How to Work for an Idiot

Survive & Thrive...Without Killing Your Boss

by John Hoover

Career Press, 2004

ISBN: 9781564147042
Pages: 249

Category: Career & Self-Development

In this summary you will learn

• How to succeed despite having a boss who’s an idiot, a masochist, a sadist or a self-anointed deity
• How to use tactics that might add serenity to your workplace

Why you should read How to Work for an Idiot

John Hoover, an organizational leadership consultant, discusses how to deal with an "Idiot Boss" - or I-Boss - who does stupid things. Hoover distinguishes idiots from other tricky bosses, including those who think they are God, or who are paranoid, sadistic or Machiavellian. He leaves the reader with a couple of issues. First, you’ll think no good, caring bosses still exist. Second, he doesn’t tell you clearly where to set boundaries or when enough is finally enough. He often advocates appeasing bad bosses, although his other counsel on how to deal with them has some effective pointers. To his credit, Hoover is very candid about how he has learned from experience, including his mistakes. He offers personal examples from his experiences at Disney and elsewhere, and tries to write in a light-hearted or whimsical vein. getAbstract.com finds the book strongest when it is strategic and weakest when it tries to be funny, given that with bad bosses you only laugh to keep from crying.

About the Author

John Hoover, Ph.D., is an organizational leadership consultant, a former publisher of books on tape, an executive with Walt Disney Productions and a division general manager with McGraw-Hill. His clients include Delta Air Lines, IBM, Hilton Hotels and Xerox.

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