Managing Up: How to Forge an Effective Relationship With Those Above You - Hardcover

Badowski, Rosanne; Gittines, Roger

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385507720 ISBN 13: 9780385507721

Publisher: Doubleday Business, 2003

Synopsis

Everyone has a boss. And anyone who has aspired to move up the corporate ladder knows that their relationship with those they report to is crucial. In Managing Up Rosanne Badowski offers a straightforward, entertaining, no-holds-barred account of what it takes to make your relationship with your boss work to your advantage, no matter where you stand in the corporate hierarchy.

Told through rich, colorful anecdotes about her years spent working with one of the smartest, most demanding and dynamic business leaders of the twentieth century, legendary GE CEO Jack Welch, Badowski reveals the secrets to career success she has gleaned over the years. At heart, it’s about working with the person above you to create a productive and effective partnership.

Everyone is a manager, in one way or another, Badowski points out. She discusses first-hand what it’s like to have to be a mind reader, to anticipate the future, to plan for the unexpected, and to perform the impossible. With refreshing candor and a hint of attitude, Badowski’s advice is unlike any other. She advises us that “Impatience is a virtue,” to “Have no shame,” and to “Beware the too-quiet office.” Having worked in one of the most challenging, high-profile corporate environments anywhere, no one knows more about prioritizing, about making decisions on behalf of your boss, about sifting through a daily barrage of data and information, about multitasking at warp speed, and exhibiting grace under fire. Ultimately, Badowski says, excelling at what you do is about a shared passion for the job.

Managing Up is an invaluable guide for managing your career and juggling responsibilities with finesse and confidence. It should become a management bible for anyone hoping to get ahead in their profession.

About this title

Review:

After fourteen years of working shoulder to shoulder with GE tough guy Jack Welch, Roseanne Badowski is not afraid of what she calls the "s-word." She argues that all of us are secretaries as well as managers. In Managing Up, Badowski leverages lessons she learned in building a stellar relationship with her boss. She offers smart and solid advice beginning with her "Can you start on Monday?" interview with Welch, and then turning to the skills of "navigating a boss Monday through Friday." The book' s chapter titles may sound prosaic, but her approach crackles with energy and fresh ideas. For example, she writes about trust by including "time-tested phrases for breaking bad news." She details the perils of being unprepared and puts in a good word for nagging. She also makes a persuasive argument for the advantages of cultivating impatience to enhance productivity. With splashy anecdotes and checklists, Badowski offers realistic and and disciplined counsel. Hero worshippers be warned: Although Welch wrote the book's introduction, Badowski is such an engaging no-nonsense advisor that she becomes the most compelling manager represented in her book. --Barbara Mackoff

From the Back Cover:

“Rosanne Badowski’s extraordinary fifteen years in the trenches with Jack Welch have given her unparalleled expertise in the art of leadership. Far more than an ordinary how-to book, Managing Up is a terrifically engaging and entertaining read, filled with stories and lessons from a woman who has seen it all.”
- Noel Tichy, professor at the University of Michigan Business School and author of The Cycle of Leadership: How Great Leaders Teach Their Organizations to Win

“I always wondered how Jack did it... and now I know one big reason. Rosanne Badowski. Managing history’s greatest manager – that’s what Managing Up is all about, and it’s riveting. Stand back, Peter Drucker. If you’re the boss (or think you are)... read it. If you work for the boss, read it twice. You can’t afford not to.”
- Gerry Roche, senior chairman of Heidrick & Struggles

“Rosanne has seen it all... Her book is an inside view of the pressures and life in the executive office.”
- Bob Wright, vice chairman and executive officer, GE; chairman & chief executive officer, NBC

“Managing Up shows what you can learn when you keep your eyes and ears open and happen to work for/with a terrific boss. Great lessons for readers here, managing up, down and sideways.”
- Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business at the University of Southern California, and co-author of GEEKS AND GEEZERS

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday Business
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0385507720
• ISBN 13: 9780385507721
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240