How to Become a Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and Keeping the Best Employees

by Jeffrey J. Fox

Book Overview

The Great Boss Simple Success Formula: Companies Do What the Boss Does Groom 'Em, or Broom 'Em Hire Slow, Fire Fast Don't Be Tired The Rule of the Ds Delegate Down, Down, Down Don't Hire a Dog and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786868236
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 0.8" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Lots of useful ideas for any work setting

Recently, I read HOW TO BECOME A RAINMAKER: THE RULESFOR GETTING AND KEEPING CUSTOMERS AND CLIENTS byJeffrey J. Fox . . . it was one of the best business books that I have come across in a long time.So when I came across an earlier book by Fox--HOW TO BECOME A GREAT BOSS: THE RULES FOR GETTING AND KEEPING THEBEST EMPLOYEES--I just had to get hold of it . . . and I did, getting the chance to listen to the taped version . . . I'm glad I did, too; it's another winner!Fox presents nothing brilliantly new, but he writes in a clear and readable fashion . . . in doing so, he presents lots of ideas that you can immediately apply to almost any management situation . . . he also makes it clear that management involvesjust about anything that we do, and a result, we should perhapsthink of many folks as "managers" that might not ordinarilyfit into that category (I'm thinking parents here, for example).In particular, I liked his following "Great Boss Simple Success Formula":1. Only hire top-notch, excellent people. 2. Put the right people in the right job. Weed out the wrong people. 3. Tell the people what needs to be done. 4. Tell the people why it is needed. 5. Leave the job up to the people you've chosen to do it. 6. Train the people. 7. Listen to the people. 8. Remove frustration and barriers that fetter the people. 9. Inspect progress. 10. Say "Thank you" publicly and privately.

Good Book For Bosses

"How To Become A Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and Keeping the Best Employees" by Jeffrey J. Fox provides solid, highly-readable business lessons to help entrepreneurs improve their leadership and management skills.Fox says bosses should hire only 'A' players or people who have the potential to become 'A' players. Fox defines an 'A player' as someone combining attitude and ability. Fox says, while you might be able to groom a B player into an A player, you'll never be able to turn a C player into an A player. The best place for C players is with the competition. "Don't let mediocrity in the door," advises Fox, or it will spread throughout the organization. "Once mediocrity is pervasive, it is as hard to rid from the organization as it is to rid lice from a camel," writes Fox.Pointing out the huge cost of a mishire, including wasted training, damaged morale, and the missed opportunity of having the job done right, Fox suggests bosses adopt the motto of "Hire Slow, Fire Fast."In addition to doing full background checks and giving tests and extensive interviews when hiring, Fox recommends that all job roles ultimately serve the company's end customer.Fox writes: "It is the customer's money that funds paychecks, bonuses, health insurance, taxes, and everything else. Because it is the customer who pays the employees, then the employees-all employees, including the boss-work for the customer. Therefore, every single job in a company must be designed to get or keep customers."Once you've hired the right people for the right roles, you must let employees do their jobs and not micromanage or do the work yourself- Fox's motto: "Don't Hire a Dog and Bark Yourself." You must give employees adequate training and be sure they understand their responsibilities. Fox suggests bosses spend at least ten minutes each day teaching.Fox writes: "The great boss provides learning opportunities, new experiences, in-house and outside seminars, reading lists, on-the-job training, and hands-on instruction. The great boss knows that the best people are learners. ..."Fox tells us that many bosses spend too much time with poor-performing employees. He recommends bosses spend most of their time with their best employees. Fox writes: "Too many bosses are attracted to the problematical employees as moths to the flame. Too many bosses invest too much time with low-performing employees who deliver a low return on the time invested in them. Too many bosses under-invest in their best-performing people assets."In addition to developing the art of grooming employees for new roles in your company and fostering learning, Fox says you must be effective in delegating work."If you are delegating without clear direction or without providing appropriate training, you are not delegating you are relegating-relegating the employee to error making and misperformance. If you delegate without a schedule for follow-up and inspection, you haven't delegated, you have abdicated," writes Fox.Fox say

Readable Gem

This book is different from most business books in two ways:One, it is readable, two, it is a gem. The first chapter alone is worth the price. I am prompted to write this reviewto correct an earlier review which claims Mr. Fox has a big ego because the word "I" is used so often. The word "I" is not used even once by Mr. Fox. It does appear in the epilogue which is a collection of terrific quotes from great bosses. Take one hour and read this superb and important little book.

Again, Jeff Fox shows us how to get it done, the right way!

Anybody who truly wants to be the right kind of leader will pay very close attention to the pearls of wisdom written by Mr. Fox. As with his previous books Mr. Fox not only provides a no-nonsense guide on how to succeed in the business world, but more importantly he shows us how to do it with honor and integrity. He makes it very clear that a real boss is first and foremost a teacher that guides his/her employees to be proud of their company and it's product by striving for excellence. I recommend this book, as well as all of Mr. Fox's other books, to those individuals that have decided not to accept mediocrity as a lifestyle. It's first-class reading, pure and simple.

Valuable Perspectives on "Boss"

Fox has written several other books, some of which I have reviewed. He continues to display a unique talent for focusing on a key point and then expressing it clearly and concisely. Unlike many other business authors, Fox may re-examine certain themes (e.g. appropriate mindsets for a decision-maker) but almost never recycles material. That is especially true of this volume in which he shares feedback for a rather long list of executives who are listed in the "Contributors" section. Many years ago, Sir Isaac Newton observed that "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." That is not to suggest that Fox is a a midget; rather, to suggest that he is an active and receptive student of those who -- in this instance -- are all great "bosses." A brief word about "boss." Obviously, few executives become a CEO but all executives -- directly or indirectly -- can have a profound impact on those for whom they are responsible. In this volume, Fox suggests what a "great boss" is...and isn't. He also explains why.He organizes his material within 50 brief but insightful chapters, followed by an "Epilogue," a series of personal statements by various senior-level executives which compellingly illustrate how and why "Great Bosses Beget Great Bosses." The inverse is also true: "Ineffective Bosses Beget Ineffective Bosses." For example, on a scale of 1-10, a 6 or 7 boss never hires a 9 or 10. Moreover, my own experience suggests that if and when a 6 or 7 inadvertently hires a 9 or 10 (or one with the capabilities to become one), the 6 or 7 either runs the 9 or 10 off or ensures that the development of that promising person is suppressed. "Great bosses" are never threatened by a 9 or 10. On the contrary, they only hire the best and the brightest. Fox urges his reader to spend supervisory time with the best people because "the top 10-20% of the employees [in any organization] deliver 70-80% of the results."Obviously, I think very highly of this slim but informative book. Those who share my high regard for it are urged to check out Buckingham and Coffman's First, Break All the Rules; Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee's Primal Leadership; Maister's Practice What You Preach; O'Toole's The Executive's Compass; Whyte's The Heart Aroused; and finally, Bossidy and Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Results.