From the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, the roles of supervisors and managers were not always distinct, and it is difficult to separate them. Since supervisors are usually the first level of management with which workers interact, the organization’s management is most often associated with the immediate supervisor of front-line employees. Supervisors oversee the most people, and the people they oversee have the most contact with customers and the production or service delivery process. The role of the supervisor is thus critical to organizational success. 
 
Successful Supervisory Leadership: Exerting Positive Influence While Leading People offers comprehensive elements and methodologies, tools, and approaches to successful supervisory leadership. The authors of this book favor a mixture of proven methodologies and informative, theoretical, and conceptual approaches to positive and influential leadership geared to guiding and assisting readers identifying their areas of ineffectiveness they need to improve in their leadership qualities and supervisory position.
 
From our viewpoint, there are at least two good reasons to study supervision and supervisory leadership: 1) influential position and 2) career path.
 
First, Influential Position
What is in it for the organization to study supervision? Supervisors exert considerable influence in organizational settings. Supervisors have been schooled, developed, and trained for their responsibilities. They can function more effectively than if they learn through informal, sometimes haphazard means. It thus pays to learn about supervision because supervisors can influence how efficiently and effectively their organization’s functions.
 
Second, Career Path
What is in it for the individual to study supervision? Many career paths lead to supervision. Supervisors are everywhere. Supervisors are teachers, doctors, accountants, lawyers, plumbers, and electricians. If you aspire to advance within your occupation, you may find that one career path leads to supervision. Preparing for supervisory responsibilities can prepare you for advancement. You may thus have a personal stake–your own future–in learning about what supervisors do and how they do it.
 
This book a) provides strategies for building solid relationships with team members, b) uses positivity as a foundational practice to lead and encourage other employees, c) provides guidelines on how to hold employees accountable and set high expectations, d) presents strategies to engage, coach, and develop employees by creating a positive environment to influence attitudes and behaviors, and e) offers various approaches for managing time and increasing productivity.