Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do about Them
- Downloads：5572
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-03-29 06:51:41
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Tessa West
- ISBN：0593192303
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
For anyone pulling their hair out over an irritating colleague who's not technically breaking any rules， a hilarious guide to getting difficult people off your back from NYU psychology professor Tessa West
Ever watched a coworker charm the pants off management while showing a competitive， Machiavellian side to the lower ranks？ The Kiss-Up/Kick-Down coworker doesn't hesitate to throw peers under the bus， but their boss is oblivious to their bad behavior。 What to do？ In Jerks at Work， West draws on a decade of original research to profile classic workplace archetypes， including the Gaslighter， the Bulldozer， the Credit-Stealer， the Neglector， and the Micromanager， and gives advice to anyone who's ever cried in a bathroom stall at the office。
West digs deep into the inner workings of each bad apple， exploring their motivations and insecurities--for instance， micromanagers develop compulsive habits due to poor managerial training and public shaming--and offers clever strategies for stopping each type of jerk in their tracks， such as:
- Bulldozers often gain extra influence in meetings by making sure they're the first person to talk， even by saying let's start by all sharing our names， which research shows portrays them as powerful。 Don't let them speak first！
- Kiss-Up/Kick-down coworkers are so endeared to their managers that， if you have to report them， do it in small doses over time--otherwise， you'll trigger cognitive dissonance in your brainwashed boss。
Jerks at Work is the playbook that you wish you didn't need but you'll always turn to--and the answer to your endless how to deal with a terrible boss Google searches。
Ever watched a coworker charm the pants off management while showing a competitive， Machiavellian side to the lower ranks？ The Kiss-Up/Kick-Down coworker doesn't hesitate to throw peers under the bus， but their boss is oblivious to their bad behavior。 What to do？ In Jerks at Work， West draws on a decade of original research to profile classic workplace archetypes， including the Gaslighter， the Bulldozer， the Credit-Stealer， the Neglector， and the Micromanager， and gives advice to anyone who's ever cried in a bathroom stall at the office。
West digs deep into the inner workings of each bad apple， exploring their motivations and insecurities--for instance， micromanagers develop compulsive habits due to poor managerial training and public shaming--and offers clever strategies for stopping each type of jerk in their tracks， such as:
- Bulldozers often gain extra influence in meetings by making sure they're the first person to talk， even by saying let's start by all sharing our names， which research shows portrays them as powerful。 Don't let them speak first！
- Kiss-Up/Kick-down coworkers are so endeared to their managers that， if you have to report them， do it in small doses over time--otherwise， you'll trigger cognitive dissonance in your brainwashed boss。
Jerks at Work is the playbook that you wish you didn't need but you'll always turn to--and the answer to your endless how to deal with a terrible boss Google searches。
Reviews
Teal Veyre
，
I really liked this book！ This is exactly what I look for in a workplace non-fiction （which is a very specific genre that I'm weirdly hooked on）。 It's a super quick read， full of anecdotes that illustrate the point。 Also lots of great advice。 I know I'll always be terrible at following said advice though。 I can not people。 I get irritated too easily and immediately let everyone know how irritated I am。 I don't think a gaslighter could ever do much with me， because I doubt anyone could successful I really liked this book！ This is exactly what I look for in a workplace non-fiction （which is a very specific genre that I'm weirdly hooked on）。 It's a super quick read， full of anecdotes that illustrate the point。 Also lots of great advice。 I know I'll always be terrible at following said advice though。 I can not people。 I get irritated too easily and immediately let everyone know how irritated I am。 I don't think a gaslighter could ever do much with me， because I doubt anyone could successfully get me to shut up or socially isolate。 I have， however， dealt with my fair share of bulldozers and micromanagers。 I have handled both in the exact same way， by snapping at them， telling them they were irritating me， and in one case， quitting without notice。 A lot of the conflict management strategies in this book take a lot of passive and sneaky approaches。 I'm not denying these approaches are smart and likely effective。 I just know I'll never be capable of them。 But I enjoyed the book nonetheless！ When I picked up the book 'When Bad Teams Happen to Good People' （which was a horribly dry one-star read for me） THIS was the sort of book I was looking for。 A book with humor and anecdotes and great insights into human psychology。 。。。more
Mitchell
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I actually did really like this book and I'm kind of between a 3 and 4。 While it is probably the best-written book of this genre that I have read （not that I have read a lot） I think the writing style didn't totally resonate with me。Still， the descriptions of each type of Jerk and Work were really great and I liked the way the book was structured - I felt like there was a highly practical guide to classifying jerks！ I actually did really like this book and I'm kind of between a 3 and 4。 While it is probably the best-written book of this genre that I have read （not that I have read a lot） I think the writing style didn't totally resonate with me。Still， the descriptions of each type of Jerk and Work were really great and I liked the way the book was structured - I felt like there was a highly practical guide to classifying jerks！ 。。。more
Andrew
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Are you an ideal worker？Do you have coworkers or higher-power colleagues that are。。。Kiss-Up/Kick Downers， Credit Stealers， Bulldozers， Micromanagers， a neglectful boss， or a Gaslighter？ Take two quizzes before you read this book （featured and explained at the end of the book） to test it out。 After reading it， take the quizzes again and you will be very surprised by what you may think of your results。 Additionally， check out the many ways how you can handle the jerks at work。 While most of these Are you an ideal worker？Do you have coworkers or higher-power colleagues that are。。。Kiss-Up/Kick Downers， Credit Stealers， Bulldozers， Micromanagers， a neglectful boss， or a Gaslighter？ Take two quizzes before you read this book （featured and explained at the end of the book） to test it out。 After reading it， take the quizzes again and you will be very surprised by what you may think of your results。 Additionally， check out the many ways how you can handle the jerks at work。 While most of these scenarios and types are extremes of situations， they are still unfortunately， nevertheless accurate。 We all face them。 In some ways， we are also one of them。 How can we deal with these "jerks"？ While many of the methodologies involve the simplest form， communication and building up the team as a whole， it does state that sometimes you have to go beyond that。 Most of the scenarios too， are meant for "larger" "corporate" type positions， though it does use scenarios from many facets of companies。 It does examine each of the "Jerk" types very thoroughly as they are full chapters。 Lastly， the book forces you to take a look at your work environment and yourself to determine， are you really who you and/or who you think your co-workers and managers are。 。。。more
Dion
，
The chapter on gaslighting was very informative！
Lizz Axnick
，
This book was okay although I was disappointed because I had hoped to learn some new tips and tricks for a specific jerk at work （the free rider） and we have already tried everything she had recommended。 Bummer
Melissa Whitney
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One of FORBES Magazine's must reads of 2022 and I can see why！ This easy read waves in psycho-social theory/study with story-telling。 An refreshing professional book that uses cutting wit and real world advice to help you identify those "jerks" and how to deal with them。 Whether new to the workplace， struggling， serving as a manager or member of a team this book is definitely perfect for ANYONE。 You may think you don't have a jerk （likely you may be that jerk）。 This is a great guide in not only One of FORBES Magazine's must reads of 2022 and I can see why！ This easy read waves in psycho-social theory/study with story-telling。 An refreshing professional book that uses cutting wit and real world advice to help you identify those "jerks" and how to deal with them。 Whether new to the workplace， struggling， serving as a manager or member of a team this book is definitely perfect for ANYONE。 You may think you don't have a jerk （likely you may be that jerk）。 This is a great guide in not only how to spot and deal with them， but to see the times you play that role。 The assessments at the end are a wonderful added bonus。 。。。more
Lori Gibbany
，
Good look at personalities in the workplace and how to deal with them
Marie
，
Create physical and psychological buffers between you and toxic co workers。 Avoid giving a bulldozer personal information， passwords， calendars， the boss's schedule， budgets， company data， job applications， access to company websites for updating。Bulldozers gain power through bringing in a unique skill that makes it difficult for the group to function without them。 They take over decision making。 They use well established relationships to trash talk their team。 They take advantage of loose proce Create physical and psychological buffers between you and toxic co workers。 Avoid giving a bulldozer personal information， passwords， calendars， the boss's schedule， budgets， company data， job applications， access to company websites for updating。Bulldozers gain power through bringing in a unique skill that makes it difficult for the group to function without them。 They take over decision making。 They use well established relationships to trash talk their team。 They take advantage of loose procedures and rules that are not established。 。。。more
Vanessa Bohns
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