Brutal Bosses
As American corporations accelerate their downsizing and proclaim their dedication to "leaner" staffing, the pressure on bosses increases: they are ordered to do more with less. Therein lies the issue confronted by Hornstein (Social Intervention), a psychology professor at Columbia University and a psychotherapist, after eight years of work and interviews with more than 1000 workers. He opens by listing the eight deadly sins bosses can commit: deceit, constraint, coercion, selfishness, inequity, cruelty, disregard and deification. Then he classifies brutal bosses as executioners, dehumanizers, blamers, rationalizers, conquerors, performers and manipulators, some because they are neither sensitive nor introspective, others because they are bullies; many of them, he reports, are backed by their superiors or peers. Of three conceivable remedies?changing the victims, changing the abusers and changing the system?he views only the last as feasible and then presents six survival skills to help the abused.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.