Managing Your Boss (Harvard Business Review Classics) (Harvard Business Review Classics) [Paperback]

John J. Gabarro (Author), John P. Kotter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1422122883 | ISBN-13: 978-1422122884 | Publication Date: February 1, 2008

Managing your boss: Isn't that merely manipulation? Corporate cozying up? Not according to John Gabarro and John Kotter. In this handy guidebook, the authors contend that you manage your boss for a very good reason: to do your best on the job--and thereby benefit not only yourself but also your supervisor and your entire company.

Your boss depends on you for cooperation, reliability, and honesty. And you depend on him or her for links to the rest of the organization, for setting priorities, and for obtaining critical resources. By managing your boss--clarifying your own and your supervisor's strengths, weaknesses, goals, work styles, and needs--you cultivate a relationship based on mutual respect and understanding. The result? A healthy, productive bond that enables you both to excel.

Gabarro and Kotter provide valuable guidelines for building this essential relationship--including strategies for determining how your boss prefers to process information and make decisions, tips for communicating mutual expectations, and tactics for negotiating priorities.

Thought provoking and practical, Managing Your Boss enables you to lay the groundwork for one of the most crucial working relationships you'll have in your career.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John J. Gabarro is the UPS Foundation Professor of Human Resource Management at Harvard Business School in Boston. Now retired, John P. Kotter was the Konosuke Matsushita Professor Leadership at Harvard Business School.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1422122883
• ISBN-13: 978-1422122884
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Management
  • #50 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Motivational

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Developing a good working relationship with your superior, December 31, 2001

By 

Gerard Kroese (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Managing Your Boss (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) (Digital)

Both authors are Professors at the Harvard Business School. This article was originally published in January-February 1980, this On-Point version includes a retrospective commentary and was published in January-February 1993. Both authors have written several books on general management, leadership, and human resource management.

The term 'managing your boss' means "the process of consciously working with your superior to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss, and the company." It does not refer to political maneuvering or apple polishing. In this article the authors explain by using both successful and unsuccessful boss-manager relationship how to develop a productive relationship with your boss. First, you need to understand your boss and his/her context. It is necessary to appreciate their goals and pressures, their strengths and weaknesses. But this is only one-half of the relationship, you also need to know your own needs, strengths and weaknesses, and personal style. "With a clear understanding of both your boss and yourself, you can usually establish a way of working together that fits both of you ..." The authors provide a short checklist for 'managing your boss', which is supplemented with a discussion on compatible work styles, mutual expectations, the information flow, dependability and honesty, and use of time and resources. The article is complemented with a retrospective commentary by the editors of the Harvard Business Review.

Lots of traditional management books discussed the importance of top-down management, but this article was one of the first to discuss the upward relationship between manager and boss. The article provides great insights, excellent practical advice, and uses good examples. It is no surprise that it has become one of the best-selling Harvard Business Review articles. I highly recommend it to leaders, managers, and MBA-students. The authors use simple US-English.

1.0 out of 5 stars Such a disappointing - my first book from amazon, December 28, 2011

By 

BenBen_Miao - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Managing Your Boss (Harvard Business Review Classics) (Harvard Business Review Classics) (Paperback)

Don't waste your money on this book, which gave you the charming key words such as: "Harvard Business Review" "Classics" etc.
It is only 45 pages, 100 words per page, and the worst of all: it tells you all the ideal theory everybody knows, it doesn't help you anything.
I am very disappointed to pay 8 bucks buy such a small thin useless book. Actually this gave me a lesson that buying book from Amazon, although the price advantage of buying it from Amazon is really attractive, I feel we still need those local bookstores, where you can spend a whole afternoon to look around, and search for the best fit. If this tiny book was on the book shelf, I would have not even been interested to have a look at it.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Digital Version is Short, August 6, 2009

By 

Green Bean (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Managing Your Boss (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) (Digital)

Beware-- the digital version is only 11 pages long. A similar version of this can be found FOR FREE online. The should be more clear about what they're offering. I had the impression I was buying the whole book.