The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace: Know What Boosts Your Value, Kills Your Chances, and Will Make You Happier - Hardcover

Wakeman, Cy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118413687 ISBN 13: 9781118413685

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2013

Synopsis

The key to understanding how your manager calculates your real value―and how to boost it

More than anything else, you need to understand exactly how your employer evaluates you, and your annual performance review doesn't tell the whole story. In The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace, Cy Wakeman shows how to calculate how your true value to your organization by understanding your current and future potential against your "emotional expense"―the toll your actions and attitudes take on the people around you. With Cy's clear, straight-to-the-point advice, you can confront and reduce your emotional costliness, become an invaluable member of your team, and even learn to love your job again.

• Reveals a formula for measuring your current performance, future potential, and the biggest detractor, your emotional expense
• Shares real-world advice for quickly boosting your value and becoming a highly-valued, sought after employee and teammate
• Builds on the lessons in Reality-Based Leadership, Cy Wakeman's first book for leaders and managers

The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace is the essential guide for boosting your value, owning your career, and becoming the kind of employee no organization can afford to lose.

About this title

Review

Q & A with Cy Wakeman, author of The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace

Cy Wakeman What is the reality-based revolution?

You can have peace, sanity, and happiness at work, and still achieve amazing results that don't have to come at the expense of your personal well-being. It's a concept that is taking over the world.

Why is it each of our own responsibility-not our manager's-to calculate our precise value to our employer?

Most managers lie-not because they are bad people, but because they believe their employees can't handle true, honest feedback. For this reason, you can't expect accurate assessments from your manager. You can (and should) use your manager as a source of input as you evaluate your own value.

When you take responsibility for calculating your own value regularly, it becomes highly unlikely that you will get surprise negative feedback during your annual review. Taking personal responsibility for your value returns the ownership to you. I have found that this is the key to personal happiness. It helps you know what levers to pull to see the change you want in your life, without relying on others.

What is emotional expensiveness, and why does it carry more weight than any other factor in the new value equation?

Emotional expensiveness has a multiplier effect. One person's emotional expensiveness creates drama that affects everyone, making it a greater liability. When you think about the people that exhaust you, does it really matter how good they are at their jobs? Not typically. We would rather work with someone who is easy to work with and doesn't drain us emotionally. Organizations are no different.

How can boosting your value make you more successful and more fulfilled in your career?

Once you know how leaders in organizations actually determine your value, you can take steps to improve that value. Rock star performers who constantly hone their skills and stay drama-free get noticed very quickly. If that doesn't happen, they are incredibly marketable. Really good people who have options are bound to be happier than less-than-stellar employees who allow their skills to fizzle out and become engrossed in stress and drama.

What can fans of your first book expect from The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace?

Fans of Reality-Based Leadership will see that I've provided a road map for everyone on how to be one of the favorites. The rules of the game have changed, and I've helped to demystify those changes as they relate to being a valuable member of any organization. In The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace, I help readers understand that I am on their side. I want the world to be a happier place, and it starts with taking personal accountability.

From the Back Cover

• NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
• WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
• PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER
• USA TODAY BESTSELLER
• CHICAGO SUN-TIMES BESTSELLER

For many, work has never seemed harder. In tough economic times, and the aftermath of hiring freezes and layoffs, people are asked to do the same amount of work with reduced resources, sometimes even for reduced benefits and pay. Many employees feel unrecognized and underrewarded, with studies showing workplace dissatisfaction at record highs.

But what if the things that are currently making you unhappy simply lost their power over you? What if you could go to work feeling energetic and excited, regardless of any external circumstances? What does it take to be valued, appreciated―even a favorite at the office?

More than anything else, your satisfaction and success at work depend on understanding exactly how you are evaluated, and your annual performance review doesn't tell the whole story. The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace goes beyond guesswork to reveal a formula for understanding how your manager calculates your value to the organization. Based on her research with more than 50,000 people, Cy Wakeman reveals a formula for measuring your current performance, your future potential, and your "emotional expense"―the toll your actions and attitudes take on the people around you, which is your single biggest detractor. Only once you know your true score can you improve it. With Cy's clear, straight-to-the-point advice, you can quickly boost your value to your manager and colleagues. You will become an invaluable team member, and even learn to love your job again.

Building on the revolutionary lessons of Reality-Based Leadership, Cy's first book for leaders and managers, this new book shares practical, real-world advice for how anyone can quickly become a highly valued, sought-after employee and teammate. The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace is the essential guide for boosting your value, owning your career, and becoming the kind of employee no organization can afford to lose.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1118413687
• ISBN 13: 9781118413685
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208