Change the way you think about work (and life) by focusing on results—and only results Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It shows how the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) mindset can make you or your organization more entrepreneurial, more connected with the broader trends in your industry, and more willing to take smart risks. It explains how to set clear expectations and focus on the endpoint as opposed to managing the process that gets you there. With eyes set on getting rid of distractions, long meetings, and unnecessary updates, this book offers quick, everyday strategies to experience huge increases in productivity (without adding resources) and dramatic drops in turnover. Authors Ressler and Thompson began their work together at Best Buy where they are credited with revolutionizing the workplace Reframes thinking away from counting on general availability (Where's Bob?) to creating clear expectations (Does Bob know exactly what's expected of him?) Explains how to reduce the number of meetings while increasing their quality Shows how to eliminate scheduled events in order to increase critical thinking and improve communication ROWE is a bold, cultural transformation that permeates the attitudes and operating style of an entire workplace, leveling the playing field and giving people complete autonomy—to manage their measurable results using adult common sense.

It's every businessperson's nightmare: his or her company is failing, dysfunctional, stuck in neutral, and is disappointing overall, from the finances to the customer feedback. Put bluntly—but candidly—the company sucks. That's the bad news. The good news is that it doesn't have to be that way. Every business can rebound from its lows, regain its momentum, thrill its customers, and be the source of pride and profits its owners and shareholders seek. This U-turn must begin with you, the owner or senior manager, declaring war on yourself. By facing the fact that the malaise is the business suffers from ultimately is your responsibility and your doing, and even more important, will not be rectified unless you take the lead. Face the hard truth. Take the difficult actions. Demonstrate determination, creativity and resolve. Your Company Sucks pulls back the curtain on business performance. To reveal the four real-world reasons businesses decline, to identify them as red flags, and to provide a powerful and innovative methodology to transition from failure to flourish. Mark Stevens reveals that there are not thousands of reasons businesses fail. The reasons fall under four major categories: 1. rudderless leadership 2. the lust-to-lax syndrome 3. incompetence 4. conventional thinking Identifying and addressing the reasons for your company's failure is the focus of the war. This insightful book shows that the key to long-term business success is for the leader to declare war on him/herself so that the company never rests on its laurels. It also demonstrates how customer satisfaction is a curse in disguise. You don't want to satisfy your customers—you want to thrill them.

Don’t let a bad boss or manager hold you back from being successful! Every day millions of people with high potential are frustrated and held back by incompetent leaders. New York Times bestselling author and leadership expert John C. Maxwell knows this because the number one question he gets asked is about how to lead when the boss isn’t a good leader. You don’t have to be trapped in your work situation. In this book, adapted from the million-selling The 360-Degree Leader, and now distilled down for busy professionals, Maxwell unveils the keys to successfully navigating the challenges of working for a bad boss. In How to Lead When Your Boss Can’t (or Won’t), Maxwell teaches you how to: position yourself for current and future success, take the high road with a poor leader, avoid common pitfalls, work well with teammates, and develop influence wherever you find yourself. Practicing the principles taught in this book will result in endless opportunities—for your organization, your career, and your life. You can learn how to lead when your boss can’t (or won’t).

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

I'm a vampire and I'm your manager. I'd rather drink your blood than coffee. Your job sucks because you work for me. For years I've owned you, controlled you, and made your life miserable, but not anymore. I'm retiring and I'm sharing some secrets that just might get me killed. I don't care - I'm dead already. Vampires rule over corporate fiefdoms and control workers by the minute. You know you're working for a vampire when your manager doesn't care about your goals, your family life, and the misery you endure just to do your job. If you hate your job because of your manager, your coworkers, or because you can't afford to quit, you're probably working for a vampire. You might dream of breaking free from the corporate graveyard to pursue your life's passion. People warn you not to get your hopes up. To hell with them. Get your hopes up. Try hard and harder. Create goals. If you want to achieve you have to get your hopes up or there's nothing for you to look forward to. If you aren't willing to take a chance, come by my office, bare your neck, and I'll put you out of our misery. Vampire Management: Why Your Job Sucks is a biting look at today's corporate environment and its control of the workforce. Management consultant and author Joseph Phillips explores the dynamics of office life from the viewpoint of a bitter and aging vampire. It's an honest look at why so many workers are unhappy in their careers, feel stuck in a job they hate, and how people can escape from vampire managers. This is a read you can sink your teeth into.

Do you wish you had more hours in the day? This little book will help you gain more time for the important things in your life, without sucking up your time to do so! Inside these pages, discover: An automated appointment system to keep your schedule clear, How to fight customer service fires like the pros, How to beat perfectionism once and for all, while still making progress on your projects, And more!

Like a mirror, this book reveals truths that you may deal with--or choose to ignore or put on the back burner. Everyone manages someone or something--even if only your own life and career. How well or poorly you manage has a profound impact on your personal success. Stevens makes the point that at any given time everyone's management can be improved and rethought to move away from bad patterns and habits. Stevens, who gives advice to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups, teaches you to start by declaring constructive war on yourself, then leave the land of business-as-usual with the seven-point plan Stevens has used to build both his own career and his marketing and strategy consulting firm. You'll soon find that you're in the fast lane, easily outpacing your passive peers who rarely, if ever, challenge the how and why of what they do.--From publisher description.