Book Description

Have you ever noticed how dysfunctional bosses come in many different disguises? Some mask their flaws by being insecure, others by being control freaks, or by just being freaked-out micro-managers. Others are panicky, self-doubters but act like know-it-alls, while still others are unconfident and overcompensate by giving you unrealistic goals and drive you into the ground expecting you to meet goals that no sane person on earth could ever meet. FACT Bad managers are traditionally the all-time #1 reason employees leave a company. Bad managers SUCK!! Oh yeah, there are other reasons why people leave their job, like; job insecurity, lack of empowerment or authority, lack of respect, no opportunity for growth, not allowed to use key skills, little or no training, no access to critical information, no commitment to employees, no opportunity for involvement in decision-making, coworkers suck, work culture really sucks, no work-life balance, unfair treatment, no recognition, not challenging enough, bored, communication blows, the job is not what was expected, little or no benefits, no performance feedback, no direction from leadership, people get away with murder, no one is held accountable, or work ethic in this place is fucked up! The list is endless AND as the saying goes...employees don't leave companies, they leave MANAGERS. We have spent countless hours in conversations, delivery training sessions, and conducting coaching sessions with people all over the world who are struggling with dealing with their challenging manager. There is no question about it, after, over forty combined years of dealing with, working for and being in management, our mission is to pay it forward so that you can minimize frustration and maximize effort. The strategies in this book are the same strategies we've trained thousands of people to use successfully in real life situations for years. Organizations around the world spend countless dollars developing their front line people to provide epic customer service for their customers. Why should so many who have grand purposes for change have to work for a crappy, underdeveloped boss? One of the things we've seen over and over is that managers are always looking for ways to train their front line people BUT they rarely pick up a book or take a management course to hone their own skills. AND if they do, they hardly ever put anything new into practice. One bad manager can ruin what might otherwise be a great culture and work environment. There are trillions of what we'll call "horrific management styles" out there which result in wasted time and wasted hard-earned company dollars, and they destroy countless promising careers, just like yours, if you let them. One of the first lessons in life is figuring out who we should listen to and who we shouldn't. It seems like a no-brainer right? If you have a choice (which you do), learn from someone who has actually accomplished what you're trying to accomplish. That's what we've done here. We've learned from some really great, and equally, from some really bad managers. We're grateful to them all. We've pieced together the best information on how to hack your manager, so you don't have to go through a lot of pain and frustration and waste a bunch of time dealing with a less-than-awesome manager, who will hold you back from achieving your career goals. Looking back on our careers as managers, sales consultants, marketers, corporate trainers and independent consultants, we've observed management styles (and we're not talking about Harvard-level qualities either) that have stood out. We've taken the best qualities we've observed and experienced and adopted them into our own management style. Are we saying we're perfect managers in the world? NO! AND, what we're about to share with you hasn't failed us yet.