Shifting the Monkey: The Art of Protecting Good People From Liars, Criers, and Other Slackers (A book on school leadership and teacher performance)

I’ve heard great things about this book for so long, and I’m really glad I finally had the opportunity to read it. As someone in leadership, I found it incredibly insightful. It clearly explains how to lead effectively and emphasizes the importance of holding people accountable, especially those who have mastered avoiding accountability. I truly appreciate the perspectives shared in this book!

Todd Whitaker is a great author and this newest addition to his collection is no exception! Other books I have read by this author focused on education, but this book is applicable to anyone who currently manages people either professionally or as a volunteer. It is easy to read and apply and the topic is very much needed to help organizations run more efficiently and to keep and encourage the best employees or volunteers. Monkeys are a good thing as long as they stay with their rightful owner. Whitaker gives managers tools to keep monkeys where they belong, not pushed off on the shoulders of those who have plenty of their own monkeys.

I can't say I didn't like this book because I did. I read the whole thing quickly, anticipating some revelation in dealing with difficult people, which I never really got, but more of validation of the techniques I was already employing. Basically, this book's central them is kill them with kindness and never engage in confrontational outbreaks. If you are new to management or are dealing with difficult co-workers, this book definitely has some good tips, and is an easy and pleasant read.

This is a must read for educators, school leaders, industry leaders, parents, and anyone else who works or lives around other people. Shifting the Monkey has changed my life. Also, the author, Todd Whitaker, is a good man. I read it as part of a Twitter discussion and many times Mr. Whitaker participated in the discussion with us so we could enjoy the benefit of his insight. It says a lot that he cared to take time to talk about his book with us.

I REALLY enjoyed the honesty and true personalities of workplace employees that are not easy to be around. Great advice on what to say and deal.

I appreciate Whitaker's ideas and then specific examples of how to lead. I found myself identifying with almost everything he wrote. I have read many books on leadership, and this one is one of the most applicable and easy-to-put-into-action. If you are a supervisor and/or a leader, this is a must-read.

Mr. Whitaker continues to share the same management advice in this book that he has shared in his other books: take care of your best people. It is good, sound, common sense advice. It sells books because so few people follow that advice. The employers who create new policies and rules, governments which create new laws because of the actions of a few, store owners who post threatening signs about shoplifting, and other examples like this show that very few people put the best first. There is even an old saying: the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So, I agree with Mr. Whitaker. This book differs from his others in two ways. The first is that it is written to apply to the business world rather than the education world. That's good because the same message applies. Our policies and behavior should be driven by the best, not the worst. I found Mr. Whitaker's overuse of the "monkey" device to be really annoying. I know that the monkey is a gimmick to make this book unique and memorable. To me, it got in the way of the message. It didn't help that in my world "a monkey on your back" is an implication of drug use. The book would have been clearer without the monkey. Secondly, I think Mr. Whitaker could have really used an editor. I didn't catch any grammatical or spelling errors. I caught a lot of repetition. Some repetition drives home a point. More is padding. Too much is insulting. Mr. Whitaker was insulting. The message in the book is good. But, the monkey gimmick and the repetition overshadowed the good.

His book provides clarity. Once you see what the problems is, you can deal with it and correct the problem. Should this burden be on anyone's back? If no, eliminate it. Is this burden on the correct back? If no, move it to the correct back. Can this burden be lightened without undue costs? If yes, lighten it.