A guide to becoming the boss people want to work for

In searching for the best bosses in America, author Dale Dauten discovered something he never predicted– many gifted bosses have considerable turnover in their staffs. Tradition says that workers stay when they like their boss. However, the reality is that great bosses are constantly " de-hiring" (helping employees either rise to excellence or move to a job where they can). The end result is what Dauten calls " effortless leadership, " resulting in happier, self-managing employees, a happier boss, and stronger, more effective teams. (Great) Employees Only presents Dauten’ s research and shows readers the right way to hire and de-hire, creating a culture that the best employees yearn to be part of.

Dale Dauten (Tempe, AZ) writes two newspaper columns syndicated by King Features that appear weekly in over a 100 papers, " The Corporate Curmudgeon" and " Kate and Dale Talk Jobs" (with employment expert Kate Wendleton). He is also President of Lumina Corporation and founder of The Innovators’ Lab™, an organization devoted to developing and testing new ideas in management and marketing, with clients including NASA, General Dynamics, Caterpillar, and dozens of other industry leaders.

In searching for the best bosses in America, Dauten discovered something he never predicted--many gifted bosses have considerable turnover in their staffs. Tradition says that workers stay when they like their boss. However, the reality is that great bosses are constantly helping employees either rise to excellence or move to a job where they can.

--Ken Elkins, former president and CEO, Pulitzer Broadcasting Company

"A mediocre employee in your group is more than one mediocre employee--he or she is a human multiplier-effect, to the downside. If you have even one mediocre employee, you have announced to the world that mediocrity is okay by you, while conceding that you are willing to slow the entire group for the sake of the worst employee. Thus, allowing that one person to stay is not being kind or generous; it's dangerous. It's dangerous for the individual, who knows that, at some level, he or she is doing second-rate work, and who you are locking into mediocrity, and it is dangerous for the group, which is slowed and distracted." --from (Great) Employees Only "Dauten will challenge every preconceived notion you have about making your career take off." --Harvey Mackay, author of Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive "You'll rediscover the joy that's missing in your career, your coworkers, and yourself." --Ken Elkins, former president and CEO, Pulitzer Broadcasting Company