Lessons from Nightmare Bosses and a Blurb for "High-Performance Teaming for Douche Bags"

That is the title of an interview that Leigh Buchanan did with me on Good Boss, Bad Boss, which just appeared in the October INC. I have know Leigh for some years, since she was at Harvard Business Review. She is a great writer and editor.  Check out this piece she did about two entrepreneurs who spent five years building "eco adventure lodge" called Tranquilo Bay in the rain forest in Panama.   Leigh also did one of the best, and probably the funniest, interview about The No Asshole Rule, which was called "The Bully Rule Book." 

The new interview similarly reflects Leigh's great skill at taking my disorganized babbling and making me sound coherent.  Here is a taste of the interview, two of the questions and answers:

Is it harder for bosses whose reports range from the highest- to the lowest-level employees?

It is harder. Because the people you oversee will have different motivations. With all due respect, this is where Jim Collins is full of shit. I have a friend whose family bought a chain of movie theaters. Maybe all that get-the-right-people-on-the-bus stuff applies to the managers of those multiplexes. But a couple levels down, you're dealing with teenagers who are going to be in the job for a year or less. My friend said there are four things you want those people to do: show up to work, look decent, not make out or get stoned while they're on the job, and not steal. If you can find people like that, you have a successful business.

Work may be the most important thing in your value system, but that may not be true for those around you. Especially if you have all the equity, and to the people around you, it is just a job.

Also, Leigh ended the interview with a pretty funny twist... I guess I was saying the s-word a lot during this intervew:

So can I count on you to write a blurb for my forthcoming book, High-Performance Teaming for Douche Bags?

Sure. I can do it now. "This is good shit."

You can read the rest here; it provides a pretty good summary of the main ideas in Good Boss, Bad Boss -- not just the lessons from nightmare bosses:

P.S. A couple of other media things have hit including this short interview in Newsweek, which apparently accompanies a gallery of CEOs Behaving Badly.  Also this nice review of Good Boss, Bad Boss just appeared in Risk Management.  These are also nice, but Leigh's interview is the most fun and goes into the most depth.

Comments

[Sarah]

I would suggest this site http://www.cubecheck.com to report such things

[Panamomma]

You are as always - awesome. And so is Leigh.