Have you ever had a bad boss and wondered what you could do to cope? Maybe you aren’t sure whether your boss is a “bad” boss or not. Maybe the book How to Lead can help you out.
how to lead
How to lead is a book by John c Maxwell. John C Maxwell is a popular self help author and speaker.
This book is titled how to lead when your boss can’t or won’t.
I enjoyed the way this book started out, but I can’t say I enjoyed the where it ended up. I just don’t see how this advice is going to help many people. It puts the ownership of a bad boss on the employee. That’s a big burden for a lot of people to carry. If you are going to implement this advice and deal with a bad boss at the same time, I recommend also getting a therapist.
The book starts out by categorizing the types of bad bosses and their behaviors. After that, the book gets a bit confusing. I don’t think this book tells you how to be a good leader for the most part.
It mainly provides a roadmap for how to be a good employee. It’s going to be hard to lead if you have a bad boss or are in a bad company.
I think that’s why the advice is written the way it is. I feel like anyone can use this advice. You don’t have to wait until you have a bad boss to implement. I feel like the best advice to utilize when you have a bad boss is to just leave the department or company you work for. It can have such negative influence on your mindset if you work for someone negative because we are all influenced by others around us. You will start telling yourself that you don’t deserve better etc. Only stay in a negative environment if it is completely necessary.
The books is structured by first presenting the types of bad bosses and how they create issues for companies. Then the book provides advice on how to deal with them.
According to John Maxwell, the following steps will help you deal with a bad boss.
Lead yourself before anything else (Chapter 2)
Find ways to work with your boss. (Chapter 3)
Develop your influence wherever you are (Chapter 4)
Avoid landmines that can make the situation worse (Chapter 5)
Prove Your Worth Daily And Never Stop Growing (Chapter 6)
One of my favorite things in this book is that John states that the scarcity mindset is at the root of most conflict. I can’t remember which chapter this is in, but it is really good advice. Many people believe that there are only limited resources available, so they think that they have to hold other people down to get ahead. This is what causes many people to be bad bosses. They see their employees as competition. They don’t want them to take their job, so they treat them poorly. Don’t adopt this competitive mindset. Keep on trying to get better in your life. Approach work as trying to provide for everyone and trying to get better. For more on this, I would recommend the book the Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles.
My general notes that I took while reading the book are below.
Chapter 1 – what happens when bosses don’t lead
decisions are delayed
agendas are multiplied
conflicts are extended
morale becomes low
production is reduced
success is difficult
types of bad bosses
insecure leaders – they think everything is about them.
visionless leaders
incompetent leaders
self-centered leaders
chameleon leaders
political leaders
controlling leaders
chapter 2 – lead yourself well before anything else
The two best points from this chapter are
manage your emotions
see yourself as an agent of change
If you can manage your emotions, you will be fine in most situations. You can also become a great leader by managing your emotions.
chapter 3 – find ways to work with your boss
-don’t point out your bosses weakness
-work with your bosses strengths
-publicly say good things about your leader
-help take work off your boss’ plate
chapter 4 – develop your influence wherever you are
many people think that they can wait to develop influence. They believe that they will develop influence once they reach a certain level.
people should strive for the top of their game not top of the organization
Leadership = influence
good leaders create more good leaders
test your influence skills by trying to lead volunteers
chapter 5 – avoid landmines that can make your situation worse
stay away from office politics – not sure this is possible in corporate america
people who are political are “two-faced” because they are ruled by their desire to get ahead
chapter 6 – prove your worth daily and never stop growing
Below are the things I felt were helpful from this chapter.
talk with others on a higher level than you . produce when the load is heavy
practice your craft
do jobs others won’t – I wouldn’t recommend this either. Many people don’t take tasks because they don’t help them grow, and they won’t receive credit for those tasks.
work in obscurity – I’m not sure this is good advice in the modern corporate world. You shouldn’t be boasting, but you also shouldn’t just work in the shadows and not take credit for good work.
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