Practical Management Strategies: A simple guide to leadership and management

Practical Management Strategies evolved from work that Karel de Laat did with a wide range of public companies in Australia. His consultancy, de Laat & Co, tended to work for entrepreneurs who were drawn to a smaller entrepreneurial business that created leadership and management solutions based on their client’s corporate vision. These solutions were always driven by a team approach that involved every member of the organization. Often, this involved interviewing hundreds of team members and involving all team members by participation in futuristic workshops focused on innovation. The end result was a people focused leadership and management approach based on empowering every member of the team. This approach is at the heart of the material in this book. Karel explains how the quest of allowing every team member to overcome their frustration at seeing better solutions but not being able to implement them became the base from which organization development would flow. Integrating the efforts of the leaders, managers and team members at all levels with a commitment to common principles of planning and initiating drove change, innovation and outstanding performance. Karel explains how simply listening to team members, directing their ideas to the top of the organization and overcoming managers intransigence made organization more efficient and effective.

Karel de Laat completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and his doctorate in history in Australia. He has worked as an organizational psychologist for forty years, specializing in organization and career development. During this time he featured in newspapers and on radio, providing practical advice on how to achieve personal and business success, as well as presenting seminars on a wide range of business and career development subjects. In his spare time, Karel served in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve for thirty years, attaining the rank of Rear-Admiral. He now devotes his time to writing, mentoring, consulting and public speaking.