Crazy Bosses

Jam-packed with new anecdotes, updated references, and modernized jokes, Stanley Bing’s seminal investigation of what makes bosses crazy is now revised for a new generation. Fans of television’s The Office and the cult film Office Space will love this classic guide to the universal workplace phenomenon of crazy bosses, now updated for a new century’s worth of insane supervisors. Bestselling author and business guru Stanley Bing’s Crazy Bosses identifies the various types of crazy bosses—the boss with the five brains, the bully, the paranoid boss, the narcissist, the “bureaucrazy,” and the disaster hunter—and offers readers concrete strategies on how to cope, and, most importantly, how not to become crazy bosses themselves.

Drawing on hundreds of no-holds-barred interviews, the renowned Executive Summary columnist for Esquire dissects the mentality of the workplace--and comes up with solid strategies for those who work under the constant battle siege of the difficult boss.

If you were intrigued by the title of this book, you are probably the type of business book reader who's had enough of management self-help and touchy-feely tomes, enough of how-to guides that encourage you to take the kinder, gentler approach to competitors, customers, and employees. You are ready for the gloves to come off, and the one thing you'll want in your hands when they do is the first can-do, how-to, kick-butt gonzo guide to driving your competitors off the deep end. In the time-honored tradition of the maxim "It's not how you play the game, but whether you win or lose," bestselling author of Selling the Dream and Forbes columnist Guy Kawasaki has written the definitive take-no-prisoners guide to help the Davids to beat the Goliaths. The product of Kawasaki's years of experience as an evangelist for the then-upstart Apple and as a computer guru and business strategist, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy as an invaluable source book of irreverent and sometimes extreme stratagems in sales, marketing, production, and human resources that will help your company or organization get and keep the upper hand. Whether you are launching a new company or product, consolidating your strength in the marketplace, or trying to hold your own against a competitor with greater resources, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy offers a comprehensive blueprint for success. From the initial steps of learning as much about your own company as you do about your enemy to advanced techniques like playing with your opponents' minds, Guy Kawasaki explores every facet of the premise that the best defense is a good offense. Staking territory somewhere between the arts of Zen and war, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy is a resource no company can afford to be without.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Compiles everything that disgruntled and optimistic assistants everywhere promise never to do when, one day, they have assistants of their own.

A veteran career columnist shows employees how to avoid getting bounced out the door. In colorful letters from outraged managers as well as mystified employees who can't seem to figure out why they're not getting ahead, career columnist Anita Bruzzese gets an inside view on the types of behavior bosses love and reward- and all the unspoken things, large and small, that they can't stand. In this engaging and much-needed book, she reveals the most common complaints from bosses about what their employees are doing wrong-from copying the wrong people on e-mail to kicking the soda machine in a moment of rage to blogging about their jobs-and offers advice on how to shape up and work right.