TITLE : BACK TO BASICS MANAGEMENT: THE LOST CRAFT OF LEADERSHIP.*

First and foremost, the authors' focus centers on the individual-on the individual manager and the proper management of other individuals. This is because it is our deeply felt belief that the key factor in motivation, productivity, profit and successful management is the individual. No matter what the job, the work situation is always the same: a private encounter between the individual and his or her task. Any change which influences this central relationship for the better can-and will-be truly significant in terms of corporate results.

That is the essence of back-to-basics management. There are dozens and dozens of books available on management principles, motivation, productivity, understanding how corporations function and hints on how to get along in the corporate structure. But the authors firmly believe there is much more to successful managing than principle, theory and the "bottom line." We believe that people are the "X" factor. People in business are the dynamic variable-capable of amazing feats or of living and working in the kind of day-to-day drudgery that has unfortunately become the accepted norrn

It was not always so. The old "Mom and Pop" operation may not have been run by sharp buyers and producers, and they were anything but bottom line-oriented, but they knew their people. They knew what turned them on, they knew how they differed and they knew how to motivate them. What's more, they worked at working with them, directing them, growing with them, gaining participation, building feelings of responsibility and involvement through consistent delegating. In short, they managed people to achieve corporate results.

Essentially, that is our definition of "back-to-basics-management." It's a restatement of the importance of human values. It's a recognition that working through people is the key function of managers. It's an awareness that goal setting will be more realistic and achievable if put in the context of individual needs and wants.

No, it is not a wishful desire to turn back the clock to the "good old days." It is not a soft-hearted approach to management. It is not idealism and theory. Rather, it is a hard, penetrating look at reality in business today. The sweeping social changes affecting all of us and the attitudes and work habits of managers are not taking place in separate wo'rlds. They are interwoven. They are inseparable. They are the roots of effective management today.

Easy? No! What we are suggesting is a very basic and, at the same time, a much higher form of management. One that immeasurably alters and expands the role of the managers today. One that places heavy emphasis on an understanding of the behavioral sciences and the particular aspects of any and all job functions. One that is, in reality, a form of management demanding more skills and a broader outlook on the part of the manager.