Its Okay to Manage Your Boss: The Step-by-Step Program for Making the Best of Your Most Important Relationship at Work [Hardcover]

Bruce Tulgan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2010

Get what you need from your boss

In this follow-up to the bestselling It's Okay to Be the Boss, Bruce Tulgan argues that as managers demand more and more from their employees, they are also providing them with less guidance than ever before. Since the number one factor in employee success is the relationship between employees and their immediate managers, employees need to take greater responsibility for getting the most out of that relationship. Drawing on years of experience training managers and employees, Tulgan reveals the four essential things employees should get from their bosses to guarantee success at work.

• Shows employees how to ask for what they need to succeed in their high-pressure jobs
• Shatters previously held beliefs about how employees should manage up
• Outlines what employees must get from their managers: clear expectations; the skills needed to perform their jobs; honest feedback, recognition or rewards

A novel approach to managing up, It's Okay to Manage Your Boss is an invaluable resource for employees who want to work more effectively with their managers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tulgan doesn't waste time tooting his own horn, telling stories, or cracking jokes. He just gives advice, and good advice it is. A business adviser and public speaker, Tulgan sees a pattern in the workplace: employees flail when they're undermanaged. There are any number of reasons for this, from bosses who don't want to micromanage or be perceived as difficult, to overworked managers that simply lack sufficient time. Whatever the reason, the result for the undermanaged employee is frustration, stagnation, or worse. Tulgan fills his book with strategies for ensuring that employees have the opportunity to do their job, performing tasks properly and on time. Chapters cover making expectations clear, accessing necessary resources, and tracking performance, among other topics, and advice is given on avoiding mistakes when trying to manage your boss and dealing with "jerk" bosses. Tulgan even offers advice to telecommuters for managing their bosses from home. Anyone lucky enough to work for the perfect boss may skip Tulgan's guide, but everybody else will want to take his suggestions to the office.
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Review

"It's Okay to Manage Your Boss provides practical, relevant strategies you can use to create a successful partnership with your manager. A terrific follow-up to It's Okay to Be the Boss. Now both manager and employee have effective tools to get the most from their relationship!"
—Angela Hornsby, vice president human resources, Applebee's Services Inc.

"Once again Tulgan tackles the myths in today's undermanaged workplace with practical and straightforward guidance. I have been a boss for nearly thirty years and I have not seen a more realistic and practical way to improve workplace relationships and career results. If you are-or want to be a high performer- read this book!"
—Jon Morrison, president and general manager, Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems

"Tulgan's latest book presents insightful information and practical tips to help anyone successfully deal with undermanagement-a problem many employees encounter in corporations and organizations. In an engaging, clear, warm, and direct manner, Bruce presents common sense advice and a set of tools and ideas that empower self-management as well as 'other' management! A must read for anybody interested in professional growth."
—Tiane Mitchell Gordon, senior vice president, Office of Diversity & Inclusion, AOL, LLC

"Tulgan has a remarkable ability to translate complicated concepts into easily understood and actionable steps. His common sense approach coupled with his enthusiasm and 'can do' attitude give confidence to all who follow his work."
—Victoria Nolan, managing director, Yale Repertory Theatre, and deputy dean, Yale School of Drama

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470605308
• ISBN-13: 978-0470605301
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Tulgan (New Haven, CT) is the author or coauthor of numerous books including, NOT EVERYONE GETS A TROPHY (2009), the best-seller IT'S OKAY TO BE THE BOSS (2007), and the classic MANAGING GENERATION X (1995). Since founding the management training firm RainmakerThinking, Inc. in 1993, he has been a sought-after keynote speaker and seminar leader. Tulgan's weekly video newsletter is available for free at www.rainmakerthinking.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Half the battle is staying professional September 21, 2010

By Rico Suave

Format:Hardcover

Bruce has done it again. If you're like me, someone wanting to improve upon your leadership skills, yet you work for a boss that shows little to no interest in your professional career, this book is definitely the book for you. It separates myths from reality with Bruce's upfront step by step of setting the foundation for your forthright management relationship. He is candid and upfront that managing is not simple nor easy and that improving upon any relationship won't happen overnight. However, he gives you step by step actions to put into place for assisting you and your manager in tracking your performance, rewards and focus on exactly what is expected of you. He also helps you to realize that candid feedback is beneficial to your professional career development.

This is a brilliant supporting read to "It's Okay to be the Boss".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Resolving "undermanagement" issues require hands-on techniques September 15, 2010

By Mark Kurber

Format:Hardcover

Managing up does not come naturally. Tulgan's new book promises and delivers in its hands-on "step-by-step" approach. Like most successful business people, I've attended dozens of seminars and read hundreds of business related books. So often we are left with that nagging feeling of uncertainty as to "what do I do next?" In this dynamic and insecure economic environment, it's refreshing to have a step-by-step process to maintaining clear-cut goals and expectations, maximizing resources (yours and your managers), receiving appropriate feedback and garnering the rewards for your successes in a business environment that's wringing more and more out of each of us (from the top down). Working more effectively with managers requires taking a modicum of control and Tulgan provides techniques for symbiotically and systematically achieving a high level of performance through this relationship.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars At last! September 24, 2010

By E. L. Sweeney

Format:Hardcover

This is the book I have been waiting for! Every single public school teacher needs this book. When you work in an environment in which quite a few people are promoted to management to get them away from your primary clientele, you need a book to tell you how to be successful in spite of lousy management. Tulgan's advice and strategies can save your sanity and possibly your career.