The 10 Rules of Engagement

For Winning Your War for Success

  1. 1. Attitude, Risk, and Luck: They Are the Most Influential Bosses Much of life — and work — is about finding the right instrument to play in the right orchestra. Read Sample Chapter
  2. 2. Bosses: You Need a License to Cut Hair, But Not to Manage and Control Thousands of People The relationship you have with your immediate boss is one of the oddest you’ll have in life. You generally don’t choose this person, you generally don’t care for this person, yet you have to honor and obey this person.
  3. 3. Peers: Understand That They Are Your Most Valuable Allies . . . or Your Most Dangerous Enemies It’s not important to be the solitary genius who dreamed up, financed, and implemented a great plan all by yourself. What’s really valuable is showing that you are the kind of person other powerful people want to work with.
  4. 4. Rivals: Defeat Them with a Siege, Not a Coup You may very well be competing for the next job with anybody who’s captured the attention of the big bosses and the board.
  5. 5. The Team You Assemble: You Risk Your Reputation with Every Hire and FireNo matter how high an opinion you have of yourself, you cannot survive without your vital organs.
  6. 6. The People You Have to Motivate: You Are a Fool if You Think They Love YouThere is no mathematical matrix intricate enough to describe the challenges you will face in higher management.
  7. 7. Outsiders with Influence: Be Wary, Be Right, and Be Prepared to Prove It Clients and donors can be quite unpredictable and frightening. They bring the gold, so they don’t have to adhere to any rules of civilized society.
  8. 8. Position: Get into Place, Whether You Are a Hunter, Skinner, or Diner The modern organizational caste system hasn’t progressed very far from the caste system in your average Neanderthal cave.
  9. 9. Culture: Before You Sign on, Make Sure It’s a Culture, Not a Cult It’s easy to create a culture of fear. What’s really hard is creating a culture of openness where people give you their best efforts and their best ideas.
  10. 10.The New Bosses: It’s Not the Same Old Twentieth-Century Game We’ve become a culture of people who expect and demand high returns.