The Boss's Survival Guide (Paperback)

by Bob Rosner (Author), Allan Halcrow (Author), Alan Levins (Author) "It's not your father's management job..." (more)
Key Phrases: emotional intelligence competencies, meet with the employee, essential job functions, Get More Information, Least the Minimum, Real Life Examples (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
If managing people once felt like a stay at the Taj Mahal, today it's more like a visit to Beirut's Commodore Hotel, where guests were asked upon check-in, "Sniper side or shelling side?" As author and columnist Bob Rosner pointed out in his earlier book, Working Wounded, bosses are poked from above and prodded from below. How to cope? The Boss's Survival Guide aims to give managers tools for handling the shrapnel. Its 430 pages discuss the 65 most vexing challenges bosses face today, including how to screen out jerks when hiring, how to let people go fairly and legally, how to change an employee's problem behavior, and how to keep people motivated.

Don't let the size of The Boss's Survival Guide daunt you; this is not a book to sit and read cover to cover. It's meant as a reference tool, a kind of Physician's Desk Reference for help when you're facing a specific dilemma. Which is not to say it's a dull read. On the contrary, the authors (who, in addition to Rosner, include Allan Halcrow, former editor of Workforce magazine, and Alan Levins, an employment attorney) have worked overtime to present the information in humorous, easy-to-digest snapshots. Each chapter is divided into four sections: a short background area called "Know the Issue"; a set of concrete action steps; a highly useful section called "Stay out of Jail"; and "Manage Up," a short section on how to handle your own boss. Most chapters also include brief real-world examples and indicate where to go if you need more information on a particular problem.

Overall, the book is a comprehensive, highly readable reference tool that would be of use to both new and seasoned managers. In a cover quote, business luminary Ken Blanchard writes, "This book has everything you'll ever need to know about being an effective boss but don't have time to learn." He's right on the money. --Charles Decker

Product Description
In today’s booming economy, there are more jobs than there are qualified people to fill them. Retaining those qualified employees has become a manager’s top priority. Today’s managers not only need to make sure their employees are productive, but also need to make sure their employees remain satisfied and motivated—otherwise employees will leave.

According to recent surveys, what really causes employees to stay or drives them away is “the boss,” and not money or perks. That means that managers need to learn how to manage in ways that will attract qualified workers and make them want to stay. Short on theory and long on hands-on, real-world advice and guidance, this survival guide:

• Tells managers, in plain English, why and how they need to change the way they operate in order to hold on to valued employees
• Covers all the bases, including hiring and orientation, team-building, coaching, setting expectations, painless performance appraisals, and other day-to-day issues
• Features Rosner’s trademark humor— well-known to the tens of thousands of loyal readers of his nationally syndicated column, “Working Wounded”

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Product Details

• Paperback: 430 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071362738
• ISBN-13: 978-0071362733
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 3.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #257,378 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Common Sense in the Work Place - All in One Place, June 3, 2001

By	ac (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

To survive as a boss you need common sense. Unfortunately, when faced with a troubling situation, most of us react instead of thinking the problem through. This book is really valuale because it both helps the employer deal with a specific situation and how to create a good working environment, for both the boss and the worker, generally. You can refer to it to figure out how to handle a tough problem. Equally important, it should be read from time to time to give you a refresher on how to be a good, smart, fair boss. It is a greater reminder and renovator of common sense. If you have employees, you should have this on your shelf.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EVEN IF YOU DO HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS - READ THE BOOK!, June 14, 2001

By	Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I have been teaching and counselling in business management for thirty years and to this day I still learn as much from my students as they learn from me. Learning is an on-going life process. If does not matter if you are a President, Chief Executive Officer, Manager, or whatever other title you have had bestowed upon you (or bestowed upon youself,) you should still read this book. From top executive to labourer, you will find some very valuable knowledge that will keep you on the path to success. Even if you do, REALLY AND HONESTLY DO, have all the answers, the book is still worth reading for no other reason than the pure enjoyment.

The one aspect of the book that immediaately caught by attention was Rosner's wit and writing style. While the book was not written for its humour, the author has such a light-hearted writing style that the reader instantly warms up to Rosner and says, "This guy isn't just 'a wanna-be with an opinion'who only thinks he knows how to be effective; he IS effective!"

If you truly want to know what it is all about to be a "boss" and what separates the successful ones from the others who never quite make it, I also highly recommend another five-star book (actually worth a lot more stars than five), "First Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently" by Marcus Buchingham, Curt Coffman - it is a real treasure to behold!

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Boss's Survival Guide by Bob Rosner, etal, June 5, 2001

By	CE Britton (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This is a 'Must Have' book for anyone trying to make their way through the nervewracking maze that is Management today. I was pleased to have my questions and concerns addressed seriously, with sound advice, without being bored out of my head by a stuffy writing style. I laughed... I cried... I got the help and direction I was looking for and actually enjoyed the process. Mr. Rosner has great insight and compassion; meeting Management Dilemmas head-on, without flinching. It's obvious that he and his co-authors know their business. Buy it... Read it... Live it. You will be VERY glad you did!