the operation around, Hazel gets something she didn't expect: a mentor who is direct, competent, and willing to invest in her. Through a series of increasingly difficult situations - a firing gone sideways, a toxic employee, a safety incident, a factory-wide crisis - Hazel learns what it means to be effective as a leader.
Hazel: An Emerging Leader is a business novel that teaches through story. Written by business school professors, each chapter weaves management and leadership concepts directly into the narrative, grounding research-backed concepts and frameworks (e.g., goal setting, organizational trust, leader character, progressive discipline, employee motivation) in workplace situations. Readers see Hazel make mistakes, recover, and gradually build the competence, confidence, and character that define a good leader.
Designed for managers navigating a tricky leadership role, students in business and management programs, and anyone who has ever felt underqualified for a job working with people, this book offers foundational lessons for anyone wanting to improve their ability to lead. Discussion questions follow most chapters to help readers think through every core idea (especially helpful for a work-based book club).
Leading people effectively is a surprisingly difficult task – even people with good intentions often get it wrong. This book offers a birds-eye view into how to do it well. You can learn from Hazel’s mistakes.