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!

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.)

In these multi-media times, it's important to share information in every possible format.  That's why this site exists, along with a Facebook page for the book. But we can't overlook the world of video, can we? Since I worked for many years in broadcast journalism before becoming an educator -- (and since the man I married owns a production company) -- it was logical that we'd produce a video for the book. The picture you see was taken at Midland Video Productions, against a green screen.  That screen allows the post-production team to apply text and images, to insert a creative background, all to help illustrate the information about the book.  The video is now on YouTube and Vimeo, but of course, you can see it right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4pCURnHFc8  

Publishers Weekly, the international magazine devoted to books, has just released its review of "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW."  Authors wait with their fingers crossed for positive reviews -- and oh my! What a joy to read the reviewer's kind words and insights about the book! The reviewer describes "WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" as  a "practical step-by-step guide to improving leadership skills" and goes on to say: "Rather than a prescriptive, academic book on leadership, Geisler humanizes the text with anecdotes from her own leadership development as a broadcast news director in Milwaukee, sharing her revelations, corrections, and progress." I don't know who the reviewer is: PW reviews are anonymous. But that writer certainly made my day and has my eternal gratitude -- especially for predicting that 'WORK HAPPY: WHAT GREAT BOSSES KNOW" will become a "go-to-manual for those new to management."   To see the full review on the Publishers Weekly website, just click on this link.