You have likely heard stories from friends, family members, and colleagues who quit a job because of a toxic person—an individual who belittles, shames, humiliates, shames, or bullies. You may not have realized that these individuals not only take their tolls on our emotional psyches, but the financial outcomes of their organizations as well. Through this book’s many case examples, as well as evidence-based practices and templates, each chapter singles out one main issue and how to resolve it with respect and clarity. Dr. Kusy presents concrete practices that will restore civility and respect into your organization as well as with increased financial performance. Some of these practices include: Calculating the real financial cost of toxic people in your organization. Providing direct and respectful feedback to a toxic peer, direct report, and even your boss. Replacing traditional exit interviews -- that often don’t work very well -- with a method for dealing with toxic chameleons who "knock down and kiss up." Hiring, engaging talent, and even firing people based on a new approach to values-based performance management. You will emerge with a newfound understanding that restores personal well-being and increased financial performance.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

THE STORY: For these young assistants, life is an endless series of humiliations at the hands of their hellacious boss, a powerful uber-magnate. In rare moments of calm when the phone calls stop rolling, Nick and Nora and their traumatized co-worke

A deeply-reported examination of why "doing what you love" is a recipe for exploitation, creating a new tyranny of work in which we cheerily acquiesce to doing jobs that take over our lives. You're told that if you "do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." Whether it's working for "exposure" and "experience," or enduring poor treatment in the name of "being part of the family," all employees are pushed to make sacrifices for the privilege of being able to do what we love. In Work Won't Love You Back, Sarah Jaffe, a preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements, examines this "labor of love" myth—the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. Told through the lives and experiences of workers in various industries—from the unpaid intern, to the overworked teacher, to the nonprofit worker and even the professional athlete—Jaffe reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work. As Jaffe argues, understanding the trap of the labor of love will empower us to work less and demand what our work is worth. And once freed from those binds, we can finally figure out what actually gives us joy, pleasure, and satisfaction.

Drama A woman comfortable in life, suddenly thrown into chaos, when she learns her baby's daddy has another woman.

Administrative Assistant Veronica Shields spent five years working to get over a disastrous marriage and earn the job of her dreams. Then after one perfect night with a handsome stranger, she winds up pregnant. She vows to make a success of her life and a home for her child. And do it alone. Mechanic Cole Reynolds grew up with the stigma of illegitimacy so that's not happening to his kid. But he must convince Veronica to take a chance on him-- especially since he just discovered he's the secret love child of TV royalty. When Cole proposes Veronica create a documentary about his life to win her promotion, she can't say no. Now they're tangled up in one another's lives and falling hard. But will the scandal hanging over them tear everything apart?

Cub reporter Kris Dillman is excited about the prospect of covering Rush Ramond, Jefferson Highs superstar basketball player who is due to be the first junior selected in the NBA draft. But the broad racial lines that cut through the heart of Kriss beat provide numerous obstacles. One of which is The Blockade: a stone-covered hill with a cyclone fence topped with V-braced barbed wire. It bisects what was originally a through street, conspicuously at the threshold where the neighborhood goes from predominately white to predominately black. While negotiating this treacherous terrain, Kris learns about media hypocrisy, bigotry and accountability; public relations hype, manipulation and intimidation; and how a simple news tip can lead to murder

Vietnam war hero Luke Ballard thought his miserable childhood, ridiculed as a bastard in a small Alabama town, was behind him. Then his beloved mother, with her dying breath, reveals how she was raped by three men the night he was conceived, and he secretly vows to avenge her. Luke runs for town sheriff and wins. It's the 60's, and his sights are not only on debasing the monsters who violated his mother, but he must confront corruption, gambling, prostitution and the KKK, rendering his own brand of justice. Along the way, Luke meets Emma Jean, the much-abused wife of his old high-school nemesis, and falls in love. As secret, passionate rendezvous and deadly determination turn into a maelstrom of retribution, Luke and Emma must unravel the truth to create their own final justice. Previously published as: Cry Me A River OTHER TITLES by Patricia Hagan Say You Love Me Starlight Simply Heaven Orchids in Moonlight