Interview With Tony Deblauwe, Author of "Tangling With Tyrants"

About the Author:

During his career in Human Resources, Tony has worked through many complex people and business challenges to yield lasting results for customers. His interest in high-tech and how technology impacts people has given him insight into what it takes for people to succeed in a virtual economy.

Tony grew up in an eclectic family just a few blocks from Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. The son of Belgian immigrants, his father is a former college professor of art, language and history. His mother is an entrepreneur having worked in haute couture fashion design. Tony's exposure to several world perspectives fuel his cultural awareness and understanding.

Tony believes in collaboration of perspectives and ideas to yield successful results. He applies his expertise in human resources, organization development, and coaching to provide solutions that strengthen ways of working and achieve beneficial outcomes.

For more information visit: http://www.tanglingwithtyrants.com/

About the Book:

Do you dread going to work because of your boss? Quitting is not always an option and feeling like a victim of a bad boss only robs you of productivity, job satisfaction, and power. Career strategist and workplace expert Tony Deblauwe has spent years coaching weary employees how to be more effective with difficult bosses, and he has compiled his experiences into this indispensable guide.

Tangling with Tyrants®: Managing the Balance of Power at Work offers practical techniques that show you how to build a communication process that will turn things around to help you build successful outcomes. You´ll get guidance on addressing direct and indirect bad boss behaviors, developing the right approach, and achieving mutually beneficial outcomes. By applying the techniques in this book, you will be equipped with the right tools to handle your boss and create the results you want.

I was lucky enough to get Tony to agree to an interview. This is what he had to say:

What inspired you to write your book?

I had a bad boss early in my career. I had a tough time knowing what to do and how to react even though I was the Human Resources manager. When HR gets stuck not knowing what to do where do you turn? I worked through the emotions and became clearer about developing an approach and communication process that could address the disruptive behavior I experienced. I honed my methods coaching others and eventually with some coaxing from peers and clients, I started writing Tangling with Tyrants.

How did you come up with the title?

When I started researching the range of boss books I knew that I wanted something that captured the intent of the boss reporting relationship but also capture the spirit of how frustrating a bad boss can be. I wanted something memorable and catchy too. Combining the elements of the struggle and the management style I got the intertwined feeling – getting tangling up in emotions and feeling stuck. And tyrant is unmistakable as a word that conjures up someone who causes harm in some way as well as concepts of power which is the subtext of the book. Hence, Tangling with Tyrants.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

The main point I want to convey is that it´s not impossible to turn the relationship with a bad boss around. Even for people who have suffered for years or feel stuck because they don´t know what to say or do, this book is your guide to change. Bad boss issues are the #1 subject employees seek coaching from me about. I wanted the book to get to the point about the context of bad boss behavior, power in the relationship, and provide a field-tested process for creating new outcomes.

How much of the book is realistic?

The personal and professional experiences that fueled the foundation of the book give the material a very realistic feel. I consulted a range of people from different jobs and industries to validate my approach and techniques. Also the book is not a laborious read. The feedback I received was to create meaningful content that could be read, absorbed and implemented quickly. People are busy and when they are frustrated and stressed out, they want to get help fast. The book is built on this premise and should be engaging and relevant for employees, managers, human resources professionals, and coaches.

What book are you reading now?

I´m just about finished with Malcolm Gladwell´s latest book, "Outliers." I enjoyed his previous book, "Blink" which looked at how we make snap judgments and the behaviors involved in the process. In "Outliers" he once again challenges certain assumptions about talent and how we perceive why certain people succeed and others don´t.

He seeks to understand environmental and timing factors that provide specific advantages that people attach to and leverage in order to rise up in life. The most interesting tidbit I learned was his analysis of the time it takes to develop expertise – the point at which you truly feel like you have mastered a certain subject matter. It´s roughly ten years, but it´s interesting how he breaks down objective factors that go into the amount of hours needed to be considered good and competent at something.

Right now this is a strong message for me. Writing Tangling with Tyrants comes at a point in my career (over ten years) that makes me comfortable talking about how to deal effectively with bad bosses. I have practiced the thinking and methods I talk about based on my personal experience and my coaching of others. I definitely recommend this as good reading for others.

What are your current projects?

Besides promotion of Tangling with Tyrants book, I am working with other professionals in the space of workplace issues on program development for future projects. I am also preparing to launch my radio program on BlogTalk Radio. I´m very pleased with the demand for the subject matter of work related issues and relationships and look forward to sharing more information in the future.