Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best…and Learn from the Worst by Robert Sutton. Robert is a professor of management science at Stanford University and a researcher in the field of evidence-based management.
In 2017 he published The No Asshole Rule. I must admit it was a book that leaves an impression upon readers. Good Boss, Bad Boss does reference this work but is a much better delivery.
Robert also previously published Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less, which reveals how to strive for excellence and not allow your organization to become just mediocre.
Basically, Robert shares the difference that good bosses are certainly connected with the teams they lead. This is based upon research proving performance and humanity make all the difference. Robert’s research certainly displays case studies with leaders who both struggled or overcame challenges to lead their teams.
One of the strongest impressions is understanding that regardless of industry or work demands, a good boss will be a shield to their teams from within their organization — often this means leadership. Robert is also delivering a real world view.
Bosshole
Chapter eight’s Squelch Your Inner Bosshole introduces the term Bosshole via Urban Dictionary. Best part? Robert shows how not to be one. The pandemic has certainly changed everything across the globe. Bosses are also impacted. It may be worth looking at this book via the lens of our lingering pandemic. Robert also shares the five ideas outlined as Causes and Cures for the Common Bosshole:
- Toxic Tandem and Power Poisoning
- Extreme Performance Pressure
- Sleep Deprivation, Heat, and Other Bodily Sources of Bad Moods
- Nasty Role Models
- Asshole-Infested Workplaces
Furthermore, Robert outlines each in a straight forward approach. and it will be insightful to see each of the five, including this note:
Bosses who successfully enlist others to help them avoid and reverse power poisoning usually have a history of treating people with respect and listening to and learning from criticism rather than getting defensive and shooting the messengers. If you are a boss, urging colleagues to deliver bad news isn’t enough; you need to react with grace and try to change when they call you a jerk.
pg 237
In addition, the closing of chapter eight reveals Robert’s 11 Bosshole Busters. It is worth a review if you ever held a supervisory position. For this reason, his list may surprise you.
What Great Bosses Do
Perhaps the most important chapter is actually Robert’s Epilogue: Lessons I’ve Learned Since Writing Good Boss, Bad Boss. Robert calls out Lazlo Block, Google’s former VP of People Operations who launched Project Oxygen. Lazlo wrote Work Rules which I found fairly insightful. Accordingly, Robert displays how Google’s data driven company is utilizing evidence based research on their employees.
Too little common sense today
In conclusion, Robert delvers a very insightful book and provides two key lessons for bosses: listen to your employees and treating them with respect will make you a good boss.