Bookstore » Toxic Coworkers: How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job
Details
Note: This may not be the most up-to-date information on this book. We strongly advise you visit Amazon's listing for this book. If you wish to find more books, please visit our bookstore home page.
| Authors | Alan A., Ph.D. Cavaiola, Neil J., Ph.D. Lavender |
|---|---|
| Published | January 15th, 2000 |
| Manufacturer | New Harbinger Publications |
| Media Type | Paperback |
| List Price | $14.95 |
| Our Price | $10.17 |
| You Save | $4.78 (32%) |
| Used Price | $9.95 |
| Collectors Price | $11.99 |
| Sales Rank | 67066 |
| Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| Average Rating | 4.00 |
| Record Updated | July 31st, 2005 at 5:24 pm PDT |
| Lookup ID | 1572242191-3972 |
| Buy Now & Amazon's Listing | |
Photograph
Appears in Categories
This book appears in the following categories:
Customer Reviews
Good inventory of disorders... (3 stars)
...as they manifest themselves at the office. You'll definitely see some of the traits and behaviors described in the people you're working with. But... when it comes to coping with these types, as the title promises, I found the book short on practical methods for dealing with problem people. In some cases, the books states there's little or nothing that can be done about jerks on the job.
Dealing with Dysfunctional Coworkers (4 stars)
This easily and quickly read book should be helpful to the reader who struggles with a boss, coworker or subordinate. In almost every workplace, there is one person whose behavior generates more negative attention than most others around him (or her). The toxic coworker we all experience at one time or another already has a gun; while we can't change that person, we certainly want to avoid giving her any bullets. Toxic Coworkers can help you understand that person and take appropriate actions that will not contribute further to the time- and attention-consuming behaviors that seem to make everyone around her miserable.
While not all the advice offered is research-based, as a Clinician familiar with coaching supervisors and coworkers to deal with problem personalities, the authors' descriptions of personalities and behaviors are accurate. I believe most readers will instantly recognize their problem-personality type from the descriptions based on the DSM-IV and the authors' experiences.
Cavaiola and Lavender advise against waiting for management to act; instead, they propose that readers arm themselves with the information and tactics that can protect themselves and their families from personality-disordered individuals on the job. I couldn't agree more. The authors repeatedly counsel readers to avoid taking the toxic-worker's actions personally and remind us all that we are not stuck in a hostile work enviroment. This book encourages the reader to take actions for self-protection and personal boundaries rather than to change the other person.
These two-hundred pages are cluttered with a number of typographical errors. I hope readers will allow themselves to ignore these errors in favor of gaining insight into themselves and others.
toxic workplaces (2 stars)
This book is a mix of material lifted from the DSM IV (or whatever it's called today) and some anecdotal stories from the authors' own experiences, with some recommendations for 'dealing with type X' as a manager, employee, or coworker. ,
I'm reminded that the field of psychology would diagnose the majority of us with some form of disorder at some point in our lives, and the authors have extended this to the corporate world in a way that would label nearly everyone I've worked with in my career as suffering from one or more personality disorders. I can only think of a couple who really caused problems. The authors are overly-broad in their categorizations. For example, if your employees think your requests are unreasonable, then they must be passive agressive whiners. But you are narcisisstic or obsessive compulsive for making these requests.,
One disappointment is that 'toxic workplaces' aren't mentioned until the second to the last page. Maybe some of the behavior that they describe as disorders are actually reasonable reactions for people in a toxic workplace. The authors describe large corporations, the government, and the military as being a good place for people of this or that disorder. Maybe working for the government makes you that way, not the other way around!,
I didn't find much here that would be of help in dealing with bosses or coworkers. I think the various 'dilbert' books would be more genuinely useful, as well as more amusing. I think that most people just want to do their jobs with a minimum of corporate nonsense so that they can enjoy their lives outside of work with their remaining free time, which is why those of us who are not blessed with great wealth are enduring what for most of us are toxic workplaces.