Working with a Narcissist:: Surviving and Thriving with the World's Worst Bosses

by Neil Goldstein, Marsha Rosenstein

Are you working for a narcissist?
If your boss leaves you feeling drained, confused, frustrated, and constantly questioning your sanity, you might be.
You’ve tried staying quiet, working harder, and speaking up. But the relentless criticism, shifting goalposts, gaslighting, blame, and emotional exhaustion continue.
It’s not you; it’s them.
You can’t change a narcissist, but you can change how you navigate their toxic influence. Working with a Surviving and Thriving with the World’s Worst Bosses provides solutions and support for one of the most challenging workplace situations.
Readers will Clear strategies to identify the subtle and not-so-subtle signs of narcissistic behaviorProven techniques to disarm the narcissist’s tactics and protect your jobVital self-preservation techniques to safeguard your sanityActionable steps to preserve your mental health and professional reputationEmpowering advice to navigate the roadblocks a narcissist places in your wayWritten by a seasoned business consultant who spent years analyzing the behavior he encountered in workplaces, and an experienced Licensed Clinical Social Worker, this guide gives you a definitive game plan for coping with your boss’s unreasonable demands, unfair criticism, manipulation, undermining behavior, lack of empathy, vindictiveness, and condescension.
Each a specific type of narcissistic behaviorHelps you understand the psychological reasons behind itProvides rules for dealing with this traitOffers a practical case studyGives a tangible list of dos and don’tsThe book also discusses how to keep your job OR get out from under the narcissist while keeping your sanity, ensuring you get raises or promotions, coping with narcissistic co-workers, and much more.
Take back your sanity. The path forward starts here.

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2025

About the author

Neil Goldstein: Mr. Goldstein is the founder of Elementary Business Inc. a specialized consulting firm for distressed businesses and entities in transition. Mr. Goldstein works closely with owners to structure improvements in both operations and finances. With many successes in his portfolio, Mr. Goldstein focuses on the needs of the owner to achieve results in profitability, sale of the company or finding a partner for growth.
Mr. Goldstein draws from over 50 years of experience with the last 30+ in the restructuring field. His specialty is with distressed companies to restructure both finances and operations to return companies to profitability and, in other cases, avoid bankruptcy. As a hands-on consulting practitioner, he has personally negotiated with foreign governments for incentive programs, worked with union management to improve productivity, and restructured warehouses for efficiency and other specialized operational assignments. He has extensively traveled on behalf of business owners to factories located in Latin America, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean.
Mr. Goldstein is a former partner of a leading financial services consulting firm working with troubled companies taking them from a distressed situation to profitability, successful liquidation, or merger. Mr. Goldstein started his career in public accounting and later moved into the private sector as Senior Auditor, Accountant, and on numerous occasions served the role of CFO and President of various companies, including a top 10 CPA firm, Thomas Cook Travel Worldwide, as well as various apparel companies with locations and production facilities in the USA, Canada, Latin America, and Europe). In 1996 he founded Practical Solutions a business consulting firm specializing in turnaround management for companies under $50 million dollars. The present company name is Elementary Business Inc. www.elementarybusiness.com
Neil Goldstein graduated from Pace University in 1973 with a BS in Accounting and Finance.

Reviews

[Everlynne Shakespeare]

This book serves as a practical guide for anyone dealing with a narcissistic boss. The authors expertly outline the characteristics of narcissism, providing a clear framework for identifying these traits in the workplace. They delve into the emotional impact of working under such leadership and offer actionable strategies to navigate these challenging relationships.

The book details how to recognize narcissistic behaviors, which can be crucial for employees feeling overwhelmed or undermined.The book details how to recognize narcissistic behaviors, which can be crucial for employees feeling overwhelmed or undermined. It provides concrete techniques for managing interactions, such as using positive language and framing suggestions carefully to avoid triggering defensiveness.

The authors include relatable examples that illustrate the complexities of working with narcissists, making the content more engaging and applicable. Overall, this book is a valuable resource for those looking to protect their mental health and career while working in a toxic environment. It balances psychological insights with practical advice, making it both informative and empowering.

[Liz Brooks]

I am grateful to have received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This could be a very helpful book for many employees, and, if read with a greater open mind than one typically might read, a lot of the information is transferrable into more personal relationship with mild tweaking if any. Therefore, it is even more of a resource than advertised. That having been said, I do think it is incredibly valuable to have a resource like this specifically developed for professional environments, as there are a ton of resources to navigate narcissistic individuals in our personal lives. There are great ideas and potential solutions. As the author frequently notes, narcissists can be explosive, unstable, and unpredictable, so please do read this as suggestive and not with any guaranteed success, again, as the author repeatedly and respectfully indicates. There is a lot of experience based insight in this book, and can be an incredibly valuable resource for the workforce, even if your boss is just difficult, stubborn, and egocentric, and not necessarily a narcissist.

[lf]

Narcissist in your workplace....then read this book on how to deal with it

If you have ever felt like a pinball being pinged all over the place at work by your boss then you need to read Working with a Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving with the World's Worst Bosses. The title tells you what to expect and it delivers on it. I can't say that I would really ever stay and want to "thrive" with a narcissist boss but if you so decide to then this books gives you information on how you can do it.