The Guide: Managing Douchebags, Recruiting Wingmen, and Attracting Who You Want

by Rosalind Wiseman

Recognizing that boys issues and problems have too long been ignored, Rosalind (a mother of two boys), decided to pull back the curtain on Guy World, working collaboratively with middle-school and high-school boys for a period of two years to chart the emotional terrain that boys inhabit. But as she was working on her book for the boys parents, Rosalind realized that teenage boys themselves are in desperate need of guidance. They need a book, The Guide, that speaks directly to them (in a boy-friendly format and in their language) about the problems they face every How do you get out of the friendzone (where girls refuse to take you seriously)? Whats the right way to react when getting made fun of? How do you talk to your parents so that theyll actually listen?With the help of hundreds of middle and high school aged boys, Rosalind has identified and answered the most pressing questions teenage boys have. The result is an invaluable e-book guide that no teenage boy should be without.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Self Help, Motivational, Psychology

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2013

About the author

Rosalind's career began because she noticed the same pattern underneath very different human problems: a teenager feeling alienated from friends, a parent and child caught in a power struggle they couldn't get out of, a work team derailed because people couldn't say what they knew to be true. The situations looked nothing alike, but the cause was almost always the same. Predictable social patterns created seemingly intractable power struggles and feelings of disrespect that trapped people in miscommunication, resentment, judgments and disengagement.

That is why dignity, the recognition of every person's inherent worth, is the foundation of her approach. This work is not a soft skill. Dignity allows people to exist without fear of being ignored, humiliated, or dismissed. And when we lead from dignity, conversations change, conflict de-escalates, and accountability becomes possible.

Rosalind is the best-selling author of nine books, including the New York Times bestsellers Queen Bees and Wannabes—the inspiration for the Mean Girls movie and musical franchise—and Masterminds & Wingmen, named Best Parenting Book by Books for a Better Life. She contributed to David Yeager's 2024 best-selling book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation—And Making Your Own Life Easier, and is now working on a book to be published by St. Martin's Press in 2028.

She speaks throughout the world in educational institutions, government, and non-profit organizations, and served as a senior leadership consultant at the US State Department's Office of Overseas Schools from 2020-2026.

She has been interviewed by, profiled in, or written for The New York Times, The London Times, The Atlantic, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR affiliates throughout the country, and many others.

Audiences she has presented to include South by Southwest, Microsoft, UBS, The Royal Society for the Arts, the Association for the Advancement of International Education, the United States Justice Department, the Library of Congress, the United States Department of State, the Game Developers Conference, the American Association of School Administrators, and the White House many times across administrations.

Rosalind has an honorary doctorate from Occidental College and is a board member of the Johnson Depression Center at Anschutz Medical Campus.

She is a native of Washington, D.C., a daughter, sister, wife, and mother of two young men, and lives in Boulder, Colorado, and Valencia, Spain.

Reviews

[Ann Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Rosalind's Masterminds and Wingmen and gaining insight into how teenage boys think. So when I heard that she wrote a book for teenage boys, I had to read it. Good thing I did because I would never give my son this book. First off, it was way too much theory to hold his interest, secondly, I couldn't feel good about giving him a book that has so much foul language and third, it seems like the only difference between the books was changing the pronouns from "he" to "you." Think I'll just stick with her other book.

[Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd been able to read this as a high school student. Actually, I wish I'd been able to read this even as a college student.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great info!

[Patricia Wooster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have 2 boys and I write nonfiction books for teens and found this book to be incredibly informative. Boys and girls operate completely differently, so to have a guide that deal with guy issues was extremely enlightening. Before boy culture can be helped we must first understand their struggles and Wiseman does a great job of exposing the challenges and questions teen boys experience.