HOW TO MANAGE YOUR BOSS

by Christopher with Philip Goldberg Hegarty ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 9, 1980

Or, how to succeed in business without really toadying--via a buzzword-punctuated, tricks-of-the-trade manual that really gets down to basics. First, Hegarty runs through the familiar management-science shibboleths--the importance of being earnest, having priorities, setting goals, and pursuing self-knowledge. Then he identifies four ""denominations of leadership,"" conceding that they're not mutually exclusive, and indicates how to deal with each. The hard-charging ""drive leader,"" he writes, can be gulled by ""superficial displays of loyalty and devotion"" (e.g., working unnecessary overtime on demand); he or she can be reprogrammed, too, by requests for rundowns on the results expected from impossible assignments. Analogous treatment is prescribed for the ""default leader"" whose vague directives require clarification. Good-guy ""draw bosses,"" though, need only supportive feedback (to keep from going stale), while the god-like ""develop leader"" heeds fair warning that he or she has overburdened an unprepared subordinate. On the evidence of his set-piece scenarios, Hegarty has a Pollyannaish faith in one-to-one dialogues at considerable odds with office, plant, or sales-floor realities. To a hireling frustrated by an unconsciously ""competent"" boss (one who doesn't pass knowledge along), he recommends ""suggesting that you and he practice Vital Tasks Management."" Fleshing out the text are chapters on workplace strategies for women (e.g., beware of overprotective male bosses) and ""responsive"" communications (listen to, not against, your corporate betters). And a lengthy windup section features representative questions about bosses from participants in seminars Hegarty has conducted--the answers to which are variations on previous themes. An inventory of manipulative, self-serving techniques that some may find useful, others offensive.

Pub Date: Jan. 9, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rawson, Wade--dist. by Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION