A letter from Klaus

Actually, I didn’t want to write another book. “Five are enough!” is what I said to my publisher. And then you showed up. In the past few months I kept hearing so many things about you all: megalomaniac bosses, decision-makers who can’t make decisions, crackbrained colleagues and clients who don’t respect boundaries. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.

Bad bosses have always been around. Yet lately these slight excentricities have grown into a gaping abyss of bad behavior: it can’t go on like this anymore! Is what I thought. And wrote. And now it’s here. The Anti-Asshole-Manual that will help you to turn a notorious scumbag or a cold-hearted bitch of a boss into a tolerable superior, an acceptable boss.

Right now, I am working on five projects at once. I can only manage this because I am privileged enough to work with highly competent teams (And because I try not to be an asshole). This doesn’t come automatically. You have to want it. And know a bit about the typical asshole-cases you find in everyday management.

In my latest book, the majority of practical examples have once again come from you, my dear readers. Thank you very much – you may recognise yourself in some of the cases. If you remember any other nasty episodes or horrific anecdotes when reading this: DO NOT HESITATE to share them with me! I absolutely love every email like this.

It would make me really happy if, after reading this book, you have managed to turn a weak boss into a bearable or even great superior/mentor/role model, or maybe you’ll just be a lot better at dealing with an unpleasant situation – so that you can begin to enjoy your work, again. This is my sincere hope for you!

Klaus Schuster