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When I’m supporting students through their leadership and management courses, Mintzberg is an absolute must go to and I refer to him often for research. Why? ……

Well Henry Mintzberg for one is current ! He’s very much still a writer and spokes person and regularly brings out books and articles.

Another reason I have a liking for Mintzberg is he is down to earth in his attitude and writing style. You won’t fall asleep reading his material. He knows how to engage his audience and write in ‘real’ terms. Yes, he is academic but he is an absolute advocate for those who climbed their way through the hierarchy of an organisation and ‘learned through experience, by ‘doing’. I loved an article he wrote about a degree he had a large hand in that was designed for ‘my type of student’.

Not everyone had the chance to go to university, in fact, in the UK its still the very few. Most leave school or college knowing they must enter the work place and start earning (like me many moons ago!)

The qualifications I support are predominately NVQ based as they are for those in the role who either need to have that qualification to say ‘I know my stuff and I can prove I can do it’ or those who are learning the role and want to progress further or consolidate their knowledge. The idea is you are either ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’. Its my job to get them to competent.

I will be going into some of Mintzberg’s models in other blogs but wanted to justify why he is someone worth writing about but also worthy as a study resource for, not just for students, but any Manager / Leader who is looking for guidance on how to be a better Manager.

I would mention also I do have other favourites and will again write about these but will point out that I tend to pick and choose my theorist depending on what the subject area is and this is a healthy habit, particularly in courses where you are asked to study and evaluate a range of techniques / models / concepts and perspectives.

Henry Mintzberg does have a site and a blog which is worth subscribing to if you like his style. https://mintzberg.org/ He does write about current events which makes his content interesting and relevant as oppose so some long gone archaic theorists. Don’t get me wrong, the old gurus are still worth a read for historic purposes and show us how we have evolved in leadership, but being able to relate to an article and have an opinion on it just makes it more alive and engaging.

If on his site you visit his articles you can view them in date order but you don’t need to buy anything so if you click on a link and it sends you to a page to pay and download, I personally don’t feel a need for this as most models are available for free online – just be careful of reliability.

So, if you want good theory, approach and perspective on Strategy, Organisational structure, being a Manager and currently society then take a look through site or research his ideas online.