It has been said that experience is the best teacher. A lot of wisdom and practical know-how need to be imbibed and thoroughly mastered if one wants to perform well in any field management skills included. Consistently learning from every opportunity presented is the secret to what great managers know and do.

But what happens if you`re a new manager? Can`t you also learn the same thing as what experience could provide and couldn`t you learn the ropes with at least adequate knowledge about the work going for you? There is, in fact, a solution to this quandary.

Enter Developing Management Skills, a book written especially to address this knowledge gap. Authored by David Whetten, Jack Wheatley Professor of Organizational Behavior at Brigham Young University and Kim Cameron, William Russel Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan, both the greenhorn and the experienced alike would benefit from reading the book.

Why is this so? For starters, Whetten and Cameron discussed a unique five-step model that any manager could readily apply in their respective areas. This is very important because the fundamental challenge for any manager is to translate anything he has learned into a more practical form. What this model does is help managers develop management skills in a more engaging manner.

The book also focused on nine fundamental management skills that one should master. Categorized into personal, interpersonal and group skills, these nine points of mastery encompass what a skilled manager should learn. Couple this with skills-intensive and interesting case studies and exercises, it`s no wonder that anyone who reads it could actually upgrade his management skills.

Yes, one would be more confident in managerial roles if he acquires the experience for it - there`s no getting around that observation. But remember that one`s learning could also be accelerated and primed also through excellent models. Developing Management Skills provides that resource, and reading it may very well be the start of something great.