Are you the boss you need to be? You never dreamed being the boss would be so hard. You're caught in a web of conflicting expectations from your subordinates, from those above you, and from your peers and customers. You're not alone. As Harvard Business School's Linda Hill and manager and executive Kent Lineback reveal in Being the Boss, becoming an effective manager is a painful, difficult journey. This essential book, now with a new preface, explains how to master three imperatives: (1) Manage yourself: Learn that management isn't about doing all the work on your own. It's about leading others to accomplish things with you as their guide, (2) Manage your network: Understand how power and influence work in your organization, and build a network of mutually beneficial relationships to navigate your company's complex political environment, and (3) Manage your team: Create a high-performing "we" out of all the "I's" who report to you. The first section-comprising chapters 2 through 4-discusses the person-to-person relationships managers form with others, which are the basis for how managers influence others. Chapter 3 looks at the personal relationship between boss and subordinate. Though sometimes created consciously, personal relationships between managers and subordinates usually develop because the manager simply wants to be liked and believes that a close, personal relationship is the best way to influence others. Unfortunately, such relationships cn create obstacles that limit the manager's effectiveness.