Surrounded by Bad Bosses (And Lazy Employees): How to Stop Struggling, Start Succeeding, and Deal with Idiots at Work [The Surrounded by Idiots Series]

Name: Surrounded by Bad Bosses (And Lazy Employees): How to Stop Struggling, Start Succeeding, and Deal with Idiots at Work [The Surrounded by Idiots Series]
Price: 12.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.5 (498 reviews)
Author: Thomas Erikson
ISBN: 9781250763907

Thomas Erikson

4.5 out of 5

498 global ratings

Part of the bestselling Surrounded by Idiots series!

Internationally bestselling author Thomas Erikson has helped changed how the world thinks about behavior using a simple 4-color behavior analysis system. In Surrounded by Bad Bosses he applies that same system to revolutionize the workplace.

Everyone has had a bad boss. You might have one right now. You might even be one. Bad bosses are a fact of the workplace, whether they’re short-tempered, unclear about expectations, or too disorganized to manage so much as a stapler. But how do you not only survive a difficult boss, but help your career thrive despite them?

By identifying your boss’s behavior profile you’ll be better able to interact with them no matter what the situation. Erikson offers example stories and concrete steps to help you thrive in any work situation.

Of course, much as we love to blame our bosses, sometimes management isn’t the problem at all. For every bad boss there is also a lazy employee, so Erikson also looks at the issue from a completely different perspective―employees themselves― and explores why some colleagues frequently underachieve, and what you can do to change this if you're the boss.

Written with Erikson's signature humor and warmth, Surrounded by Bad Bosses (And Lazy Employees) will help you deal with the most hopeless managers and employees you can imagine―and keep you entertained along the way.

400 pages,

Kindle

Audiobook

Paperback

First published August 16, 2021

ISBN 9781250763907

About the authors

Thomas Erikson

Thomas Erikson is a motivator, author and public speaker. His book Surrounded by Idiots is one of the world’s best-selling non-fiction books and has been translated into over 40 languages.

https://www.surroundedbyidiots.com/en/

His way of sharing his knowledge with his readers is by using specific storytelling and lots of humor. To achieve new skills should be easy. Therefore, he do not write in a way that is packed with numbers and details, but rather in a way that will make the reader say: Ah! I recognize that!

Thomas has devoted close to 30 years of his career to helping people communicate with each other, and along the way he´s developed practical and functional tools that facilitate both professional and private life.

Thomas believes in the importance of a higher understanding of others, in order to decrease the number of unnecessary misunderstandings and conflicts either in a relationship or at work.

Besides his book he also offer knowledge and understanding of human behaviour by his online courses, and his app Surrounded by idiots. Available both at Appstore and Playstore.

https://www.surroundedbyidiots.com/en/

A. Auken

Excellent book

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is a good book on the leadership styles red, yellow, green and blue. And gives sound advice on communication. One small criticism I miss a summary or bullit points at the end of each chapter with the key take aways.

Jamie

Arrived a little dinged up

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024

Verified Purchase

Edges and corners were worn on delivery, but generally fine. No issues other than that.

ServantofGod

Simple yet practical frameworks for managing bosses and employees. Helpful or not? Depends

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2023

Regarding the parts on bosses, I tried to fit my boss (and myself) into one of the four types (thus 16 combinations) modeled by the author. Perhaps my boss is so sophisticated (she is far above average positively. Me, too) that I cannot make full use of the matching and the corresponding strategy advised by the author. For the sections more on employees, the reality is often much more complex because the HR and Finance “elites” leave you little leeway to do what you consider the best for the company (because their deeds always magnify the top bosses’ wrongs). Anyway, this prescriptive type of tool book has its own market. No worry for the author. For any potential buyer, the safe bet would be a loan from the library to see whether…..

6 people found this helpful

E G

So Far, So Good

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2021

I won this book during a pre-release giveaway. When I got it in the mail, my intent was to only read it at work. My personal, passive-aggressive "SCREW YOU" to my own Bad Boss. Because of this, and with my dyslexia and ADHD, I haven't got too far into it. But I do have enough context to give you a summary.

This book is actually two books in one. The author first wrote, "Surrounded by Idiot Employees." Naturally, combining the two into one made perfect sense. The way the author explains personality styles of bad bosses reminds me of an old Color Based personality test I took in High School, combined with a boss's version of love language. If a boss is one personality type, this is how you communicate with them, or similar.

Like I said, I haven't got through the entire thing yet, but I got to say, the best part of this book is when my Director (my boss's boss) did a walkthrough and saw it on my desk. One of those don't mention it, but you can see her acknowledging it on her face. She was flabbergasted in why I would put in my notice less than 2 weeks later. For that alone, I'd buy again!

18 people found this helpful

Wayne A McCoy

A bit simplistic but I liked it well enough

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2024

‘Surrounded by Bad Bosses and Lazy Employees’ by Thomas Erikson is a book to help navigate and decode the world of work.

Executed with insight and humor, this book attempts to do the impossible, put your coworkers into neat boxes. We work with introverts and after extroverts, but there are also gradations. The author uses gradations of color to differentiate even more. so if you are a introvert blue working with say an extrovert red this might be where problems come in to play. knowing this information could smooth out your work relationships.

it's awful but probably misses some nuances along the way. It can probably help some people as long as they understand this. I like the approach and the humor even if it feels simplistic in nature.