Book excerpt: This eighth edition of the best-selling How to be an Even Better Manager covers 50 essential topics across the three key areas in which any manager needs to be competent: managing people; managing activities and processes; and managing and developing yourself. Thoroughly revised and updated, with nine new chapters providing timely advice on topics such as benchmarking, cost cutting, improving organizational capability and recovering from setbacks, this is an invaluable handbook for current and aspiring managers. How to be an Even Better Manager provides sound guidelines that will help you to develop a broad base of managerial skills and knowledge. Even the most experienced manager needs to keep abreast of new developments and brush up on essential competencies, so this new edition will continue to be an invaluable aid.