The Boss's Survival Guide

If managing people once felt like a stay at the Taj Mahal, today it's more like a visit to Beirut's Commodore Hotel, where guests were asked upon check-in, "Sniper side or shelling side?" As author and columnist Bob Rosner pointed out in his earlier book, Working Wounded, bosses are poked from above and prodded from below. How to cope? The Boss's Survival Guide aims to give managers tools for handling the shrapnel. Its 430 pages discuss the 65 most vexing challenges bosses face today, including how to screen out jerks when hiring, how to let people go fairly and legally, how to change an employee's problem behavior, and how to keep people motivated.

Don't let the size of The Boss's Survival Guide daunt you; this is not a book to sit and read cover to cover. It's meant as a reference tool, a kind of Physician's Desk Reference for help when you're facing a specific dilemma. Which is not to say it's a dull read. On the contrary, the authors (who, in addition to Rosner, include Allan Halcrow, former editor of Workforce magazine, and Alan Levins, an employment attorney) have worked overtime to present the information in humorous, easy-to-digest snapshots. Each chapter is divided into four sections: a short background area called "Know the Issue"; a set of concrete action steps; a highly useful section called "Stay out of Jail"; and "Manage Up," a short section on how to handle your own boss. Most chapters also include brief real-world examples and indicate where to go if you need more information on a particular problem.

Overall, the book is a comprehensive, highly readable reference tool that would be of use to both new and seasoned managers. In a cover quote, business luminary Ken Blanchard writes, "This book has everything you'll ever need to know about being an effective boss but don't have time to learn." He's right on the money. --Charles Decker