New Book, The Five Traits of a Terrific Manager, Launches to Help Managers Build Trust, Coach Better and Get Results

Executive Coach and HR Leader Mark Ernst, J.D., Draws on 30+ Years Advising CEOs and Senior Business Leaders to Deliver Practical, Real-World Tools for Managers at Every Level

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mark Ernst, J.D., founder of Ernst Enterprises, LLC and a trusted advisor to CEOs and senior business leaders for more than 30 years, today announced the release of his new book, The Five Traits of a Terrific Manager: A Playbook for Managers Who Want To Make a Lasting Impact now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other national retailers.

Written in a play-by-play structure designed to feel like sitting in on one of Ernst's live workshops, the book distills three decades of executive coaching, leadership training and hands-on advisory work into a practical framework any manager can put to use immediately — whether they're a first-time supervisor or a C-suite executive.

Ernst has seen the same pattern hold across companies of every size, from startups to Fortune 500s — the traits that make a manager terrific don't change with the size of the org chart. Throughout the book, Ernst illustrates each trait with real workplace scenarios, paired with practical tools — including sample discussion planners — managers can put to use the same day they read them:

• Integrity — Ernst reveals why the most trusted managers are the ones willing to tell the truth when it's expensive, not just when it's easy — and why even a small hidden agenda is the fastest way to lose someone's confidence.
• Competence — Ernst walks managers through a simple tool that lines up what a role actually requires against what they bring today, then points to exactly where to invest to close the gaps.
• Coaching and Mentoring — You can't develop people you're afraid to be honest with. Ernst makes the case for having the conversations most managers dodge and argues that staying quiet to avoid discomfort costs someone else their growth, not yours.
• Trust — The author unpacks the real cost of micromanagement and reveals that what looks like control functions more like a slow leak — quietly pushing out the people a manager can least afford to lose.
• Courage (To Deal with the Slackers) — Ernst's rule for managers: "treatment without diagnosis is malpractice." Before confronting underperformance, he says, find out why it's happening rather than guessing at a cause. And once you do act, the fix has to be one the employee actually agrees to — not one you hand them.

The book arrives at a moment Ernst believes makes its message especially urgent. Wider spans of control, leaner teams, and companies scaling back formal management training have left many managers — new and experienced alike — without the support they need.

"So many managers are being asked to do more with fewer resources, and companies have quietly stopped investing in management training," Ernst said. "That's exactly why I wanted to write this book — to give managers a practical way to build the skills nobody's teaching them anymore. Management skills are no different than the skills to play tennis or weld metal. They have to be taught, practiced, given feedback, and practiced again until they're learned."

The Five Traits of a Terrific Manager is available now at www.ernstenterprisesllc.com, with additional links to purchase on Amazon, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes & Noble via IngramSpark. ISBN: 979-8-9976751-0-3.

About Mark Ernst and Ernst Enterprises, LLC: Mark Ernst is the founder and leader of Ernst Enterprises, LLC, a management and business advisory firm that helps business owners and leaders achieve results through their people, with services spanning executive coaching, leadership development, team building, strategic planning, keynote speaking, and succession planning. He has served as a trusted advisor to CEOs and senior business leaders for more than 30 years, with an extensive background in executive coaching, leadership development, management training, employee retention, and succession planning. He earned his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and his BA and MS from Lewis University and is an Accredited Executive Associate of the Institute for Independent Business. He has completed specialized executive programs in Mergers & Acquisitions at UCLA, Managing Organizational Change at Stanford University and the Business Development Program at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Ernst resides in Southern California, where he enjoys traveling, writing, and he earned his black belt in Shito-Ryu style karate in 2019. Learn more at www.ernstenterprisesllc.com and connect with him on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/markernst.