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 second section-comprising chapters 5 through 7-is about exercising influence with integrity and for constructive purposes, given the political realities of organizational life. Chapter 5 explains what organizations are and why they work as they do, particularly why conflict is so pervasive and why it's not necessarily dysfunctional. All organizations may be inherently political environments, but managers can succeed in them without feeling trapped in unhealthy interactions or surrendering their integrity.