It's Okay to Manage Your Boss: The Step-by-Step Program for Making the Best of Your Most Important Relationship at Work

by Bruce Tulgan

Overview

Get what you need from your boss

In this follow-up to the bestselling It's Okay to Be the Boss, Bruce Tulgan argues that as managers demand more and more from their employees, they are also providing them with less guidance than ever before. Since the number one factor in employee success is the relationship between employees and their immediate managers, employees need to take greater responsibility for getting the most out of that relationship. Drawing on years of experience training managers and employees, Tulgan reveals the four essential things employees should get from their bosses to guarantee success at work.

• Shows employees how to ask for what they need to succeed in their high-pressure jobs
• Shatters previously held beliefs about how employees should manage up
• Outlines what employees must get from their managers: clear expectations; the skills needed to perform their jobs; honest feedback, recognition or rewards

A novel approach to managing up, It's Okay to Manage Your Boss is an invaluable resource for employees who want to work more effectively with their managers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470605301
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	09/14/2010
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	565,527
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

BRUCE TULGAN is an adviser to business leaders all over the world and a sought-after speaker and seminar leader. He is the founder of RainmakerThinking, a workplace research and training firm, and has written for the New York Times, USA Today, Harvard Business Review, and HR Magazine. He is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling It’s Okay to Be the Boss, the classic Managing Generation X, and Not Everyone Gets a Trophy. Tulgan holds a fourth-degree black belt in karate and is married to Debby Applegate, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

For more information about the book and to view Bruce Tulgan’s video newsletter, please visit www.rainmakerthinking.com.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One

Refuse to Be Undermanaged 1

Chapter Two

The First Person You Have to Manage Every Day Is Yourself 33

Chapter Three

Get in the Habit of Managing Your Bosses Every Day 57

Chapter Four

Take It One Boss at a Time, One Day at a Time 75

Chapter Five

Make Sure You Understand What Is Expected of You 93

Chapter Six

Assess and Plan for the Resources You Need 107

Chapter Seven

Track Your Own Performance Every Step of the Way 121

Chapter Eight

Earn More Rewards by Doing More Work, Faster and Better 141

Chapter Nine

What If Your Boss Really Is a Jerk? 157

Chapter Ten

Start Here 173

Acknowledgments 189

About the Author 193

Index 195

Editorial Reviews

Tulgan doesn't waste time tooting his own horn, telling stories, or cracking jokes. He just gives advice, and good advice it is. A business adviser and public speaker, Tulgan sees a pattern in the workplace: employees flail when they're undermanaged. There are any number of reasons for this, from bosses who don't want to micromanage or be perceived as difficult, to overworked managers that simply lack sufficient time. Whatever the reason, the result for the undermanaged employee is frustration, stagnation, or worse. Tulgan fills his book with strategies for ensuring that employees have the opportunity to do their job, performing tasks properly and on time. Chapters cover making expectations clear, accessing necessary resources, and tracking performance, among other topics, and advice is given on avoiding mistakes when trying to manage your boss and dealing with "jerk" bosses. Tulgan even offers advice to telecommuters for managing their bosses from home. Anyone lucky enough to work for the perfect boss may skip Tulgan's guide, but everybody else will want to take his suggestions to the office. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly