Coping with Difficult Bosses Book Nuggets

Tell me you’ve never had a difficult boss to work for? Even if you work for yourself, I’m sure you’ve had days where you’ve hated the boss. Well, what if there were patterns of these “difficult bosses,” and, if you knew them, you could either avoid them or you could work more effectively with them. In fact, you could even work with your own “inner boss” more effectively. In the book Coping with Difficult Bosses, Robert Bramson not only names these difficult bosses, but he shows you how to recognize the patterns are, and he gives you prescriptive guidance for dealing with them. Given that your boss or manager can have a large impact on your daily satisfaction, what better way to improve your day than learn these patterns of effectiveness.

My Review
I found the book entertaining and insightful. There’s so many frameworks for understanding people and behavior that it can be tough to cut through the contradictions and the fog. This book is amazingly simple, yet powerfully effective. In fact, I draw from these techniques when I coach my mentees. I also use the book to reflect on my own difficult behaviors and work to improve them. The key in the book is that you are not your behavior. Anybody at any time can behave like a difficult boss. This book is your mental judo for turning those situations around and creating more effective working relationships with the bosses in your life.

My Nuggets
Here’s my nuggets from the book so far ...

The Difficult Boss Types:

• Coping with Bulldozing Expert Know-It-Alls
• Coping with Power-Clutchers, Paranoids and Perfectionists
• Coping with Super-Delegators
• Coping with Wafflers
• Coping with Stallers
• Coping with Fire Eaters
• Coping with Ogres

Understanding difficult bosses:

• Five Thinking Styles
• Understanding From the Inside
• When Good Bosses Turn Bad

Key strategies:

How To Repair a Broken Work Relationship

Seven Planning Questions for Coping with a Difficult Boss