Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst

If you are a boss who wants to do great work, what can you do about it? Good Boss, Bad Boss is devoted to answering that question. Stanford Professor Robert Sutton weaves together the best psychological and management research with compelling stories and cases to reveal the mindset and moves of the best (and worst) bosses. This book was inspired by the deluge of emails, research, phone calls, and conversations that Dr. Sutton experienced after publishing his blockbuster bestseller The No Asshole Rule. He realized that most of these stories and studies swirled around a central figure in every workplace: THE BOSS. These heart-breaking, inspiring, and sometimes funny stories taught Sutton that most bosses - and their followers - wanted a lot more than just a jerk-free workplace. They aspired to become (or work for) an all-around great boss, somebody with the skill and grit to inspire superior work, commitment, and dignity among their charges.

As Dr. Sutton digs into the nitty-gritty of what the best (and worst) bosses do, a theme runs throughout Good Boss, Bad Boss - which brings together the diverse lessons and is a hallmark of great bosses: They work doggedly to stay in tune with how their followers (and superiors, peers, and customers too) react to what they say and do. The best bosses are acutely aware that their success depends on having the self-awareness to control their moods and moves, to accurately interpret their impact on others, and to make adjustments on the fly that continuously spark effort, dignity, and pride among their people.

"Want to be a better boss? Unaware that you're a terrible one? Sutton (The No Asshole Rule) is here to help. The cost of callous and cruel superiors is considerable: employees with an abusive boss are more likely to work slowly, make deliberate errors, and even suffer heart attacks. With examples from such diverse workplaces as Pixar and Anchor Steam brewery, Sutton reveals how the best bosses take diverse and intertwined steps to create effective and humane workplaces, and offers tips on taking control, getting and giving credit appropriately, taking responsibility, staying in tune with employees, and squelching your potential inner jerk. Using real-life examples and insight gleaned from 30 years of experience as a manager, Sutton teaches his readers to become the boss employees enthusiastically want to work for. This entertaining, satisfying guide is a wakeup call for bosses everywhere--and a survival guide for those who work for them. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright PWyxz LLC)

Inspired by the cries for help and the success stories he received in response to his previous book, The No Asshole Rule, Sutton (management science, Stanford University) describes qualities of good and bad bosses, explains how to be a good boss, and gives advice on surviving workplace jerks. Bosses will learn how their words and actions affect others, the best and worst ways to take charge and make decisions, and when to be quiet and when to speak up. The author writes in an accessible style with a sense of humor, drawing on behavioral science research as well as real-life case studies and the voices of real employees from around the world. Business Plus is an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The author of "The No Asshole Rule" now focuses his commonsense approach on what it is that truly distinguishes the great bosses of the world from the ones who are just good, so-so, or even worse.

If you have a job in the corporate world, chances are you have a boss. Indeed, pretty much everybody has a boss, whether it's someone at the supervisory, managerial, or executive level.

And if you're like everybody else, you know that keeping your boss happy with your performance is a major focus of your daily corporate life and career.

Problem is — and as Bob Sutton made clear in his classic THE NO ASSHOLE RULE - too many of us work for bosses who are jerks. And that's the starting point of BOSS.

Based upon the thousands of letters, emails, and conversations Sutton has received since the publication of THE NO ASSHOLE RULE, he now focuses his common sense approach on what it is that truly distinguishes the great bosses in our world from the ones who are just good, so-so, or even worse.

Using real-life case studies, the latest psychological research, and a thorough scan of the pertinent literature, Sutton delivers a pinpoint accounting of what the best bosses do on a daily basis. In short, Sutton delivers the first blueprint manifesto for anyone who has ever been elevated into a position of authority — or for those who have to suffer because of those bosses who just don't get it.