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It's the Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach by Jim Clifton, Jim Harter cover

It's the Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach

by Jim Clifton, Jim Harter

$22.49 on AmazonRead our full review

At a glance

First published2019
AudienceAdult
ISBN1595622241

About the Author

Jim Clifton, Jim Harter

1 book reviewed

It's the Manager

Moving From Boss to Coach

by Jim Clifton, Jim Harter

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for: HR leaders, managers navigating multigenerational teams, and executives driving cultural change who want a data-backed case for shifting from directive management to a strengths-based coaching model.

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It's the Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter makes a direct, research-backed case that the quality of the manager — not strategy or culture initiatives — is the single decisive factor in organizational performance, drawing on Gallup's decades of global workplace data to argue for a shift from command-and-control leadership to a coaching model. It is best suited to practicing managers, HR leaders, and executives navigating multigenerational workforces, and it doubles as an entry point into Gallup's broader development ecosystem via an included CliftonStrengths assessment code. The key caveat: the book is published by Gallup Press and built entirely on Gallup's own research, so readers seeking external or dissenting perspectives on the coaching framework will need to look elsewhere.
Is it worth reading?
For managers, HR professionals, and executives who want a research-grounded framework for rethinking leadership, It's the Manager delivers a clear and credible case. Its Wall Street Journal #1 bestseller status reflects broad professional resonance, and the inclusion of a CliftonStrengths assessment code adds tangible, personalized value beyond the text. The main caveat is that the book is published by Gallup Press and relies exclusively on Gallup's own data, so readers seeking external critique or alternative frameworks won't find them here — and the comprehensive scope may feel expansive for those wanting a tightly distilled quick-reference guide.
Similar books
Readers who respond to It's the Manager's research-grounded, systems-level view of leadership will find strong companions in the curated titles below. Jim Collins' Good to Great similarly uses large-scale data to identify what separates high-performing organizations from the rest. Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage both tackle organizational health and team dynamics from a practitioner's perspective. Kim Scott's Radical Candor maps directly onto the coaching-over-commanding theme, offering a complementary framework for giving feedback and developing people. For readers interested in the cognitive science underlying workplace decision-making, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman provides a rigorous behavioral foundation that pairs well with Gallup's empirical approach.
Who should read this?
It's the Manager is designed for a professional audience: practicing managers who need to adapt to the expectations of a changing workforce, HR leaders building development programs, and executives evaluating organizational culture from the top down. The book speaks most directly to leaders managing multigenerational teams or overseeing significant cultural transitions, particularly given its focus on younger employees who want coaches that develop their strengths and connect their work to larger purpose. Organizations already invested in Gallup's Q12 engagement framework will find it an especially coherent companion resource.
What are the main themes?
The book's central themes are the shift from boss to coach as the defining managerial evolution of the modern era, the outsized impact of manager quality on organizational performance and employee engagement, and the changing expectations of younger workforce generations who prioritize mission, purpose, and individual development over hierarchical authority. Clifton and Harter also explore the importance of a strengths-based approach to management — developing what employees do well rather than correcting deficiencies — as a key mechanism for driving both engagement and results. Underlying all of it is a persistent theme of evidence over anecdote: the entire argument is anchored in Gallup's empirical workplace research rather than leadership intuition or executive storytelling.
Where should I start with these authors?
Both authors have established track records translating survey science into actionable frameworks. Jim Clifton's prior books include The Coming Jobs War and Born to Build, offering a broader view of workforce and entrepreneurship trends. Jim Harter has co-authored 12: The Elements of Great Managing and Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements, both of which are direct predecessors in Gallup's body of applied workplace research. Readers who find It's the Manager compelling will find those earlier titles coherent extensions of the same research tradition rather than departures from it.
Can this be used for team or org-wide training?
It's the Manager is explicitly designed with organizational adoption in mind: each copy includes a CliftonStrengths assessment access code, and supplemental content is available through Gallup's online workplace platform, making it practical for deployment as a training or onboarding resource. Organizations already operating within Gallup's Q12 engagement framework will find the book an especially coherent companion, with the comprehensive scope — while potentially demanding for individual readers — well suited to structured group learning contexts. HR leaders and executives looking for a research-backed text to anchor a manager development program will find the book's institutional weight and application-oriented design particularly useful.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

It's the Manager, published by Gallup Press in May 2019, argues that the single most important variable in organizational success is the quality of the manager — and that today's workforce, particularly younger employees who seek deep mission and purpose over hierarchical oversight, demands coaches rather than commanders. Jim Clifton, Gallup's Chairman, and Jim Harter, Gallup's Chief Workplace Scientist, build their case on Gallup's accumulated global research data rather than anecdote or executive memoir, giving the thesis institutional weight. Each copy includes a CliftonStrengths assessment access code and supplemental online content, positioning the book as an entry point into a broader development ecosystem rather than a standalone read.

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Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

Reading level

Adult

Browse all Adult books

Skip if you're looking for a management book that critically engages with research outside Gallup's own data or presents alternative leadership frameworks alongside the coaching model.

Editorial Review

Published by Gallup Press in May 2019, It's the Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach is a business leadership book by Jim Clifton, Chairman of Gallup, and Jim Harter, Ph.D.…

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Books like It's the Manager

Curated picks for readers who enjoyed It's the Manager, with our reasoning for each match.

If you liked It's the Manager

In our catalogue

Radical Candor

Kim Scott

Translates the boss-to-coach shift into a hands-on framework — shows managers exactly how to give feedback that drives engagement and performance.

Readers who connected with It's the Manager's central argument — that moving from command-and-control to coaching unlocks performance — will find Radical Candor a practical street-level companion. Kim Scott's framework of 'caring personally while challenging directly' is essentially a how-to guide for the coaching behaviors Clifton and Harter advocate with Gallup data. Where It's the Manager builds the strategic case at the organizational level, Radical Candor gets granular about the individual conversations that make coaching real: praise, criticism, and the hard talks most managers avoid. This is a top pick for practicing managers who finished It's the Manager and immediately asked, 'Now what do I actually say in my one-on-ones?' It's one of the best 'books like It's the Manager' for readers who want actionable scripts alongside research.

In our catalogue

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Patrick M. Lencioni

Explores why teams fail from the inside out — complements It's the Manager by showing what happens at the team level when coaching and trust are absent.

If you're looking for books like It's the Manager that address organizational performance from a different angle, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a natural pairing. Clifton and Harter argue that the manager is the decisive variable; Lencioni's fable illustrates exactly what a dysfunctional team looks like when trust, accountability, and commitment break down — the very things a great coaching manager is supposed to build. The story format makes it especially useful for readers who found It's the Manager's data-heavy presentation compelling but want a more narrative way to share its lessons with their own teams. HR leaders and executives who read both books often find they reinforce each other: Gallup gives you the why, Lencioni gives you the what-goes-wrong-without-it.

In our catalogue

Good to Great

Jim Collins

Research-driven deep dive into what separates sustained organizational excellence — shares It's the Manager's data-first method and focus on leadership as the key variable.

Readers searching for 'what to read after It's the Manager by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter' who appreciated the rigorous, data-backed approach will find Good to Great a natural follow-on. Jim Collins and his research team studied 1,435 companies over 40 years to isolate what made a handful truly great — and the findings keep pointing back to leadership quality, particularly the concept of 'Level 5 Leadership,' which maps closely to the humble, coaching-oriented manager Clifton and Harter champion. Both books are skeptical of flashy strategy initiatives and both make the case that sustained results come from getting the people piece right first. Good to Great operates at the organizational level where It's the Manager operates at the manager level, making them a powerful paired read for executives and HR leaders.