With his previous book, “The No Asshole Rule,” Stanford University Management Professor Bob Sutton struck a powerful chord, resonating strongly with many of us – most of us – struggling mightily to do good, decent work in organizations of all sorts all around the land. In this one, he has picked out an important theme to carry his message effectively and meaningfully forward. It is: bosses matter. Discussed in the same context of the previous book, “Good Boss, Bad Boss” establishes the case for why bosses are so vital to the establishment of a healthy, personally satisfying, organizationally productive workplace – and why those who are dismissive of this fact for that very reason so often wind up actually being so toxic. In a very strong stage-setting chapter Sutton makes it clear why bosses matter. Quoting a researcher, he points out that “people do not quit organizations, they quit bad bosses.”
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Have you ever been told that the best career advice you can follow is simply to make your boss happy? Just do whatever your boss – whoever that is at any given time in your career – wants – whatever that may be without any questions or advice – with single-minded intensity, and you will find yourself among the powers that be in to time at all. . .
Friday, September 25, 2009
We want to make an end to strife, to balance the warring factions of our lives, of the demands they make of us, and we of them. Just some peace and quiet, please, for once. Why is that so difficult, so fraught with fruitless struggle and seemingly endless failure? Well, one reason is . . .
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Most discussions about reconciling one’s person with one’s work – particularly when we wake up one day to find that we’ve been, for decades perhaps, neglecting that little point – tend to start with a reexamination of who we are. What kind of a person are we, or do we want to be, we ask ourselves. As we look back across those unexamined years, can we discern a plot struggling to leave its mark in the otherwise featureless terrain, a trajectory to our lives? What kind of story does it tell? This isn’t necessarily mid-life crisis stuff. Indeed, many of our younger colleagues . . .
Monday, September 21, 2009
Surely you’ve had occasion now and then to discuss a particularly problematic junior. Perhaps he or she passively resists your instructions, disputes the wisdom of your guidance, or even actively foments dissension in your team. In the event, you probably have also received advice . . .
Thursday, September 10, 2009
We’ve all heard the standard bits of wisdom about making a career choice – do what you are passionate about, pick a field that has a future of growth and advancement, look for a career that can tolerate your evolving lifestyle preferences ranging from location to marriage and family – and the like. But is that how it really works? And are we giving that advice because it worked for us, or because we are unhappy ourselves and trying to figure out where we went wrong?
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
When I joined the US Marine Corps, it wasn’t to become a Marine, but a lawyer. I had finally decided what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I didn’t have the financial resources to get there. So, I enlisted in order to qualify for the GI Bill benefits, which help military members pursue a college education. I figured I would serve my country, see a bit of the world, save a little money into the bargain, and then get out, finish my degree, and go to law school. That was the plan, and off to the recruiting station I went. Approximately one year later . . .
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