How to Be a Great Boss by Gino Wickman and René Boer
A quick, practical guide for new managers, especially in EOS companies.
The short version
- First time managers and supervisors
- Managers in companies that run on EOS
- Owners who want a shared playbook for their team leads
- You have already read Traction and want new ideas
- You want research heavy management writing
- Your company uses a different operating system and you dislike EOS jargon
What owners like
- Practical and specific about how to manage direct reports
- Short and easy to read
- Well suited to new managers
- Tools can be put to use right away
Common complaints
- The ideas are familiar and not new
- Feels like Traction rewritten for managers
- Closely tied to the EOS system and its terms
- Some readers find it repetitive or thin
Based on the EOS Worldwide book page, the Google Books listing, a Shortform summary, and reviews from Lead Diligently and GCE Strategic Consulting.
Research scores
Scored from the maker's specs and what owners report. Drew's own notes and photos will refine these.
Ownership
- Jan 2024
First bought.
Drew's hands-on notes for this product are on the way. Long-term updates will be added to this timeline.
What it does
A short management book from the creator of EOS that sets out ten practices and a handful of tools for running a team of direct reports.
- Five Leadership Practices and Five Management Practices for working with direct reports
- The GWC test: does a person get it, want it and have the capacity to do it
- A People Analyzer for rating team members against core values
- A structured quarterly conversation to hold with each direct report
- Delegate and Elevate, a method for handing off work
- EOS offers a free first chapter and a downloadable toolkit
A useful, quick read for a first time manager, or anyone whose company already runs on EOS, because it turns common advice into repeatable tools like the quarterly conversation. Readers who already know Traction may find it repetitive, and the ideas themselves are not new.
How it compares
Specs
- Authors
- Gino Wickman and René Boer
- Publisher
- BenBella Books
- Published
- September 2016
- Length
- 184 pages
- Formats
- Hardcover, paperback, ebook and audiobook
- Series
- Part of the EOS Traction Library
Questions
Do you need to know EOS to read How to Be a Great Boss?
No. One reviewer found it stands on its own, though EOS terms come up throughout.
What is GWC in How to Be a Great Boss?
A test of whether a person gets the role, wants it and has the capacity to do it.
How long is How to Be a Great Boss?
The Google Books listing gives 184 pages.
Who wrote How to Be a Great Boss?
Gino Wickman, creator of EOS, and René Boer, who spent more than 30 years in the restaurant industry, per EOS Worldwide.
Sources
- How to Be a Great Boss by Gino Wickman and René Boer, EOS Worldwide
- How to Be a Great Boss, Google Books
- How to Be a Great Boss Book Summary, Shortform
- How To Be A Great Boss: Book Review, Lead Diligently
- How To Be A Great Boss; a Book Review, GCE Strategic Consulting
- EOS Worldwide: Traction Library
- The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo, Penguin Random House
- Radical Candor, Wikipedia
- The Effective Manager: Completely Revised and Updated, Harvard Book Store
Researched 2026-10-01. We bought this product; our page is built from the maker's details and what owners report across reviews and forums. We never copy Amazon customer reviews.