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

Robert I. Sutton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2010

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.) (c)
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Review

I loved this book - immediately my favorite business book. There are so many great principles and ideas to live up to, backed up by real data - it should be every boss' responsibility to read and understand it. (John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla Corporation, producer of the Firefox web browser )

Good Boss, Bad Boss does a wonderful job of challenging conventional wisdom while outlining a clear and compelling rationale for thinking differently. From Sutton's useful steps for getting "in tune" with what it feels like to work for you, to evidence that eliminating the negative is more powerful than accentuating the positive, to the importance of demonstrating confidence with the admission that you're not always right. Good Boss, Bad Boss teaches the art and the science of practical leadership for the 21^st century. I would consider it a must-read for anyone looking to improve their impact and accelerate their desired outcomes. (Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit )

This book is the personal coach that every boss deserves: warm, smart, and freakishly good at translating scientific research into practical tips that will help keep you at the top of your game. (Chip & Dan Heath, authors of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard )

We are damned lucky to have Bob Sutton. While his every word is backed up by significant research, he writes in simple sentences that make enormous sense. Typical in this book, Sutton's little chart in Chapter 3, 'Smart Versus Wise Bosses,' is worth, all by itself, 100 times the price of admission. Good Boss, Bad Boss is as good as it gets. (Tom Peters, author of The Little Big Things and co-author of In Search of Excellence )

It has been damn near impossible to find consistently good and objective insight and analysis from business thought leaders. But Robert I. Sutton, a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford and the Stanford Institute of Design (where we have overlapped), is an exception. His new book, out now, is his best to date. Good Boss, Bad Boss is food for thought for managers and leaders in organizations large and small. It is packed with insight, lists of "how to" suggestions, and questions for bosses to ask themselves. (Reuters )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus (September 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446556084
• ISBN-13: 978-0446556088
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Sutton is Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He studies innovation, leadership, and civilized workplaces. Sutton has written five books including New York Times bestseller "The No A**hole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't," which won the Quill Award for the best business book of 2007. His new book "Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best ....and Learn from the Worst" will appear in September 2010. Sutton was named as one of 10 "B-School All-Stars" by BusinessWeek, described as "professors who are influencing contemporary business thinking far beyond academia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book about good and bad bosses, August 24, 2010

By 

Benjamin Dattner (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst (Hardcover)

Bob Sutton's latest book is a great read, and is filled with vivid examples of leaders who do things right, or wrong. Sutton is a talented story teller, and brings bosses to life in his descriptions of real life executives and managers, and also draws on his deep knowledge of psychology to explain, in clear terms, why the actions of bosses are so impactful, for better or for worse, on the people who work for them. This book does what so few management and leadership books are able to- it balances "showing" through real world stories with "telling" through established theories of social psychology. Anyone who has a boss, or is a boss, will benefit from reading this book.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnets and septic tanks, September 7, 2010

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst (Hardcover)

However defined, a "boss" by nature is given or somehow obtains at least some degree of control of and - yes - responsibility for others, for better or worse. Its connotations have become so diverse that the term's meaning is almost entirely determined by the person who invokes it. The inmates of a prison, for example, do not have the same meaning in mind when referring to a guard they fear as do fans of Bruce Springsteen when describing someone they revere. In the business world, however, everyone agrees that having a "good boss" is highly preferable to having a "bad boss." Now and for the first time insofar as I know, Robert Sutton has written a book in which all of the attention is devoted to a rigorous examination of these two types.

Having read and then reviewed most of Sutton's previous books, I was not surprised to find so much valuable material (i.e. information and especially counsel) in his latest book. He also includes contributions from a diverse group of people who share their own experiences, opinions and suggestions. They include Michael McCain ("A Recipe for an Effective Apology," Pages 64-65), Margie Mauldin (the "Tape Method" to manage anger, Pages 92-93), Matthew May (a "dirty trick" to demonstrate how an organizational hierarchy can enable bad decisions, Pages 131-132), Bonny Warner-Simi (how to support and protect direct-reports by improving their performance evaluation process, Pages 165-166), and Paul Levy (how to support and protect those whom Jody Heymann characterizes - in Profit at the Bottom of the Ladder: Creating Value by Investing in Your Workforce -- as "the least-advantaged employees," Pages 195-196).

These and other contributions supplement those that Sutton includes as he delivers what the book's subtitle promises: an explanation of how to be the best (or at least a much better) boss by learning from real-world bosses who lack character and/or competence. "I use the word `boss' rather than `leader,' `manager,' or `supervisor' (although all are bosses) because it implies an authority figure that has direct and frequent contact with subordinates - and who is responsible for personally directing and evaluating their work." This book focuses on the differences between the best and worst bosses "when performing essential chores like taking charge, making wise decisions, turning talk into action, and doing their dirty work (i.e. work that is unpleasant but necessary but illegal, immoral, or unethical).

Sutton duly acknowledges that many of the ideas in this book are shaped by two books he co-authored with Jeffrey Pfeffer, The Knowing-Doing Gap and, more recently, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense. (Note: I highly recommend those as well as Pfeffer's latest book, Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't.) Readers will especially appreciate how Sutton presents his material. He makes skillful use of bold face, italics, brackets, and bullet points as well as sequences of separate but related ideas. For example:

"What the Best Bosses Do": Seven attributes (Pages 47-64)
"Tricks for Taking Charge": He identifies nine (Pages 68-70)
"The Attitude of Wisdom": Smart Bosses and Wise Bosses (Page 73)
"Participation Traps": He identifies and discusses three (Pages 88-91)
"Other Smart People's Tricks": He identifies nine (Pages 113-122)

As is also true in all of his previously published books and articles, Sutton identifies the "what" and explains the "why" of a good or bad business decision or initiative, then focuses most of his attention on how to do what must be done while avoiding (or repairing) the damage of what should not be done. Congratulations to Robert Sutton on a brilliant achievement. Bravo!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Leadership Book, August 29, 2010

By 

P. Klebahn "P." - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst (Hardcover)

Good Boss Bad Boss is a great book on leadership.

I have read almost all of Professor Sutton's books and I find his ability to find real world examples of just about any leadership style or challenge amazing. This book is no exception. Sutton talks about the leadership theory, but balances it with his shrewd and pragmatic lens on the real world. Sutton calls it like he sees it-no apologies. I enjoy the mixture of theory and reality. Sutton sees leadership as a craft; something personal.

This book is filled with great real world examples of leadership in many styles. I found it thought provoking, as I was able to think about how any one of these styles might suit me or my organization.

A great book and author.

Perry