12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun as well as edifying., July 4, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: Problem Bosses: Who They Are and How to Deal With Them (Hardcover)
I got a copy of this book after reading a review of it in an in-flight magazine. The review told of another one of those self-help books that's not just another one of those self-help books, one that took the position that problem bosses are the norm, not the exception, that serious problem bosses are not just misguided workaholics, they are sadists. I had to read this book immediately.
It turns out that it is written by a couple of psychologists who have been writing books and conducting seminars for years, not to help employees with problem bosses, ironically, but to help bosses with problem employees. Why, then, the seeming turn-about? Grothe and Wylie tell in their introduction how, while on an airplane, a businessman who was familiar with their work commented on how he could have used a book written from the other perspective as well. They realized immediately what a huge audience they had overlooked and got to work right away.
The resulting book is a very well organized, very easily understood guide to organizing one's thoughts and observations about the employment situation one is in and how to most effectively use the conclusions that result. Grothe and Wylie's program does not simply tell the reader what to do, it carefully examines the world of the problem boss, where he comes from, how he got the way he is and why he gets away with it. Then, through a series of exercises, it prods the reader into reaching his own conclusions about his employer/employee relationship.
The exercises are built around a system that Grothe and Wylie call TRAC, which stands
for Trust, Respect, Affection and Confidence. With the TRAC method and various other rating devices, like the Chemistry Analysis, the reader determines what it is he really wants or needs from an employer, much in the same way one might list what he or she wants out of a personal relationship.
Finally, all of the book's philosophies are brought together by extensive detailings of twelve actions one can take to better his or her employment experience. Actually, these detailings, complete with drawbacks and possible repercussions, take up the bulk of
the book.
I noticed as I read the book myself that, in almost every case, the word "boss" could be replaced with the word "coach" without affecting the meaning or the usefulness of the text. This sentence from the book's promotional copy, for example: "Do you know what it's like to bust your butt to do a good job and have the boss take all the credit?" Athletes and parents are not, of course, employed by their coaches, but I've met so many who seem to have forgotten this fact.
One thing I'm sure all readers will like is Grothe and Wylie's list of boss types: The Tyrant, The Bully, The Credit-Taker, The Paranoid, The Company Man, The Jungle-Fighter, it goes on and on. It's actually fun to check off the ones you've met. Boss, coach or otherwise.
But be warned, Problem Bosses is not just a boss-bashing marathon. Through the book, and
this its greatest value, you may find that you have no problem at all. Or maybe even that YOU are the problem
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