Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories from the Management Trenches

they did what?! workplace war stories you can learn from.

From dealing with underperformers to fighting off lawsuits, employee problems are the bane of a managers existence. So what do most do? Ignore them!

And thats a recipe for more problems. Written by a seasoned HR expert and employment attorney, Hard-Won Wisdom takes you inside the messy reality of situations gone wrong, including:

A joking comment taken as a command

An email exchange that escalates ridiculously out of control

A request for confidentiality that backfires in a big way

The right employeefired the wrong way

The wrong employeehired the right way

These sometimes funny, always cautionary tales reinforce crucial lessons for managers. From failing to give feedback and withholding key information to exercising poor judgment and making faulty assumptions, every story highlights the role management plays in exacerbating (or easing) trouble.

And each story suggests simple strategies to turn the situation around. The memorable lessons help managers motivate underachievers, defuse angry employees, discipline without inviting legal actionand handle every tricky-people issue they simply cant avoid.