The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace Know What Boosts Your Value, Kills Your Chances, and Will Make You Happier

More than anything else, you need to understand exactly how your employer evaluates you, and your annual performance review doesn't tell the whole story. In The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace, Cy Wakeman shows how to calculate how your true value to your organization by understanding your current and future potential against your "emotional expense"?the toll your actions and attitudes take on the people around you. With Cy's clear, straight-to-the-point advice, you can confront and reduce your emotional costliness, become an invaluable member of your team, and even learn to love your job again.

• Reveals a formula for measuring your current performance, future potential, and the biggest detractor, your emotional expense
• Shares real-world advice for quickly boosting your value and becoming a highly-valued, sought after employee and teammate
• Builds on the lessons in Reality-Based Leadership, Cy Wakeman's first book for leaders and managers

The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace is the essential guide for boosting your value, owning your career, and becoming the kind of employee no organization can afford to lose.

Introduction: The New Rules of the Game 1

Part One The New Value Equation 15

1 Your Current Performance 17

2 Your Future Potential 37

3 Your Emotional Expensiveness 61

Part Two The Five Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace 75

4 Rule #1: Your Level of Accountability Determines Your Level of Happiness, so Don’t Hope to Be LUCKY. CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY 77

5 Rule #2: Suffering is Optional, so DITCH THE DRAMA! 97

6 Rule #3: Buy-In is Not Optional. YOUR ACTION, NOT OPINION, ADDS VALUE. 123

7 Rule #4: Say ‘‘Yes’’ to What’s Next. CHANGE IS OPPORTUNITY. 137

8 Rule #5: You Will Always Have Extenuating Circumstances. SUCCEED ANYWAY. 149

Call to Action Put the New Rules to Work 165

Notes 173

Acknowledgments 175

About the Author 179

Index 181

CY WAKEMAN is a dynamic speaker, business consultant, author, and trainer. Her first book, Reality-Based Leadership, is a straightforward and practical guide for leaders who want to reduce office drama and improve personal accountability with their teams. She holds a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speakers' Association and received the 2012 Outstanding Leadership Award from the World HRD Congress in Mumbai.

For more information, please visit www.cywakeman.com.