No one hands managers a playbook for the hardest parts of the job.
Wake-Up Calls for Managers delivers practical guidance for navigating the moments that matter most.
No one prepares managers for the moments where:
The Stakes are High
The Path Isn't Clear
The Answers Aren't Obvious
Yet these are the moments that define your impact.
Practical guidance for the challenges managers actually face
Wake-Up Calls for Managers is a practical collection of essays drawn from real-world leadership challenges—offering clear, actionable guidance for the situations managers face every day.
Each piece is designed to help you navigate complexity, make better decisions, and lead with greater clarity and confidence.
Organized into six essential areas of managerial success, the book helps you:
Create Results
Lead Change
Build Influence
Manage Yourself Under Pressure
Communicate for Impact
Think Clearly and Strategically
Whether you’re new to management or deep into your leadership journey, this book serves as a practical field guide—helping you sharpen your focus, elevate your results, and lead with greater clarity and confidence.
What People Are Saying
Art Petty has long been one of the most trusted voices translating leadership complexity into practical, usable guidance. Wake-Up Calls for Managers brings together his most insightful work—ideas that are not only research-informed, but proven through real-world experience leading, teaching, and advising. This is the kind of book leaders return to again and again for clarity, perspective, and action.
~ Julie Winkle Giulioni, Author of the bestseller Promotions Are So Yesterday and co-author of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go.
About the Author
Art Petty is a former senior executive in the software industry, leadership author, and executive coach who has helped leaders and organizations navigate growth, change, and transformation. In his corporate career, he guided strategy and leadership efforts that helped multiple technology firms achieve market leadership, including a major business turnaround. Today, he invests more than 800 hours each year coaching and developing managers and executives.
