Skip to content
Responsive image
Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Weblink
twitter.com/TessaWestNYU

JERKS AT WORK

Tessa West

Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them

For anyone pulling their hair out over an irritating colleague who is not technically breaking any rules comes JERKS AT WORK, a hilarious guide to getting difficult people off your back, from NYU psychology professor Tessa West.
From open floor plans and Zoom calls to Slack channels, the workplace has changed a lot over the years. But there's one thing that never changes: you'll always encounter jerks. Jerks at Work is the definitive guide to dealing with - and ultimately breaking free from - the overbearing bosses, irritating coworkers, and all-around difficult people who make work and life miserable.

Social psychologist Tessa West has spent years leveraging science to help people solve interpersonal conflicts in the workplace. What she discovered is that most of our go-to tactics don't work because they fail to address the specific motivations that drive bad behavior. In this book, she takes you on a rollicking deep dive of the seven jerks you're most likely to encounter at the office, drawing on decades of original research to expose their inner workings and weak points - and ultimately deliver an effective game plan for stopping each type before they take you down with them.

Jerks at Work is packed with everyday examples and clever strategies, such as how to:
- Stop a Bulldozer from gaining influence by making sure they're not the first to speak up in meetings
- Report a Kiss Up/Kick Downer to a manager who idolizes them without looking like the bad guy
- Protect your high-achieving team from Free Riders without stifling collaboration
- Use a Gaslighter's tactics to beat them at their own game

For anyone who's said "I can't stand that jerk!" more times than they'd like to admit, Jerks at Work is the ultimate playbook you wish you didn't need but will always turn to.

Tessa West is an Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University, where she is a leading expert on interpersonal interaction and communication. She has published over 60 articles in psychology's most prestigious journals and has received multiple grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She writes regularly about her research in the Wall Street Journal.
Available products
Book

Published 2022-01-25 by Portfolio

Book

Published 2022-01-25 by Portfolio

Comments

Reading Jerks at Work is like listening to a real person who is smart, warm, and funny, and who I'd like to have a glass of wine with. That's unusual for any business or self-help author to achieve - from a scientist it's practically a miracle. This book basically has it all. I'm going to make it mandatory reading for everyone on my team. We all need this book.

It's hard to believe that a book so insightful about how we can flourish at work is also this funny and raw.

You never know when a jerk is going to get in the way of your success, but with Jerks at Work you can finally protect yourself. This book is career insurance!

Tessa West combines easy-to-apply tips with relatable, funny, and shocking stories that will have you taking notes. Anyone regardless of industry or level will benefit from Jerks at Work.

This book provides the key to working smarter, better, and happier, no matter who you're working with.

Funny and sharp, with great stories and wise and scientifically grounded advice, Jerks at Work is a life-saver for anyone who has to deal with difficult people at work - which includes just about everyone!

West's simultaneously humorous and no-nonsense approach to collegiality is broadly applicable. Leaders and workers alike will find in West an astute and personable guide. Read more...

Jerks at Work is a breezy and fun read for anyone who wants happier and healthier relationships at work. Tessa West puts a name to the types of jerks that can make your work life miserable, while also giving practical advice for how to spot them and how to disarm them. This a book you will refer back to again and again.

UK / Commonw.: Ebury Edge ; Chinese (simpl.): Beijing Science and Technology Publishing ; Chinese (compl.): Global Group Holdings ; Dutch: Meulenhoff Boekerij ; Korean: Munhakdongne ; Polish: Wielka Litera SP. Z.O.O ; Romanian: Editura Paralela 45 SA ; Russian: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber ; Ukrainian: Book Club Family Leisure Club ; Vietnamese: Bloom Books

Most of your happiness at work is based on personal relationships. Being able to manage those relationships when things get difficult is key to your success at work - and in life. Jerks at Work is a practical and engaging set of tools. Buy it.

While West's book centers on difficult coworkers, and offers character sketches of specific types of work jerks..., it also raises another, more inward-looking question: Am I "A Jerk at Work"? ... With this in mind, West outlines rules to help us spot, and curb, our own potentially jerk-like behavior in the workplace - while also diminishing the same in our colleagues... Read more...

For anyone pulling their hair out over an irritating colleague who's not technically breaking any rules, a hilarious guide to getting difficult people off your back, from NYU psychology professor Tessa West. Read more...

JERKS AT WORK is one of Forbes' 10 Must-Read Career And Leadership Books for 2022 "...A social psychologist at New York University, West categorizes different kinds of toxic coworkers (the "kiss up/kick downer," "free rider" and "gaslighter," to name a few) and describes how best to engage with them. Even if you don't have to encounter them in person, difficult colleagues still pervade remote work and can be just as hard to manage in the virtual world." Read more...

Tessa West is a star in the field of social psychology. She's a stellar thinker, writer, and speaker, and D*cks at Work is poised to be a hit. We've all encountered a kiss-up-kick-down coworker, a micromanaging boss, or a workplace liar, and West explains what makes them tick, and how to prevent them from making the majority of our waking lives a nightmare.

Step back and rejoice, because Tessa West has done something rare and incredible with Jerks at Work. She has condensed and translated incredible insights from her experience as a psychologist, along with decades of relevant research, to create a fun, funny, and functional handbook for how to use science to make your job suck less whether behind your desk, in a conference room, or working from home.

In this live taping of the podcast at Caveat in NYC, Dr. Tessa West, the author of Jerks at Work, conducts quizzes to see what kind of jerk you are and what kind of jerk most-easily persuades you in the workplace. You will also learn how to counteract the behaviors of people who make work suck more than it should. Read more...

interview for article: No More Working for Jerks! - For almost two years, couches have been cubicles. Colleagues are instant message avatars. And people are reconsidering how much they should have to put up with from a boss. Read more...

Tessa shares 5 key insights from her new book, Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them. Listen to the audio version - read by Tessa herself - in the Next Big Idea App.... Read more...

West's book identifies seven distinct types of toxic colleague, or 'jerk,' from those who pilfer your ideas... It may paint a bleak picture of office warfare, where ambition breeds a Darwinian competitiveness, but West believes this culture can be challenged if we actually pay attention to how we respond to, and work with, others. Surprisingly, this is something we are almost never taught. IT training? Yes. People training? Not so much. ... Read more...