Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know

On the road to becoming a great boss, you'll probably meet your "Evil Twin."  That's the person others see but you don't -- not unless someone calls it to your attention. It can happen when you, with perfectly good intentions, do or say something that people take in an entirely different way than you intended.  It happens to managers all the time. I write about this phenomenon in "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" because I think it is critical for managers to understand how easily their actions can be misinterpreted.  Once they understand this, there are things they can easily do to banish those Evil Twins.  In conjunction with the release of WORK HAPPY, I published a special column and podcast on Poynter. org that offers tips and shares some new research on the power of good intentions.  If you'd like to learn more, here's a link to that column.  And if you want to learn LOTS more, well, I'd suggest you consider investing in a certain book.

Here's what Amazon.com's business book section looked like this morning -- June 8, 2012! Both the hard copy and Kindle versions of "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" are displayed as "Hot New Releases."  It's always encouraging to see that kind of showcasing, isn't it? It's been interesting hearing from people who have very particular preferences about how they consume books.  Some just love the convenience of an instant download, readable on a small, portable device.  Others don't feel they have a complete reading experience unless they can feel a book in their hands.  What's your preferred mode of book reading?

You're looking at the studios of WUWM, the public radio station in my home town of Milwaukee.  Host Mitch Teich invited me in for an interview about "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" for the station's local news and public affairs show, "Lake Effect."    Public radio is a wonderful venue for authors.  Editors at my publishing house, Hachette, tell me that public radio listeners tend to be avid readers. "Lake Effect" airs on Wednesdays at 10am Central time, and as of this writing, the book interview is scheduled to air on Wednesday, June 13th. Thanks, Mitch, for being well-prepared and asking great questions about how bosses become great!

You're looking at my iPad -- and the leadership blog of Skip Prichard, which I read with quite a smile this morning.  Prichard is the CEO of Ingram Content, and has an abiding fascination with leadership and books.  His blog is beautiful to navigate and visually rich. It features his interviews with thought leaders and authors.  Prichard read an advance copy of "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" and reached out to ask me some great questions about both the book and my leadership teaching. In his introduction to our Q & A, he writes: "I was thrilled to find so much excellent management advice packed into a single book. I didn't just read the book; I put it to immediate use."  Then he went on to ask ten great questions, about feedback, culture, communication, success stories -- and more.  He began with this question: "Why didn't you write this book much earlier in my career?  You could have saved me from making many mistakes.  What inspired you to write it?" Here's a link to the full interview on Skip Prichard's blog.  If you care about leadership and management, there's lots of content there for you to enjoy.

Today's the day it all comes together: in book stores, on Kindle, Nook, iBook -- "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" is now a reality.  I checked back.  My first post on this site was back in February of 2011, as the book contract was being finalized. I've been recording each step in the process, intersperses with leadership advice.  Today, the birth process of the book is history -- but my gratitude to all who helped make it happen will go on forever.  I also plan to continue using this site to share leadership lessons -- and interesting stories that emerge now that "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" is out in the world. For those who are seeing this site for the first time, look at the menu bar for all sorts of interesting ways to keep in touch.  Join in the Facebook page,  send me a question, share a photo of yourself with the book, or make contact with me about customized teaching for your organization or joining in on a program at the Poynter Institute.  Most of all, I want to help leaders at all levels bring happiness to work.

My husband Neil picked me up at the airport today, as I was coming home from teaching a leadership workshop in Mobile.  "Let's stop at Barnes and Noble on the way home," he suggested. Tomorrow is the officially release date for the book, but he thought it would be worthwhile to check the shelves today. When we arrived, he took his camera out of the trunk, so I suspected he knew something I didn't.  In fact, he had done a little advance scouting.  Sure enough, there in the "New Non-Fiction" area in business books, that bright, eye-catching cover, smiling right at us. It's been a wonderful journey, bringing this book to life.  Now, it can bring happiness to workplaces!   Feel free to contact me through the book's Facebook page if you'd like to share your thoughts or ask for advice.

What better way to spend the weekend before the official publication date of the book, than conducting a leadership workshop for some very bright young managers in the Raycom Media group.  Raycom believes in growing leaders from within the organization, and each year selects up-and-coming mid-level managers for specialized training. I've played a role in that program for several years running.  Being a manager is serious business, of course, but if you read my book, you'll see that I believe levity is a key value of leadership. As a surprise to the class, Raycom's news VP, Susana Schuler purchased early copies of the book from Amazon.com, and presented each one with a copy, which I then signed.  This photo was taken after they learned about the importance of feedback -- and my concept of "feedback glasses" (also in the book.) We took a few class pictures together, and needless to say, this one is my hands-down favorite.

Although the official release date is June 5,  Amazon is already selling and shipping copies of the book.  Several people who had pre-ordered told me this week they received emails from Amazon, letting them know the book would be shipped early to them.  Amazon also now has the "Look Inside the Book" feature activated, so you are able to get a good sense of the content.  I have always appreciated that feature -- and often purchased a book based on the strength of the Table of Contents! I'm especially delighted that the first Amazon.com review was posted by my colleague Roy Peter Clark.  He's the author of multiple books on writing and has had a profound impact on writers in all genres. He also encouraged me to turn my teaching and columns into a book, and has been very helpful along the way. Here's what he wrote: My colleague Jill Geisler has written her first book, and it's a humdinger: "Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know." At first, I was puzzled by the title. So few people express happiness in their work that it seemed to espouse a quixotic,almost impossible dream. But that's the point, isn't it? Whatever endeavor we choose -- or chooses us -- there is a direct connection between our productivity and our emotional satisfaction on the job. The subtitle suggests that it will be a great boss who creates the conditions for a productive and satisfying work life, with this caveat: Some of the unhappiest workers we know bear the title of boss, and their problems, we have all learned the hard way, flow downhill and become our problems. Leadership, Geisler teaches us, is not the work of bosses alone. Each of us carries some burden of leadership, which, when embraced and practiced, can turn into something powerful, even joyful. Jill Geisler brings long experience as a media leader to the writing of this book. Her strategies have been field tested and shared widely through her teaching at the Poynter Institute and through her iTunesU podcasts, which have been downloaded in the millions. Anyone who aspires to a leadership position of any kind at any organization should read this book and put its advice to work -- today.

This was the scene today as two boxes arrived at the Poynter Institute, to my attention.  This was the day I'd been waiting for -- to see the final, final product: the hard cover edition of my book.  I carried the boxes into the office of Julie Moos, who is the editor of our institute's web publication.  I refer to her as the "midwife" of the book, because she's been the editor of my "Great Bosses" columns, helped develop the iTunes U podcasts, and held my hand through every step of the book process.   When she saw me, her eyes lit up and she guessed what was up.  She handed me her scissors, grabbed her cell phone camera, and said she wanted to record as I saw the hard cover version of the book for the first time. Here's the unboxing -- as it happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6XMYDSkUPg Thanks, Julie!

Isn't this a great picture?  It's dynamic, iconic -- it represents a real team with real trust.  The best part of all, is that it isn't some stock photo.  It's a real event.  It wasn't posed.  In fact, it happened in an instant.  I know because I was there.  My hand is in that circle.  But let me be clear: I didn't instigate it.  I just chose to take part, just as every other person did.  This photo is the jumping off point for a column I've written in my "What Great Bosses Know" series for the Poynter Institute. The column offers eight tips for leaders who want to build strong, high performing teams.  It takes trust to build and sustain a true team.  So, here's a link to the column, (just click on the highlighted words to get there) with all eight tips, and the interesting back story of how that picture came to life. (Photo credit to Scott Simmie of The Toronto Star.)