My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide [Paperback]

Harry Chambers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

Most people think that micromanagement occurs only in management-employee relationships, but the truth is that it happens everywhere: employees micromanage managers, customers micromanaging vendors, board members micromanaging company leaders, parents micromanage children, governments micromanage citizens, peers micromanage one another, and more. With shoot-from-the-hip style and plenty of real-world examples, My Way or the Highway illustrates how micromanagement interferes with performance and productivity, resulting in huge costs - hidden, direct, and indirect - to individuals and organizations. In highly practical terms, management expert Harry Chambers explains the art of dealing with micromanagers at a personal level and how to introduce the more system-wide changes needed for productive environments. Readers learn valuable strategies for lessening the impact of micromanagers, as well as how to identify and correct their own managerial behaviors.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this perceptive and practical guide, Chambers, the author of The Bad Attitude Survival Guide and president of Trinity Solutions, an Atlanta-based training and consulting company, prescribes ways to cope with bosses of the most irritating order—the micromanagers. Almost anyone who has collected a paycheck will recognize the destructive managerial behaviors that Chambers describes with piercing acuity in this volume—behaviors such as not listening to others, exercising power indiscriminately, feeding on the failure of subordinates, delegating blame, personalizing disagreements, imposing arbitrary deadlines, mismanaging meetings and delegating responsibility while keeping a vise grip on authority. "For most micromanagers," Chambers writes, "the term empowerment means the sharing of responsibility with others, but not the sharing of authority. They exercise control by requiring that others receive their approval for decisions, changes, and courses of action.... This is a major contributor to the high stress levels in today’s work environment." Not only does Chambers offer hard-nosed advice for employees bashing pates with micromanagers, but he gives guidance to those who must supervise them. Though his advice basically amounts to talking to your micromanager, involving him or her in "Determining How the Behavior Will Be Changed" and monitoring those changes, this book can be a helpful resource for readers who are frazzled by a hands-on-everything boss and those who need to purge their own management styles of unproductive attitudes.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A must-read for those who think they are exceptional managers." -- Scott Zakrajsek, Plant Manager, Electrolux Home Products

"A real wake-up call for someone who was going down the road towards becoming a micromanager." -- Joseph T. Bork, Director of Employer Education Services, University of Minnesota

"An excellent read! Chambers is a master at getting to the point about what is critical to good management." -- Diane Valek, President & CEO, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia and Alabama

"Chambers offers fresh insights and tools to overcome the disruptive behaviors of micromanagers." -- Angie Fitts, CPA, Accounting Operations Director, Cingular Wireless

"Once again Harry Chambers has written a timely hands-on book dealing with a disruptive workplace practice." -- Ronald L. Melchiorre, Executive Director Center for Management Development, Boise State University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576752968
• ISBN-13: 978-1576752968
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EVERY EMPLOYED PERSON NEEDS THIS BOOK, January 12, 2005

By 

Bill Lampton, Ph.D. "Speech Coach for Champions" (Gainesville, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide (Paperback)

Having spent twenty-three years in senior management positions, I know that every employed person needs this book. Those who micromanage others will learn how damaging their supervisory straightjacket is to morale and productivity. Those who report to micromanagers will learn tactful strategies for changing their employer's habits and expectations.

Harry Chambers writes with clarity and humor. Frequently, he illustrates his points with case studies, survey reports and real-life incidents.

During my career, I endured several micromanagers, with some of them bordering on micromania. Too bad this book wasn't available then. I would have been better equipped to respond to their annoying, intrusive styles.

I recommend My Way or The Highway enthusiastically. As the subtitle promises, this book serves as The Micromanagement Survival Guide.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hope and Help Are Here, October 14, 2004

By 

Patti (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide (Paperback)

Is a micromanager the boss of you? Thanks to Harry Chambers, you're no longer hopeless -- or helpless. In "My Way or the Highway," Chambers offers hundreds of no-nonsense tips for surviving -- even thriving -- with the "micro" boss. If you're serious about fighting back, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful, March 17, 2007

By 

Suzanne (Trumbull, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide (Paperback)

This book helped me to learn that one can't try to change their boss, but they can change their own communication style to enable the boss to feel more secure.