You’re the Boss

Former Microsoft Executive and Fortune 500 CEO coach, Sabina Nawaz, delivers a practical guide for managers, at a time when managing is harder than ever.

This book explains why top performers inevitably turn into terrible managers when their behaviour, compounded by the power and pressure that come from climbing the corporate ladder, engenders toxic work cultures and saps everyone else's enthusiasm around them. The very traits that they believe have gotten them to top, may that be loose personal boundaries, perfectionism or a bullish communication style, when at the altitude of leadership, self-sabotage their efforts and that of their team.

Top Executive coach and former adviser to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, Sabina Nawaz, does not advocate for a leadership personality transplant, or a lengthy journey in self-development. Instead, she introduces simple strategies that you can implement today that rail-guard against the common pitfalls of management. By managing pressure and collapsing distance, Sabina ensures top performers effectively manage others, navigate relationships and communicate effectively in every context.

Review

A practical guide to avoiding the mistakes that too many managers make. Sabina Nawaz offers sage advice about how to bring out the best in others―and yourself. ― Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential, and host of the podcast Re:Thinking

Power doesn't only corrupt leaders it renders them incompetent. It results in behaviors that are
both brutal and ineffective. No leader aspires to be brutally ineffective, but too many of them do
become just that. How can you make sure this doesn't happen to you? It's not enough to have a good character. Nawaz offers practical strategies to make sure that you can be both good and great, rather than being corrupted by the power and pressure that come with the job.

― Kim Scott, author Radical Candor and Just Work

You're the Boss is a powerful guide for leaders navigating the pressures of authority and the pitfalls of power. With unflinching honesty and insights from decades of management and coaching executives, Sabina helps readers recognize the blind spots that can hinder their growth. This book offers practical, field-tested strategies to help managers not only succeed, but inspire greatness in their teams. ― Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

Through her highly successful career as a manager, senior executive and executive coach, author Sabina Nawaz has decoded the micro-habits of effective managers. You’re the Boss shares these hard-won insights with you, often using stories that range from hilarious to cringeworthy. If you’re about to become a boss―and even if you’ve been the boss for years―and want to avoid preventable failures, this book is a must read. ― Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership at the Harvard Business School, and author of Right Kind of Wrong

We would never entrust an airplane to someone without pilot training or ask someone off the street to perform delicate surgery. Why, then, do we hand the job of manager―one of the most critical jobs in the world―to people, then ask them to figure it out? The result, predictably, is that we have a deluge of pressured, frantic human beings mystified that their good intentions and hard work aren’t turning into results. Sabina Nawaz’s wonderful new book helps managers learn to eliminate their dysfunctional behaviors and turn on their superpowers. I highly recommend it to anyone dealing with humans at work. ― Rita McGrath, Thinkers 50 top 10, bestselling author, and Columbia University Business School professor

Sabina Nawaz breaks the mold for leadership in this exciting new book, giving us tools to align our style with our intent. Whether you're stepping into a big new role or striving to refine your abilities as a leader, this book is your essential companion on the path to elevated success, impact and contribution. ― Stephen M. R. Covey, New York Times bestselling author of The Speed of Trust and Trust & Inspire

Sabina Nawaz expertly shares why business is personal and integrity is more important than authenticity for managers. You’ll learn tactical tips to identify your own communication fault lines, trigger spots, and unmet needs as a manager. A must read for all leaders! ― Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, co-authors of the bestseller No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work

About the Author

Sabina Nawaz is an Executive Coach for C-Suite talent and teams at Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions around the world. A former executive at Microsoft, where she worked with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer directly, she understands the pressures and challenges leaders face. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., and Fast Company.