Managers working in today's organizations often focus more on results than on the people who achieve those results. But regularly evaluating the performance of your employees is critical to improving the efficiency and output of your organization. Performance reviews have changed significantly in the past few years. Companies today are looking for the key characteristics, known as competencies, that help the most successful people in their field to be so successful. Managers and employees need to focus on those competencies, especially during performance review discussions.

John Hoover, an organizational leadership consultant, discusses how to deal with an "Idiot Boss" - or I-Boss - who does stupid things. Hoover distinguishes idiots from other tricky bosses, including those who think they are God, or who are paranoid, sadistic or Machiavellian. He leaves the reader with a couple of issues. First, you'll think no good, caring bosses still exist. Second, he doesn't tell you clearly where to set boundaries or when enough is finally enough. He often advocates appeasing bad bosses, although his other counsel on how to deal with them has some effective pointers. To his credit, Hoover is very candid about how he has learned from experience, including his mistakes. He offers personal examples from his experiences at Disney and elsewhere, and tries to write in a light-hearted or whimsical vein. getAbstract.com finds the book strongest when it is strategic and weakest when it tries to be funny, given that with bad bosses you only laugh to keep from crying.

How Great Leaders Can Produce Insane Results Without Driving People Crazy "It's hard to believe that so much powerful practical wisdom can be packed into such an easy to read book. It's a voyage into the pure essence of what really works. I've already ordered it for my entire staff."--Ron Hulnick, President, University of Santa Monica 100 Ways to Motivate Others is the culmination of many years of successful leadership coaching and training by best-selling author Steve Chandler and attorney Scott Richardson, and the natural follow-up to Steve's two previous best-sellers - 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself and Reinventing Yourself. Chandler and Richardson have crafted a vital, user-friendly, inspirational guide for executives, managers, and professionals ... and those aspiring to reach their level. 100 Ways to Motivate Others draws on the success of live workshops, seminars, and personal coaching programs on communications and leadership. These seminars, done for such organizations as Banner Health, General Dynamics, Scripps Hospital, Wells Fargo Banks, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and M & I Banks, appeal to managers, teachers, parents, CEOs, and coaches everywhere. The first step in motivating others is for you, if you're the leader wanting the motivation, to realize that "if there's a problem, I'm the problem." Once you truly get that, then you can use these 100 ways. After you've learned to motivate yourself, Steve and Scott will help you learn: How to slow down and enjoy a new level of focus; Why multitasking is a myth, not a strength, and keeping life simple and straightforward is the goal; The power of building on your peoples' strengths; How to avoid the damaging inclination to obsess about people's weaknesses; A simple and creative way to hold people accountable; How to enjoy cultivating the art of supportive confrontation. This book inspires extremely tough-minded leadership that gives the gift of clarity and vision to every person following the leader. 100 Ways to Motivate Others rides on the crest of the international success of Steve Chandler's 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself. Chandler has written eight books and has been translated into seven languages, including best-sellers in China and Japan. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Creative Writing and Political Science, and spent four years in the US Army in Psychological Warfare. He and Scott Richardson live in Phoenix, Ariz., and provide leadership coaching and training.