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Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know
Management guru Jill Geisler has coached countless men and women who want to build their leadership skills, help employees do their best work, and make workplaces happy and successful. In WORK HAPPY, she provides a practical, step-by-step guide, based on real-world experience, respected research, and lessons that will transform managers and their teams. It's a workshop-in-a-book, designed to produce positive, immediate and lasting results.
Whether the reader is an experienced manager, a rookie boss or an aspiring leader, WORK HAPPY will supercharge their skills and celebrate the values that make anyone look forward to going to work. Jill Geisler offers concrete steps for improving each element of management including collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, motivation, coaching, and feedback, so that everyone on the team-whether in the office or working offsite-can do their best.
WORK HAPPY takes management skills to the next level and proves that learning, leadership and life at work can (and should) be fun.
Whether the reader is an experienced manager, a rookie boss or an aspiring leader, WORK HAPPY will supercharge their skills and celebrate the values that make anyone look forward to going to work. Jill Geisler offers concrete steps for improving each element of management including collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, motivation, coaching, and feedback, so that everyone on the team-whether in the office or working offsite-can do their best.
WORK HAPPY takes management skills to the next level and proves that learning, leadership and life at work can (and should) be fun.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
110 people are currently reading
926 people want to read
About the author
Jill Geisler
3 books15 followersJill Geisler heads the leadership and management faculty of the Poynter Institute. She's helped thousands of managers become better bosses -- and true leaders. Jill's "What Great Bosses Know" podcasts on iTunes U have been downloaded millions of times, according to Apple.
Jill joined the Poynter Institute after a lengthy first career in broadcast journalism, where she was among the country's first female news directors. Jill is known for the humor and humanity she brings to her teaching and coaching. She believes the most important thing leaders do is help others succeed -- and her management mantra has always been "life's too short to work with jerks."
Jill has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin and a master's in leadership studies from Duquesne University.
Jill lives in Wisconsin and commutes to the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is married and the mother of two young adult sons.
Jill joined the Poynter Institute after a lengthy first career in broadcast journalism, where she was among the country's first female news directors. Jill is known for the humor and humanity she brings to her teaching and coaching. She believes the most important thing leaders do is help others succeed -- and her management mantra has always been "life's too short to work with jerks."
Jill has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin and a master's in leadership studies from Duquesne University.
Jill lives in Wisconsin and commutes to the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is married and the mother of two young adult sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
July 6, 2015
I'm an ambivalent reader of books about management and work. Some of them don't pass the common sense test. Others are so common-sensical that you wonder why you're bothering. Only a few hit a sweet spot of seeming worthwhile and practicable and seeming like a hat you'd be willing to be seen wearing. I think this one is in that category. Some of the author's points are obvious but she offers ways of framing concepts so that you'd remember them and be more likely to apply them. I particularly liked her concept of your Evil Twin: the way you're coming off, unintentionally. For example, you think you're easy-going, but your Evil Twin is making staff uneasy through inconsistency and lack of clear direction.
Four stars, because I would recommend this if your position at work involves managing others and forming a workplace culture.
Four stars, because I would recommend this if your position at work involves managing others and forming a workplace culture.
October 20, 2012
Everyone should be lucky enough to have a boss like Jill in their lives. She's warm, perceptive, savvy & upbeat. I've been fortunate enough to benefit from her wisdom in various seminars and grateful to call her a friend. But if you can't meet her, I recommend this book. Her voice comes through as she dispenses practical advice. It's a must-read, no matter how long you've been a manager.
April 23, 2024
Currently reading. I’ll take notes here.
Idea: anonymous feedback option
“To be a great boss, you don’t have to be perfect.”
You don’t have to be perfect, but you must have understanding of your strengths and commitment to recognizing and filling gaps.
Top five daily challenges:
1. Managers disappoint people every day.
2.managers push people out of their comfort zones.
3. Managers are routinely caught in the middle (upper management, other editors, reporters)
4 managers can’t always tell people everything
5. Managers make mistakes
From #2:
“Don’t back down just because rocking the boat is making everyone a little queasy. Change is a constant part of management life.”
“Custom-calibrate your pressure to the individual. Does this person respond best to a shove or a shoulder tap?”
#5:
The way you respond to employees’ mistakes changes the way they view yours.
“Sharp journalists have a habit of challenging authority. They like to wrangle with bosses over creativity and control.”
Top five rewards:
1. You leverage your expertise to develop new skills.
2. You have the power to build workplace culture.
3. You help people succeed.
4. You design strategy and guide execution.
5. You manage meaning and share a vision. (The power of putting things into perspective)
Building trust:
Apologize when you make a mistake
Know how to respond when an employee makes a mistake — knowing when and how to teach a lesson, express disappointment, or help them move on.
Respond to employees’ life events with sincerity
Don’t hesitate to share the why behind your decisions.
Million dollar question: is there anything you need more of —or less of— from me?
Idea: anonymous feedback option
“To be a great boss, you don’t have to be perfect.”
You don’t have to be perfect, but you must have understanding of your strengths and commitment to recognizing and filling gaps.
Top five daily challenges:
1. Managers disappoint people every day.
2.managers push people out of their comfort zones.
3. Managers are routinely caught in the middle (upper management, other editors, reporters)
4 managers can’t always tell people everything
5. Managers make mistakes
From #2:
“Don’t back down just because rocking the boat is making everyone a little queasy. Change is a constant part of management life.”
“Custom-calibrate your pressure to the individual. Does this person respond best to a shove or a shoulder tap?”
#5:
The way you respond to employees’ mistakes changes the way they view yours.
“Sharp journalists have a habit of challenging authority. They like to wrangle with bosses over creativity and control.”
Top five rewards:
1. You leverage your expertise to develop new skills.
2. You have the power to build workplace culture.
3. You help people succeed.
4. You design strategy and guide execution.
5. You manage meaning and share a vision. (The power of putting things into perspective)
Building trust:
Apologize when you make a mistake
Know how to respond when an employee makes a mistake — knowing when and how to teach a lesson, express disappointment, or help them move on.
Respond to employees’ life events with sincerity
Don’t hesitate to share the why behind your decisions.
Million dollar question: is there anything you need more of —or less of— from me?
December 29, 2014
If the title hadn't over-sold this book so much, I might have given it a better rating. It's not a particularly bad book, per se, and anyone who followed its advice would almost certainly become a better boss. I'm just not convinced that they'd become a great one. The treatment of many of the areas is remarkably shallow, and in most cases has been covered much better elsewhere. So, for example, whilst it's certainly welcome to see the book take a strong stance that good managers need to adjust their style to different employees' personalities, there is very little nuance to this, cleaving solely to high level distinctions along the four main axes of the MBTI (introverts/extraverts, intuitors/sensors, thinkers/feelers, planners/plungers), with nothing on any interplay between these — an area Jerry Weinberg handles much better in his Quality Software Management series.
Similarly, it's always good to see someone take stance against the dangerous “Hire good people and get out of their way” meme, but Geisler's “Hire good people and give them great feedback” still misses that one of the most crucial aspects of management is the support role of “Hire good people and get all obstacles out of their way” (including yourself), and that most management is about teams rather than individuals.
I also found the style intensely grating, with 'quizzes' every few pages that made this feel at times like it was badly cobbled together from the accompanying handbook to a management training workshop. And, worse, these quizzes weren't full of of interesting open-ended questions to provoke reflection or discussion. No — it was taken for granted that her answers are simply the correct ones, and you're scored accordingly.
★★☆ — and rounded down, rather than up, for cautioning against business speak and sports references, yet blindly using phrases like “let's touch base” multiple times in her ‘here's how to talk to an employee about X’ suggestions.
Similarly, it's always good to see someone take stance against the dangerous “Hire good people and get out of their way” meme, but Geisler's “Hire good people and give them great feedback” still misses that one of the most crucial aspects of management is the support role of “Hire good people and get all obstacles out of their way” (including yourself), and that most management is about teams rather than individuals.
I also found the style intensely grating, with 'quizzes' every few pages that made this feel at times like it was badly cobbled together from the accompanying handbook to a management training workshop. And, worse, these quizzes weren't full of of interesting open-ended questions to provoke reflection or discussion. No — it was taken for granted that her answers are simply the correct ones, and you're scored accordingly.
★★☆ — and rounded down, rather than up, for cautioning against business speak and sports references, yet blindly using phrases like “let's touch base” multiple times in her ‘here's how to talk to an employee about X’ suggestions.
February 23, 2017
Unstructured, uninnovative, full of platitudes and boring.
November 13, 2019
When Jill Geisler was appointed to news director of her local station at the age of 27, her senior managerial experience was limited to a high school job at a candy shop. Thirty years later, she is one of the leading consultants for managers across the country. WORK HAPPY shares what she's learned over the years, specifically, what makes good bosses "great." Oftentimes, managers find themselves in the same position as Geisler did 30 years ago; they were good performers, so they were tapped to lead a team. But what made them good at their craft isn't guaranteed to make them good at helping others excel. They have managerial skill gaps, big ones, and their mistakes can hurt employees, businesses and their own careers. In WORK HAPPY, Geisler specifically addresses these skill gaps and provides managers with practical and precise research-based tools they can put to use immediately. The book is divided into three sections: What Great Bosses Know and Do; How Great Bosses Grow Great Employees; and How Great Bosses Build Great Places to Work. The chapters in each section address the various challenges that managers face in the work place and specific advice for conquering them. Chapters include: . What Employees Never Forget-and Never Forgive . Manage Yourself So You Can Lead Others . Tough Times, Tough Love; Handling Problem People and Tricky Situations . Why It Pays to be a Coach . How to Make Collaboration a Way of Life . Would Your Best People Tell Their Best Friends to Work Here? Along with the advice in each chapter, Geisler also includes quotes from real employees about great bosses and what they do so well, warnings about misapplying the book's advice, and quizzes and self-assessment tools for manager's to self-diagnose their strengths and weaknesses. In WORK HAPPY, Jill Geisler teaches managers to commiserate with challenges, laugh at absurdities and celebrate success. "
https://www.fahasa.com/
https://www.fahasa.com/
May 20, 2021
This book contains a bunch of no-nonsense, highly practical instructions on how to lead people effectively but in a human way. It's actually pretty close to what Manager Tools (https://www.manager-tools.com/) teach in their podcast and trainings and book "The Effective Manager" (or so I suppose, I haven't gotten to their book yet, but I'm working on it...)
The book is heavy with content, and I will probably have to read it again occasionally, but for a book of this sort, this is hardly critique.
The book is heavy with content, and I will probably have to read it again occasionally, but for a book of this sort, this is hardly critique.
September 3, 2018
This book is the equivalent of a greatest hits mashup. It’s good information, but most of it isn’t original to the author or particularly groundbreaking. None of it goes into much depth. It did give me some ideas for topics to explore further.
July 17, 2019
This one took some different approaches that most management books bypass and focused on ways to keep your staff happy and motivated rather than just on "how to manage" and I appreciated that angle. Still a lot of "common sense" stuff, but an entertaining read nonetheless
June 6, 2021
Reading this book was the refresher I needed heading into a new year managing my small team. I could literally hear Jill's voice as I read it... and knowing I return to work tomorrow from a three-week break, I'm energized to get back to it! Thank you, Jill!
June 4, 2018
A great book on everything management. Well researched and an easy read. I got it from my local library and bought a hardcopy edition for myself so I can re-read it later.
January 4, 2019
The best management book I've ever read, hands-down. I give this to everyone.
January 5, 2019
Amazing, I learned so much. Best read in small doses so you can think through the exercises and really digest the learnings.
June 6, 2019
Great workplace advice. My office handed out free copies during a seminar and made everyone read it. Would be nice if management used some of the ideas here.
November 2, 2019
Sách hay cho các bạn muốn tìm hiểu về leadership, dựa trên kinh nghiệm làm lãnh đạo của mình tác giả cung cấy cho ng đọc nhiều kiến thức và tool áp dụng thực tế.
June 18, 2021
A good compilation of own and others experiences, to find that place where work is not just a job - great info and tips for bosses, and employees too.
April 17, 2022
literally no.
April 25, 2013
i thought this was an excellent book to read in thinking about your management style and how to work with others. as a bit of a font snob, i certainly preferred a different type that wasn't so large and friendly, but perhaps that makes it feel more accessible as a business book.
my favorite highlights:
considering what employees never forget (the great!) and never forgive (mistakes)
being conscious that we all have evil twins in our personalities that we don't expect to come out. (mine is that when i'm swamped with work, i can be short with people, which may lead people to think i'm a meanie.)
tips for making sure you're on top of your own work (managing yourself) so that you can get respect all around and make sure you aren't holding others back
thinking about motivation overall
the importance of providing critical feedback when it's necessary. (sometimes it's hard for me not to be nice...)
going back to your values, time and time again.
the book was chock full of advice, and i think it's worth a second read in the future, since there's a lot of ground covered.
my favorite highlights:
considering what employees never forget (the great!) and never forgive (mistakes)
being conscious that we all have evil twins in our personalities that we don't expect to come out. (mine is that when i'm swamped with work, i can be short with people, which may lead people to think i'm a meanie.)
tips for making sure you're on top of your own work (managing yourself) so that you can get respect all around and make sure you aren't holding others back
thinking about motivation overall
the importance of providing critical feedback when it's necessary. (sometimes it's hard for me not to be nice...)
going back to your values, time and time again.
the book was chock full of advice, and i think it's worth a second read in the future, since there's a lot of ground covered.
September 14, 2012
4.5 stars. I really liked the informal, friendly tone of the book and it had a lot of helpful examples and suggestions. There were also some good questions and activities to get you thinking about how to be a good boss. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars from me is that it is a long book so it's hard to process it all and apply it all. I'm not sure how you solve that issue, but there isn't an easy schedule/sequential plan of action, so I think implementation will take a lot of organizing of your thoughts and extensive notes. Even just a summary at the end of all the points or something could have been helpful to make it a quick reference. As it is, it's very valuable content but not a quick reference.
August 12, 2015
A great book that provides great instruction on becoming a sincerely helpful and constructive manager whom all can respect. Starting with the building blocks or values that make up a fantastic manager and broadening out, the book is also packed with little workshops and self-evaluations that would be able to help those with the self-awareness and honesty to complete them. Managers most in need of this book would probably need some third-party help and the book "Triggers" to assist in the change process.
All those who are self-aware and simply wishing the best advice in managing processes and inspiring those who work for them would appreciate this book.
All those who are self-aware and simply wishing the best advice in managing processes and inspiring those who work for them would appreciate this book.
July 6, 2014
One of the better books I've read on management & leadership. Geisler relays lots of very useful and very practical management tools, in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. Truthfully, a lot of this advice can be applied to every day living and in every stage of your life. Every person is a leader, in some way or another: either professionally and/or personally. So I would highly recommend this read to anyone who cares about making themselves better and about making others around you better!
July 20, 2013
Very accessible, common sense concepts presented in a warm and encouraging way. In fact, the entire book is written in the voice of a dream boss. I think the key message of the book is that you can be effective, push your team to do great things and meet company goals, and not be a bitch at the same time. Empathize and watch out for jerks that are hurting your work environment, including yourself.
October 9, 2014
A very Poynter Institute of Media Studies book, that is, very positive and encouraging with an emphasis on fun. I was lucky in that I got to intern there after I graduated from college. I'll never forget that place. This book is a good reminder that attitude matters. That goes for bosses as well as employees. (But the descriptions of the bad bosses brought back some frightening memories...yikes, I've had some BAD bosses.)
May 16, 2016
I enjoyed this book. I think it was one of the best management books I've read. She had the best concrete advice based on what appeared to be years of research, training and experience. I listened to the audio so now I think I'll go back and re-read the hardcopy so that I can take some of the quizzes and self-assessments.
December 16, 2012
This one took some different approaches that most management books bypass and focused on ways to keep your staff happy and motivated rather than just on "how to manage" and I appreciated that angle. Still a lot of "common sense" stuff, but an entertaining read nonetheless.
January 2, 2015
This book should be a mandatory read for managers and it is even very helpful to me as a minion of current and past good and bad managers. The book is an easy read, jargon free and has great examples.
August 2, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this book...A lot of good advice for managing 360 degrees. I recommend all managers/potential managers AND especially CEO's read this book...it will enlighten you! Now...am I working happy?
January 1, 2013
This was a first read give away and I am glad that I registered for it and won. Anyone who is in a management position would benefit from reading and doing the exercises in this self help book.
December 28, 2012
I am enjoying this book. As a manager it makes me step back and look at myself how others may see me. I feel as though this will help me improve my skills.
February 14, 2013
Very inspiring, written by one of the smartest persons I ever met.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews