Never Mind the Bosses: Hastening the Death of Deference for Business Success

“Never Mind the Bosses is a refreshing type of management book, it advocates that deference to authority figures needs to go if we are to have engaged workforces.”—Cary L. Cooper, CBE, Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University Management School 

“An engaging and entertaining romp through the post punk world. By going beyond the boundaries of most business books, Ryde gives us all food for thought about how organisations are, or are not, dealing with a rapidly changing society and workforce.”—Jo Owen, bestselling author of How to Manage and How to Lead 

“If you are looking for a book that will shake up your thinking about how to improve your organisation’s performance – or worried that your competitors will find it first! – try this one.”—Professor Dutch Leonard, Harvard Business School & Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government

“I love this book! It turns the traditional leadership concepts upside down. A must read for anybody who wants to capture the power of their whole organisation.”—Sally Martin, Vice President Commercial Service, Shell International Petroleum Company 

“Never Mind the Bosses makes a compelling and absorbing case for replacing unquestioning deference in organisations with the need for everyone to take up not only their rights, but critically, their responsibilities for the greater good.”—Kai Peters, CEO, Ashridge Business School

“A powerful reminder that deference has no place in an accelerating world, where only the most innovative organisations will thrive and prosper.”—Ben Page, Chief Executive, Ipsos MORI

“A riveting read – unexpected quotes from the Damned and Donald Rumsfeld grabbed my attention and held it – bags of leadership insights in here, entertainingly and memorably presented."—Iain Lobban, Director GCHQ

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xiii

CHAPTER 1 A New Dynamic for Modern Management 1

CHAPTER 2 Make My Day, Punk! 17

CHAPTER 3 The Deference Contract 37

CHAPTER 4 The Drag Effect 55

CHAPTER 5 F∗∗k You, I Won’t Do What You Tell Me 109

CHAPTER 6 Creating a New Dynamic 137

Index 181

Robin Ryde is a business author, inspiring speaker and an original thinker in the world of organisation and leadership development. As a former CEO, HR Director and Board–level executive, Robin has worked broadly across the commercial and public sector.  Robin currently supports organisations big and small through his roles as the Head of Leadership with the Oxford Group, Academic Director with the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), Visiting Fellow of Ashridge Business School and Director of Robin Ryde Consulting Ltd.  For more information about Robin Ryde Consulting visit www.robinrydeconsulting.com