Get Out of Your Own Way

October 3, 2005
This follow-up to 1996's Get Out of Your Own Way diagnoses 40 business situations in which workers exhibit symptoms of self-defeating behavior, from "Not Being Able to Take No for an Answer" and "Being Competent but Out of Touch" to "Not Delegating" and "Assuming Others Understand You." Goulston's focus, however, is not on workplace effectiveness but on "earning self-esteem-and its twin sister, success." He devotes a chapter to each workplace issue: first, highlighting a case study that refers to a client from his consulting practice or, tangentially, to one of his hospital patients and, then, explaining how to remedy the behavior. In addition, each chapter is topped off with an aphoristic "Usable Insight" and a to-do list of "Action Steps." People are inclined to commit "hari-kari at work," Goulston says, because of "fearful aggression" and "fearful avoidance," two traits that he traces back to humans' "early-neural, unthinking, animal nature." While his insights are pedestrian-his advice can be boiled down to "be more self-aware"-the structure of the book makes it easy to cherry pick chapters that may apply to you.