How to Become a Great Boss: The Rules For Getting and Keeping the Best Employees (Hardcover)

by Jeffrey J. Fox (Author) "The employee was twenty-four. It was his first real job..." (more)
Key Phrases: great boss, hiring manager, being lucky, Bobby Thomson, Winston Churchill

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Great Boss Simple Success Formula

Companies Do What the Boss Does
Groom 'Em, or Broom 'Em
Hire Slow, Fire Fast
Don't Be Tired
The Rule of the Ds
Delegate Down, Down, Down
Don't Hire a Dog and Bark Yourself
Don't Shoot from the Lip
Never Be Little, Never Belittle
Listen to Phonies, Fools, and Frauds
Don't Check Expense Accounts
"Quit" Is for Scrabble
It's Okay to Be Quirky

Did you ever have a great boss? Everyone should have one, but not enough people do. If you're a boss, or hope to become one, or have a less-than-great boss, then this is the book that could change your career-and your life.

In times like these, being a great boss can be harder than ever. If you want surprising and useful advice on how to handle the tough stuff -- from having to fire a long-time employee to being a new boss with a demoralized team -- the stories, observations, and advice contained in this gem of a book will set your feet in the right direction. And if you just want advice on living up to the legend who preceded you in the job, or even ways to emulate someone who was a great boss to you, Jeffrey Fox has gathered anecdotes from some of the mightiest and most respected bosses in America. The bestselling author who brought you How to Become CEO and How to Become a Rainmaker knows the territory about which he speaks.

Fox is the master of the counterintuitive angle. For every boss who has implied "I know what's best, that's why I'm the boss," Fox counsels, "Listen to Phonies, Fools, and Frauds" and "Don't Check Expense Accounts." His stories from bosses who have cared equally for employees' lives and the bottom line will inspire you to see that profit counts, but so do camaraderie, motivation, and a great place to work.

In a time of considerable corporate downsizing, it's more important than ever for bosses to surround themselves with motivated employees. Jeffrey Fox's newest volume will have a place on the shelves of top brass everywhere who want to remain leaders of their pack.

About the Author
Jeffrey J. Fox is the bestselling author of How to Become a Rainmaker and How to Become CEO and the founder of Fox & Co., a premier marketing consulting company in Avon, CT. Prior to starting Fox & Co., he was VP Marketing and Corporate VP of Loctite Corporation. Fox is the subject of a top 100 Harvard Business School case study that is also thought to be the most widely taught marketing case study in the world. A frequent speaker to large organizations and groups of senior executives, he is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in New Hampshire.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (May 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786868236
• ISBN-13: 978-0786868230
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,360 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book For Bosses, October 11, 2002

By	Peter Hupalo (MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"How To Become A Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and Keeping the Best Employees" by Jeffrey J. Fox provides solid, highly-readable business lessons to help entrepreneurs improve their leadership and management skills.

Fox says bosses should hire only 'A' players or people who have the potential to become 'A' players. Fox defines an 'A player' as someone combining attitude and ability. Fox says, while you might be able to groom a B player into an A player, you'll never be able to turn a C player into an A player. The best place for C players is with the competition.

"Don't let mediocrity in the door," advises Fox, or it will spread throughout the organization. "Once mediocrity is pervasive, it is as hard to rid from the organization as it is to rid lice from a camel," writes Fox.

Pointing out the huge cost of a mishire, including wasted training, damaged morale, and the missed opportunity of having the job done right, Fox suggests bosses adopt the motto of "Hire Slow, Fire Fast."

In addition to doing full background checks and giving tests and extensive interviews when hiring, Fox recommends that all job roles ultimately serve the company's end customer.

Fox writes: "It is the customer's money that funds paychecks, bonuses, health insurance, taxes, and everything else. Because it is the customer who pays the employees, then the employees-all employees, including the boss-work for the customer. Therefore, every single job in a company must be designed to get or keep customers."

Once you've hired the right people for the right roles, you must let employees do their jobs and not micromanage or do the work yourself- Fox's motto: "Don't Hire a Dog and Bark Yourself." You must give employees adequate training and be sure they understand their responsibilities. Fox suggests bosses spend at least ten minutes each day teaching.

Fox writes: "The great boss provides learning opportunities, new experiences, in-house and outside seminars, reading lists, on-the-job training, and hands-on instruction. The great boss knows that the best people are learners. ..."

Fox tells us that many bosses spend too much time with poor-performing employees. He recommends bosses spend most of their time with their best employees. Fox writes: "Too many bosses are attracted to the problematical employees as moths to the flame. Too many bosses invest too much time with low-performing employees who deliver a low return on the time invested in them. Too many bosses under-invest in their best-performing people assets."

In addition to developing the art of grooming employees for new roles in your company and fostering learning, Fox says you must be effective in delegating work.

"If you are delegating without clear direction or without providing appropriate training, you are not delegating you are relegating-relegating the employee to error making and misperformance. If you delegate without a schedule for follow-up and inspection, you haven't delegated, you have abdicated," writes Fox.

Fox says bosses don't get what they expect. They get what they inspect. Because everyone looks to the boss to set an example, if the boss isn't concerned about customer satisfaction, for example, the employees won't care about customer satisfaction either.

"How To Become A Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and Keeping the Best Employees" contains many short and interesting stories about leadership. For example, Fox describes the owner of a construction contracting company who tried to lead by intimidation. The construction owner was rude and mean to everybody, and suppliers and employees alike didn't really care about his success. Instead of working effectively for him, employees weren't attentive to detail and made many costly "mistakes." Rather than earning $2 million on a $23 million construction project, the contractor lost $2 million and went out-of-business.

Peter Hupalo, Author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur"

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of useful ideas for any work setting, January 28, 2003

By	Blaine Greenfield "eclectic reader" (Belle Meade, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Recently, I read HOW TO BECOME A RAINMAKER: THE RULES
FOR GETTING AND KEEPING CUSTOMERS AND CLIENTS by
Jeffrey J. Fox . . . it was one of the best business books that I have come across in a long time.

So when I came across an earlier book by Fox--HOW TO BECOME
A GREAT BOSS: THE RULES FOR GETTING AND KEEPING THE
BEST EMPLOYEES--I just had to get hold of it . . . and I did, getting the chance to listen to the taped version . . . I'm glad I did, too; it's another winner!

Fox presents nothing brilliantly new, but he writes in a clear and readable fashion . . . in doing so, he presents lots of ideas that you can immediately apply to almost any management
situation . . . he also makes it clear that management involves
just about anything that we do, and a result, we should perhaps
think of many folks as "managers" that might not ordinarily
fit into that category (I'm thinking parents here, for example).

In particular, I liked his following "Great Boss Simple Success
Formula":
1. Only hire top-notch, excellent people.
2. Put the right people in the right job. Weed out the wrong people.
3. Tell the people what needs to be done.
4. Tell the people why it is needed.
5. Leave the job up to the people you've chosen to do it.
6. Train the people.
7. Listen to the people.
8. Remove frustration and barriers that fetter the people.
9. Inspect progress.
10. Say "Thank you" publicly and privately.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Perspectives on "Boss", April 29, 2002

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Fox has written several other books, some of which I have reviewed. He continues to display a unique talent for focusing on a key point and then expressing it clearly and concisely. Unlike many other business authors, Fox may re-examine certain themes (e.g. appropriate mindsets for a decision-maker) but almost never recycles material. That is especially true of this volume in which he shares feedback for a rather long list of executives who are listed in the "Contributors" section. Many years ago, Sir Isaac Newton observed that "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." That is not to suggest that Fox is a a midget; rather, to suggest that he is an active and receptive student of those who -- in this instance -- are all great "bosses." A brief word about "boss." Obviously, few executives become a CEO but all executives -- directly or indirectly -- can have a profound impact on those for whom they are responsible. In this volume, Fox suggests what a "great boss" is...and isn't. He also explains why.

He organizes his material within 50 brief but insightful chapters, followed by an "Epilogue," a series of personal statements by various senior-level executives which compellingly illustrate how and why "Great Bosses Beget Great Bosses." The inverse is also true: "Ineffective Bosses Beget Ineffective Bosses." For example, on a scale of 1-10, a 6 or 7 boss never hires a 9 or 10. Moreover, my own experience suggests that if and when a 6 or 7 inadvertently hires a 9 or 10 (or one with the capabilities to become one), the 6 or 7 either runs the 9 or 10 off or ensures that the development of that promising person is suppressed. "Great bosses" are never threatened by a 9 or 10. On the contrary, they only hire the best and the brightest. Fox urges his reader to spend supervisory time with the best people because "the top 10-20% of the employees [in any organization] deliver 70-80% of the results."

Obviously, I think very highly of this slim but informative book. Those who share my high regard for it are urged to check out Buckingham and Coffman's First, Break All the Rules; Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee's Primal Leadership; Maister's Practice What You Preach; O'Toole's The Executive's Compass; Whyte's The Heart Aroused; and finally, Bossidy and Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Results.