It's Okay to Manage Your Boss

Get what you need from your boss

In this follow-up to the bestselling It's Okay to Be the Boss, Bruce Tulgan argues that as managers demand more and more from their employees, they are also providing them with less guidance than ever before. Since the number one factor in employee success is the relationship between employees and their immediate managers, employees need to take greater responsibility for getting the most out of that relationship. Drawing on years of experience training managers and employees, Tulgan reveals the four essential things employees should get from their bosses to guarantee success at work.

• Shows employees how to ask for what they need to succeed in their high-pressure jobs
• Shatters previously held beliefs about how employees should manage up
• Outlines what employees must get from their managers: clear expectations; the skills needed to perform their jobs; honest feedback, recognition or rewards

A novel approach to managing up, It's Okay to Manage Your Boss is an invaluable resource for employees who want to work more effectively with their managers.

Chapter One

Refuse to Be Undermanaged 1

Chapter Two

The First Person You Have to Manage Every Day Is Yourself 33

Chapter Three

Get in the Habit of Managing Your Bosses Every Day 57

Chapter Four

Take It One Boss at a Time, One Day at a Time 75

Chapter Five

Make Sure You Understand What Is Expected of You 93

Chapter Six

Assess and Plan for the Resources You Need 107

Chapter Seven

Track Your Own Performance Every Step of the Way 121

Chapter Eight

Earn More Rewards by Doing More Work, Faster and Better 141

Chapter Nine

What If Your Boss Really Is a Jerk? 157

Chapter Ten

Start Here 173

Acknowledgments 189

About the Author 193

Index 195

BRUCE TULGAN is an adviser to business leaders all over the world and a sought-after speaker and seminar leader. He is the founder of RainmakerThinking, a workplace research and training firm, and has written for the New York Times, USA Today, Harvard Business Review, and HR Magazine. He is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling It’s Okay to Be the Boss, the classic Managing Generation X, and Not Everyone Gets a Trophy. Tulgan holds a fourth-degree black belt in karate and is married to Debby Applegate, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

For more information about the book and to view Bruce Tulgan’s video newsletter, please visit www.rainmakerthinking.com.

Wherever you work, you rely on your immediate boss for meeting your needs at work—no other relationship is as important to your career success. Yet few of us know how to get the best out of the most important person in our work lives.

In the much anticipated follow-up to It’s Okay to Be the Boss, Bruce Tulgan challenges you to take responsibility for your role in every management relationship. Based on ongoing research started in 1993, Tulgan reveals the four essential things you should get from your boss to succeed at work:

• Clearly spelled-out and reasonable expectations
• The skills, tools, and resources you need to accomplish those expectations
• Honest feedback about your performance and course-correcting direction when necessary
• Proper recognition and rewards in exchange for your performance

This back-to-basics and unconventional approach to managing up will help you build highly engaged working relationships with your boss, and deal with complex authority relationships at every level and in any workplace.

Go ahead—it’s okay to manage your boss… you just have to be very good at it. Learn how in this step-by-step book. "It's Okay to Manage Your Boss provides practical, relevant strategies you can use to create a successful partnership with your manager. A terrific follow-up to It's Okay to Be the Boss. Now both manager and employee have effective tools to get the most from their relationship!"
—Angela Hornsby, vice president human resources, Applebee's Services Inc.

"Once again Tulgan tackles the myths in today's undermanaged workplace with practical and straightforward guidance. I have been a boss for nearly thirty years and I have not seen a more realistic and practical way to improve workplace relationships and career results. If you are-or want to be a high performer- read this book!"
—Jon Morrison, president and general manager, Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems

"Tulgan's latest book presents insightful information and practical tips to help anyone successfully deal with undermanagement-a problem many employees encounter in corporations and organizations. In an engaging, clear, warm, and direct manner, Bruce presents common sense advice and a set of tools and ideas that empower self-management as well as 'other' management! A must read for anybody interested in professional growth."
—Tiane Mitchell Gordon, senior vice president, Office of Diversity & Inclusion, AOL, LLC

"Tulgan has a remarkable ability to translate complicated concepts into easily understood and actionable steps. His common sense approach coupled with his enthusiasm and 'can do' attitude give confidence to all who follow his work."
—Victoria Nolan, managing director, Yale Repertory Theatre, and deputy dean, Yale School of Drama