Alumnus publishes management memoir

Fortune Magazine Deputy Managing Editor Hank Gilman will release his first book, “You Can’t Fire Everyone: And Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager,” on March 17.

The IU alumnus, who holds a masters degree in journalism, based the entire book on his own experiences as an editor at the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Fortune,
Gilman said.

“It’s a management book based on my career,” he said. “I would call it a management memoir.”

The book gives advice on how to be an effective manager when abruptly given control since, especially during difficult times, people need to solve financial problems, Gilman said.

“At the end of the day, you still have to manage people, and you just can’t send them out the door,” he said. “You’ve got to figure out a way to make them better.”

Gilman said he hopes the combination of his knowledge of management along with his writing abilities will entertain the readers.

“I hope they get an insight into how to supervise people, especially people who are young managers,” he said. “One of the themes is that a lot of us, especially in the media business, fall into management, not having a clue what to do.”

Because he worked at Fortune Magazine, Gilman said he had limited time to work on
the book.

“I worked on weekends and during vacation time,” he said. “I first came up with the idea for it back in early 2009. Within a year, I finished it.”

In the future, Gilman said that he plans to write another book.

“It is going to be an easier book though,” he said. “It is going to have nothing to do with management or business. It is going to be a totally different type of book.”