Katherine Crowley and Kathie Elster, Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide for Managing Your Boss. Portfolio Trade, 2010.
Referenced in:
- Criticism, Difficult People and Conversations
- Leading in Subordinate Roles
- Ministry Staff and Leadership Teams
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Not all church leaders will find themselves in the difficult relationships typical of the private sector, but there are far more likenesses than differences. There is a lot of truth in the saying that “if you are not annoyed by someone you work with, you are probably working alone.” Churches included. In these situations, people need the resources by Crowly and Elster.
Crowley is a Harvard-trained psychotherapist and Elster is a business consultant. Together they present themselves as “undercover business therapists.” They have authored two volumes. Working With You Is Killing Me (2007) addresses the topic of difficult work relationships generally. This one, Working for You Isn’t Working for Me, focuses on dealing with difficult bosses.
Church leaders will have to weigh the applicability to their contexts, as the dynamics of authority and submission function differently in congregations, lacking the structured incentives and controls of the workplace. But this book certainly contains enough useful insight to have a place in any church leader’s toolbox.
From the Publisher
The guide for anyone who deals with difficult authority figures at work.
Sooner or later, we all have to work for someone we can’t stand-whether it’s an inept supervisor, an undermining department head, or an overly demanding client. When that happens, some people quit, some suffer in silence, and others cope by sulking, obsessing, or retaliating.
But you can take charge of this crucial workplace relationship. In this book, Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster, authors of the bestseller Working for You Is Killing Me, offer concrete examples of bad boss scenarios and a proven four-step program for improving each situation:
- Detect – Identify how this person drives you crazy.
- Detach – Discover concrete actions you can take to reclaim your power.
- Depersonalize – Learn how to take a boss’s actions less personally.
- Deal – Devise a plan to get what you need and move your career forward.
About the Authors
Katherine Crowley is a psychotherapist and an in-demand public speaker. In 1993 she became a partner in Kathi Elster’s New York based consulting company Small Business Strategy, Inc. Kathi Elster is a nationally recognized authority in the field of entrepreneurial consulting.
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