Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For

A Guide for New Leaders

By: William A. Gentry Ph.D.

Narrated by: Tom Dheere

Becoming a manager is one of the most stressful and challenging transitions in any career. Why do half or more new managers quickly flame out? They're working from an old script for success. The Center for Creative Leadership Senior Research Scientist William Gentry shows them how to flip that script.

As an individual, your script is about "me". It calls for you to keep your head down, work hard, do everything you are told to do and more, and outshine and relentlessly outperform everyone. But when you become a manager, everything about your job needs to change - your skillset, the nature of your work relationships, your understanding of what "work" is, how you see yourself and your organization. You have to operate from a brand new script, one that's about "we" - ensuring collective success. But very few managers get any kind of training for this new role, and even fewer are given any clue as to just how fundamental and far-reaching this change is.

Filled with practical advice and lessons, and backed by extensive research by Gentry and others, this book lays out the art, science, and practice behind learning and leading as a first time manager. Through first-hand accounts, stories, and other examples drawn from the experiences of first-time managers - including Gentry's own story of recently become a first-time manager himself - the book's practical, actionable content helps readers flip the old script, and write and live their new script.

©2016 William Gentry (P)2016 William Gentry

Invaluable information for new and existing bosses

“Flip Your Script” is the most accurate subtitle for this excellent book for new managers and those seeking to improve their performance as a leader.

If there’s one fault – and there is only one – it is that Center for Creative Leadership Senior Research Scientist, William Gentry, stays too much on task, becoming far too repetitive in expressing his mantra at every opportunity. It was almost my lid that got flipped by the end.
Read with clarity and purpose by Tom Dheere, Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For is a quality resource that covers many vital workplace and leadership issues. Gentry claims that his findings are based on extensive research which includes researching almost 300 new leaders. He uses his own experiences to complement the research findings, with the outcome being this compilation and exploration of leadership.

Early in the piece, Gentry explains that, for the past decade in the USA, 82% of frontline or new leaders have not been rated as having excellent skills by those working under them. 80% of frontline leaders are not satisfied with the job they are doing and 70% of their bosses agree. These are frighteningly high negative statistics for people in positions of power in a workplace.

The reasoning is that employees are promoted for their expertise in a particular role, however people management has not been a part of that role. Almost 60% of new leaders receive no training despite having the biggest impact on productivity, morale and staff retention. No other skilled job puts staff into a role without the necessary skills, training or development.

The lessons in Be the Boss began for me in the audiobook’s jacket summary which provided the first ‘light bulb’ moment by talking about the need for leaders to change their mindset from ‘me’ to ‘we’. In task-orientated jobs, the focus is on our own work and deadlines but, for leaders, the focus is on their team and the organisation as a whole.

Gentry continues this thought in his well-planned book by examining topics such as communication – including non-verbal messages like body language and grooming; showing empathy; the emotional affect leaders can have on staff; different kinds of influencing skills; balancing friendships with your new role as their leader; treating everyone fairly instead of equally; different forms of motivation; and so much more.

Whether the lesson is on learning to delegate, giving effective feedback, or showing integrity, Gentry is articulate, clear and offers practical advice. Tom Dheere’s narration is inspirational and equally articulate.

Although running less than five hours, Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For is quite comprehensive and filled with ideas and discussions worth revisiting time and time again. There is a companion website given early in the audiobook to providing additional information and tools.

I review audiobooks regularly on my site at SaidNotRead dot wordpress dot com and I have covered a number of business and self-improvement titles. Check out my site for this and other reviews.

Great Book

I would strongly recommend this book. It contains very practical advice that you can apply immediately.

Great Resource for Promoted Employees

What about Tom Dheere’s performance did you like?

Tom Dheere's performance is very relatable. His voice sounds like a friend in a conversation. He was very animated and kept the overload of information moving along.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This audiobook is short, but it provides a lot of information! Not a one sitting listen.

Any additional comments?

We’re now in an era when it is acceptable for a “younger” employee to move up in the ranks in business regardless of experience. Sometimes tenacity leads to a promotion and for most young adults it is difficult to obtain respect and lead the team.

This audiobook is a well-researched guide on how to move forward after you’ve been promoted. The author provides the do’s and don’ts in business by “flipping the script” on common traits in business. I highly suggest this book to anyone working in a company or anyone who may be interested in business. Although the author breaks down everyday situations in business, this is a highly researched book with zero fluff.


I was provided a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review. I have suggested this book to virtually all of my working adult friends.

Be the Boss

I read it for Master's in Human Resources class. I thought that the book was informative. There was a lot of ways for a leader to take a look at their own Leadership style and identify if improvement is needed.

Great concepts, but I wanted more depth

It was a good point to take home and learn. It was a little repetitive, which I understand helps drill it into our brains. But I could have handled more depth to the concept rather than repetition of the concept. Generally a good book, but I’m not wowed by the delivery.

good content but repetitive

Overall the content was good, but it was a bit repetitive. A short book that could have been even shorter if you would have cut out the catch phrase that was repeated every 3 minutes.

OMG skim the book, skip this performance

I listened to this book on a road trip with my husband. We were both motivated to listen, as we're getting presented with managerial opportunities.
The book and performance was brutal. There are a few nuggets of actual information, but it's buried within repetition and annoying cliches. In a paperback you can skim ahead, with audio it's much more difficult. 5-10% content, 90% old man annoying.

I listened to this only because it was recommended by Brené Brown in Dare to Lead. I recommend the Radical Candor podcast (and perhaps book) for similar content in an easier to digest format.

Beware of False Promises

The book has a lot of practical advice for new leaders. It overuses the term, "flip your script." Most disappointing, however, the Audible version makes several references to supplemental materials on the CCL website. Also, in contrast to the best business books, there are not supplemental materials provided by the author for Audible. After I finished the book, as it recommended I went to the website. I could not locate the referenced supplemental materials so I inquired. The following is the response I received, "I wanted to follow up with you about your inquiry on the additional resources from the Be the Boss publication. Unfortunately the audio books may reference the additional resources, but in order to access the resources, you would need to purchase the hard copy or Digital copy." The cost for the digital copy is $19.95. This is disappointing.

Great ideas. Redundant tag line.

I thought the content was good although I am not a new leader so not the intended audience. What became distracting was the incessant use of flip your switch. Glad to have read it. Will recommend.

A must for any Boss or prospective Boss

If you lead people , listen to this. Indispensable information artfully delivered by Tom Dheere. For me, Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For: A Guide for New Leaders was time well spent. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.