Book Review - "The No Asshole Rule"

"The No Asshole Rule" by Robert Sutton was recommended to me by one of my favourite authors and thinkers, Daniel Pink. (A review of his latest book, "The Power of Regret" is coming shortly.)

If you've ever worked with, or for, an asshole, this book is for you. If you are a manager with assholes in your team that you have no idea how to handle, this book is for you. If you think you might be an asshole (I've seen a few threads in online forums recently with the acronym AITA - standing for Am I The Asshole - so it's a valid question to ask yourself from time to time), this book is for you.

For too long society has tended to think that if you are a really big winner (in a recruitment agency context, a big biller), you can get away with being a really big asshole. The truth is that we can't afford to let that idea persist any longer.

One of my favourite concepts from the book is the TCA - the total cost of asshole(s). Assholes can cause productivity to drop, can cause good people to leave, can ruin your reputation, and can make it harder to recruit talent to your organisation.

Assholes in Recruitment

It occurred to me around 50 pages in that people can be assholes not just to internal colleagues... Recruiters can be assholes to candidates. Unfortunately, I see too many recruiters talk about candidates with disrespect on social media, labouring under the illusion that recruiters are somehow more important than candidates. This is classic asshole behaviour.

Equally, there are a lot of hiring clients who treat their recruiters badly because they believe that - as the ones paying the invoice - they have the right to do so.

This book reminds you that if you treat someone poorly when you are the one with the perceived power in the relationship, you are a certified asshole.

Purge the Assholes!

If you tolerate assholes in your business because they are high performers, your organisation won't perform as well as if you kicked the assholes out. The reason for this is that the non-assholes will have less respect for you, will believe that you prioritise bottom line over people and organisational values, and will be less inclined to do their best work for you.

Also, assholes breed assholes. Toxic behaviours spread negative energy - someone who has just been humiliated and belittled will be more likely to be snappy and irritable in their next interaction.

In Summary

This book is a good reminder to ask the question "am I the asshole" and even has a handy asshole diagnostic tool for you to check.

(Doing this book review gave me the opportunity to write asshole more than 20 times, which has made my chuckle! I'm so childish...)

Disclaimer: I am not paid to write book reviews, I simply share reviews of books that I have read and found value in. My reviews will often have a recruitment or a leadership slant, because those are two of my key areas of expertise in the training that I deliver.

I share book reviews and recommendations because I love receiving them, so if you've got a gem of a book you think I should read - let me know!

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